I am the president of the ski and snowboard club at UW- Stevens Point. I am trying to set up a rail jam for the members of the club and surrounding area. I have never put together an event like this and I was wondering if someone could share their expertise with me. k+ for good responses!
Trying to put together a rail jam for my school
- Thread starter Easy-E
- Start date
It's difficult. You'll need at least 3 people to pull it off without blowing your brains out. I'd recommend 1 person for the organizing of the event, 1 person to get in touch with the mtns and vendors, and 1 person for the advertising. The more help the better though. We made it work with 5 board members.
Super basic stuff here. But it'll give you an idea of what to expect. It's pretty hard but totally doable and 100 percent worth it.
Step 1: Location
Find a location, a small hill works fine. If you have one on campus thats ideal(imo). Once you find a location figure out who owns it. The school, town, private owner etc etc. Then you will need permission from them. You'll need insurance which I am assuming you already have for the club. It's a "one day waiver" and shouldn't cost you much or anything at all depending on your insurance plan.
You will need waivers. Make everyone sign a waiver, even your friends, and give them a wristband so that you know everyone has. Trust me you do not want to get sued lol.
Step 2: Date/Time
Make sure you aren't going to have a conflicting schedule with vendors/ other rail jams. That happened to us this year. We had 3 rail jams going on in one day and none of them had a solid turn out and it was shitty for the riders only have 1 day as opposed to 3 separate. It was also hard to bring in vendors.
Step 3: Vendors and Mountain support
I imagine the only rails you have are either PVC rails or nonexistent. Get in touch with a local mountain that you have a solid relationship with and see if they'll donate some features for a few hours and offer to let them set up a vender table as a trade off. Use their name in advertisment. They work for you - make them happy - all is well.
Vendors. Invite local shops, local reps from ski and snowboard companies, and anyone else you are affiliated with. Red Bull is a big sponsor for us and are usually really easy to get in touch with. Reps have access to DJ equipment and a bunch of that kind of stuff.
Get a DJ or at least play some kind of music.
Step 4: Snow
Ice rinks are you friend. We brought in 20 dump truck loads over the course of 5 nights. Get a lot of volunteers together, offer beer. Volunteers like beer. Get enough shovels(about 5-7 is good). Then take the snow to the hill. DO NOT PUT THE SNOW WHERE YOU WANT IT. You will end up with a giant puddle and that hurts the set up. Either dump it off to the side or at the top of the hill.
You'll need rakes and shovels the day of the event. Borty advised me to use salt for the lips but I didn't. I have faith in him though so I will pass that advice along to you.
Step 5: Promotion
Create a solid flyer for your school. Hang them up everywhere. Not sure how big your school is, but we printed and distributed close to 8000 flyers and info sheets total. Start promoting about 2 weeks ahead of time. Throw some stuff up on your personal instagram inviting all your homies, your homies homies, etc. If you guys have a club insta you should definitely use it. If you don't have an insta you should make one.
I used Ski Gabber and Regionals a little bit and I posted throwbacks on FB and Insta.
Here's what our event used to be:
Here's last years:
[video]https://vimeo.com/126608410[/video]
Hit me up with any questions. I'd be happy to help!! It's super rad that you guys wanna do this. Hope it works out
Super basic stuff here. But it'll give you an idea of what to expect. It's pretty hard but totally doable and 100 percent worth it.
Step 1: Location
Find a location, a small hill works fine. If you have one on campus thats ideal(imo). Once you find a location figure out who owns it. The school, town, private owner etc etc. Then you will need permission from them. You'll need insurance which I am assuming you already have for the club. It's a "one day waiver" and shouldn't cost you much or anything at all depending on your insurance plan.
You will need waivers. Make everyone sign a waiver, even your friends, and give them a wristband so that you know everyone has. Trust me you do not want to get sued lol.
Step 2: Date/Time
Make sure you aren't going to have a conflicting schedule with vendors/ other rail jams. That happened to us this year. We had 3 rail jams going on in one day and none of them had a solid turn out and it was shitty for the riders only have 1 day as opposed to 3 separate. It was also hard to bring in vendors.
Step 3: Vendors and Mountain support
I imagine the only rails you have are either PVC rails or nonexistent. Get in touch with a local mountain that you have a solid relationship with and see if they'll donate some features for a few hours and offer to let them set up a vender table as a trade off. Use their name in advertisment. They work for you - make them happy - all is well.
Vendors. Invite local shops, local reps from ski and snowboard companies, and anyone else you are affiliated with. Red Bull is a big sponsor for us and are usually really easy to get in touch with. Reps have access to DJ equipment and a bunch of that kind of stuff.
Get a DJ or at least play some kind of music.
Step 4: Snow
Ice rinks are you friend. We brought in 20 dump truck loads over the course of 5 nights. Get a lot of volunteers together, offer beer. Volunteers like beer. Get enough shovels(about 5-7 is good). Then take the snow to the hill. DO NOT PUT THE SNOW WHERE YOU WANT IT. You will end up with a giant puddle and that hurts the set up. Either dump it off to the side or at the top of the hill.
You'll need rakes and shovels the day of the event. Borty advised me to use salt for the lips but I didn't. I have faith in him though so I will pass that advice along to you.
Step 5: Promotion
Create a solid flyer for your school. Hang them up everywhere. Not sure how big your school is, but we printed and distributed close to 8000 flyers and info sheets total. Start promoting about 2 weeks ahead of time. Throw some stuff up on your personal instagram inviting all your homies, your homies homies, etc. If you guys have a club insta you should definitely use it. If you don't have an insta you should make one.
I used Ski Gabber and Regionals a little bit and I posted throwbacks on FB and Insta.
Here's what our event used to be:
Here's last years:
[video]https://vimeo.com/126608410[/video]
Hit me up with any questions. I'd be happy to help!! It's super rad that you guys wanna do this. Hope it works out
This has a little bit of a timeline too. You might find some of the stuff useful.
https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Schuss-Ladders-Season-Festival#cikybGlvvBhB3ujJ.97
Also I forgot to mention, get someone to film/ take photos. It's great advertising if you want to make this an annual thing. It's a nice thing to do. It's a good opportunity for your filmer/photog friends too, even if they don't ski!!
Also forgot to mention, again, if it's possible get something "non ski" related going. We have our rail jam in Oct so it's still warm enough for a slip'n slide. We do this so that non skiers or non park riders can still join in on the event. It's good to be able to introduce people to what the ski community is and who we are. It takes away the "exclusivity" of rail jams and get's everyone stoked!
https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Schuss-Ladders-Season-Festival#cikybGlvvBhB3ujJ.97
Also I forgot to mention, get someone to film/ take photos. It's great advertising if you want to make this an annual thing. It's a nice thing to do. It's a good opportunity for your filmer/photog friends too, even if they don't ski!!
Also forgot to mention, again, if it's possible get something "non ski" related going. We have our rail jam in Oct so it's still warm enough for a slip'n slide. We do this so that non skiers or non park riders can still join in on the event. It's good to be able to introduce people to what the ski community is and who we are. It takes away the "exclusivity" of rail jams and get's everyone stoked!
Swandog7
Active member
mingg pretty much hit everything. Make sure you can do everything you can to maximize your snow. Ice rinks are key, trucks to haul it, and a tractor if possible. The snow brought in was put in a corner of shade with tarps. We had a pre built drop in which is also key if possible. We had an open bed of a semi truck with carpet on top, with wooden drop ins to the ground and then about a 5tf snow drop in. Under the snow we had turf, bags of mulch and salt to give height, stability, and make it more flat. If you can hay bails help so much. For other small drop ins there were pre made boxes to climb up on with a wooden drop in from it and then a line of snow to follow.
Key things to get:
Tarps
Rink Snow
Sponsors
Trucks to haul snow
Turf to put under the snow at the landings
Hay bails
Bags of stuff to raise height and whatever (can provide a better idea of this if you need)
A small pre built drop to give you more speed down the hill and lets you use less snow
rakes/shovels
Volunteers
Prizes from sponsors
Food and Drinks
A park to get features from (fatty tubes beat everything)
The Fall Throw Down video will be up soon so check that out for more ideas
Key things to get:
Tarps
Rink Snow
Sponsors
Trucks to haul snow
Turf to put under the snow at the landings
Hay bails
Bags of stuff to raise height and whatever (can provide a better idea of this if you need)
A small pre built drop to give you more speed down the hill and lets you use less snow
rakes/shovels
Volunteers
Prizes from sponsors
Food and Drinks
A park to get features from (fatty tubes beat everything)
The Fall Throw Down video will be up soon so check that out for more ideas
13530189:Mingg said:It's difficult. You'll need at least 3 people to pull it off without blowing your brains out. I'd recommend 1 person for the organizing of the event, 1 person to get in touch with the mtns and vendors, and 1 person for the advertising. The more help the better though. We made it work with 5 board members.
Super basic stuff here. But it'll give you an idea of what to expect. It's pretty hard but totally doable and 100 percent worth it.
Step 1: Location
Find a location, a small hill works fine. If you have one on campus thats ideal(imo). Once you find a location figure out who owns it. The school, town, private owner etc etc. Then you will need permission from them. You'll need insurance which I am assuming you already have for the club. It's a "one day waiver" and shouldn't cost you much or anything at all depending on your insurance plan.
You will need waivers. Make everyone sign a waiver, even your friends, and give them a wristband so that you know everyone has. Trust me you do not want to get sued lol.
Step 2: Date/Time
Make sure you aren't going to have a conflicting schedule with vendors/ other rail jams. That happened to us this year. We had 3 rail jams going on in one day and none of them had a solid turn out and it was shitty for the riders only have 1 day as opposed to 3 separate. It was also hard to bring in vendors.
Step 3: Vendors and Mountain support
I imagine the only rails you have are either PVC rails or nonexistent. Get in touch with a local mountain that you have a solid relationship with and see if they'll donate some features for a few hours and offer to let them set up a vender table as a trade off. Use their name in advertisment. They work for you - make them happy - all is well.
Vendors. Invite local shops, local reps from ski and snowboard companies, and anyone else you are affiliated with. Red Bull is a big sponsor for us and are usually really easy to get in touch with. Reps have access to DJ equipment and a bunch of that kind of stuff.
Get a DJ or at least play some kind of music.
Step 4: Snow
Ice rinks are you friend. We brought in 20 dump truck loads over the course of 5 nights. Get a lot of volunteers together, offer beer. Volunteers like beer. Get enough shovels(about 5-7 is good). Then take the snow to the hill. DO NOT PUT THE SNOW WHERE YOU WANT IT. You will end up with a giant puddle and that hurts the set up. Either dump it off to the side or at the top of the hill.
You'll need rakes and shovels the day of the event. Borty advised me to use salt for the lips but I didn't. I have faith in him though so I will pass that advice along to you.
Step 5: Promotion
Create a solid flyer for your school. Hang them up everywhere. Not sure how big your school is, but we printed and distributed close to 8000 flyers and info sheets total. Start promoting about 2 weeks ahead of time. Throw some stuff up on your personal instagram inviting all your homies, your homies homies, etc. If you guys have a club insta you should definitely use it. If you don't have an insta you should make one.
I used Ski Gabber and Regionals a little bit and I posted throwbacks on FB and Insta.
Here's what our event used to be:
Here's last years:
[video]https://vimeo.com/126608410[/video]
Hit me up with any questions. I'd be happy to help!! It's super rad that you guys wanna do this. Hope it works out
I really appreciate this mingg! I will keep these points in mind while I try to pull this all together. Unfortunately, Im the only officer working on this ATM and we only have 3 officers to begin with, but Im gunning for this and gonna make it happen!