Vegetate

I'll hit up the rail jam.. if there is one? I hope there is, i heard there is, it would be neat if i could so i hope there is one cause then i would be happy
 
^ yea im not even sure what the schedule is this year, nothing yet on the website and i emailed them a couple days ago and still no reply
 
I e-mailed their marketing guy, and this was the word I got...

"Most likely a superpipe Jam on Friday, April 6, rail jam on April 7 and big air on April 8."

That's not official though.

I won't be there either..too much money to travel for something that's probably not really worth it.
 
yea it would have been cool if they had tested the jump out beforehand and realized there were speed issues
 
meadows is lazy, too much effort to run a slopestyle contest

even though everybody would love to do one
 
yes they are, and so is timberline

we need a legit slopestyle at hood next season, hopefully you can help get that going chris since you are legit and have a company email now!

everyone would love to have one, we just need to convince the management that it would make them money
 
I'd probably have actually decided to buy the plane ticket to come home if there was slopestyle. But no slopestyle...
 
why dont we have our own slopestyle when the cascade park gets set up. just hype it up on NS like crazy! it could work, or just like set up a day when everyone comes and just have a really big crew roling through the park. that would be good enough for me
 
In an effort to voice my opinions in a more polite way, I wrote this email. I suggest you do the same if you are unsatisfied with the degression of Vegetate over the years

Dear Mr. Dave Riley,

Hope your day is going well, I was wondering if you could please enlighten me as to the reason for the steady decline of Vegetate over the last few years. This could possibly be the next subject for a blog if you so choose.

After seeing the ad displayed on your webpage, it has become apparent to me that Vegetate has moved away from a competition for the riders into a show for all of the families to watch from the lodge patio while they drink $5 beers (sorry for the shot).

Lets take a look back over the past few years to see what each season had in store for us. First of all, last year. obviously the weather didnt cooperate and the bir air jump had spped issues for many people. Combined with the massive quarterpipe, it seems as if that setup was a gargantuan waste of snow. Now on to the halfpipe jam, it was great! everyone had a blast, great vibe, so why is the halfpipe jam getting moved to a friday this year!? Obviously its a weekday and this makes it nearly impossible for many riders to make it up.

Going back two years, obviously there was that whole mother nature situation that came into play so we will disregard that, not much you guys could have done.

And now we arrive at 3 and 4 years ago when there was a highly succesful big air show (much in part due to a better designed jump) and the ever-so missed slopestyle portion.

Now that I have refreshed both yours and mine memories, I would like to know the reasons for these changes over the years. When you look around at the other local mountains and their competition schedules, its pretty apparent that there is no longer a legitimate big air and slopestyle event for both skiers and snowboarders. Now Mt. Bachelor has the Grand Prix and another Pipe and Slopestyle event but nothing on a big scale for skiers.

I see this as a huge problem but also an untapped market that I am suprised to see you have not made an effort to get into. Perhaps this last statement is wrong though and you haave tried, but it just hasnt come together. Either way, if you could please respend with some answers to my questions it would be much appreciated. Thanks, have a nice weekend

Sincerely,

Brian Spere
 
Dear Dave,

It seems to me that vegetate is slowly getting worse and worse, last year pipe was the only good portion of it and now the pipe comp is moved to a friday??? most of the people in the pipe comp are kids in high school who cant afford to miss school. and now the rail jam is not a fun filled comp, now it is just a show for all the people who come to the Mt. to not ski, but to sit around on the patio. these people are not the customers you need to impress, you need to keep the respect of the regulars such as the park kids who are the people who come to the mountain more often than most.

also, why is there no slopestyle??? slopestyle is everyone at hood's favorite type of comp, and there is not slope style. i will send you a link to a website where kids talk about it.

https://newschoolers.com/web/forums/readthread/thread_id/286722/

please tak the time to read it. you will learn alot about the perspectives of the people who ride at your resort most.

now please listen and try to do a slopstyle comp and please move the pipe jam to the weekend when the people who will attend won't be busy.

also, please respond with reasons why things have gotten so shitty

-Elliott Preston

sorry i mooched some of your e-mail brodeo, but you had some good points
 
im speechless but far from surprised. This season has been a serious failure for competitions in the PNW. I thought that after all the disgraces that preluded Vegetate, that I would finally have a competition to look forward to. Last was by no means perfect, but they could have always learned. But nope.

The superpipe will be a failure. Friday? I can make it, but 75% of the people that want to do it will find it hard to manage. It just seems like a surefire way to abolish pipe competitions in the future (I mean honestly, a Friday???). A rail jam spread out over two days? This just screams incompetence and laziness.

Way to contribute to the ruin of the scene in the region.
 
the northwest scene is dead, even though we may have our own little style or some shit

the riders in other places are 1000 times better

we fucking suck

and I'm drunk

so fuck you
 
got a response, thought i would share it

-------

Hi Brian. Thank you for sending your concerns and suggestions regarding our

Vegetate event. The event is near and dear to us having presented it for so

many years. It has transformed from year to year, due to many factors,

including snow conditions, competitor interest, sponsorship and spectator

attendance.

This year's Vegetate includes the SuperPipe Jam on Friday, followed by a two

day rails competition (Saturday qualifiers and Sunday finals) in the base

area. This is designed to provide the greatest opportunity to showcase

talent to the greatest number of spectators. We hope to attract non-skiing

and snowboarding guests to the mountain for the rail jam, and are presenting

the SCS Freestyle Snowmobile Team on Saturday as part of this effort.

The move to the base area is due in part to our sponsor's expectations. They

are supporting the event and they want to expose their product to the

greatest number of spectators possible. While sponsors also support the

competitors (almost all the sponsorship dollars goes to prize money) they

couldn't justify these fees just to reach the competitors themselves. When

we have gone up the mountain for Big Air and Slopestyle venues, the crowds

just don't follow. We attract a field of 80 slopestyle competitors, but

about half that amount actually come to the event venue to watch. The same

has happened with the Big Air, where the event venue only has competitors,

sponsors and a hand full of spectators.

The change to just two events (superpipe and rail jam) is prize money

driven. As I mentioned almost all our sponsor dollars go towards prize

money. But when we try to support both ski and snowboad divisions in both

men and women classes, the prize money just doesn't add up to attract the

pros. This year with first prize money in the mens divisions at $1500, we

hope to get some more interest.

I absolutely agree with you that there aren't enough slopestyles -

particularly for skiers - at mountains in the northwest. We will be looking

at this to see if there is an opportunity later this spring (in conjunction

with the Cascade Super Park) and next season.

I appreciate you communicating with us. You have some very valid points and

they will be considered as we strive to improve the freestyle experience at

Meadows. Please contact me with any other thoughts or suggestions.

Dave Tragethon, Marketing & Sales Director Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort

1975 SW 1st Ave Suite M

Portland, OR 97201

ph: 503.287.5438 x190

fax: 503.227.7693

-------

and in case it was not clear, first place for men's superpipe is $1500 and rail jam is $1000
 
They should do what they do for the US Open events, just let kids ride up buttercup for free or pay a very minimal fee to ride up buttercup to watch the slopestyle. Heck, even set up snow "bleachers" at the bottom of the course if they WANT people to watch the slopestyle event. It's definitely just as fun to watch as a rail jam!
 
I think rail jams are fucking boring to watch, the only reason the redneck idiots watch is to see if somebody crashes and gets hurt

And if its 1500 for pipe I'm going to be in the pipe everyday for the next three weeks
 
I sent this...

Hi,

Sorry for sending another message about Vegetate and I am well aware you have probably recieved numerous complaints about this year's event already, so I will try and make this quick (and without complaining much!).

I had talked to one of my friends who I guess had e-mailed you about Vegetate and why you weren't doing a slopestyle event this year and he said that in your e-mail you mentioned accessibility to a slopestyle course in getting spectators (to meet sponsor expectations). This is completely reasonable in all senses considering that sponsors are absolutely what keeps everything running for a competition and prizes.

The only thing I can put out there has to do with a reasonable way to get spectators up to a slopestyle (or halfpipe) course.

First off, advertisement is so incredibly key and it's completely possible that you are advertising on the radio and/or lodge and I wouldn't know it because I'm in Spokane, not Portland, so I won't assume that much. However, if I hadn't gone to search on the MHM website for the event information, I would have absolutely no idea what the event was, where it was or anything. I expect you'll have that up and in big letters soon enough but the point I am trying to make is that if you want people to come, you need to give them a reason to and promoting the stoke early is so key. It also attracts bigger names in the sport of skiing and snowboarding to come and compete, especially if a large purse is in line!

This might be a slightly more unreasonable idea, but to solve the problem of getting spectators up to the slopestyle/halfpipe course you might allow spectators to ride up Buttercup for free or for a minimal fee on the day of the event. I went to the US Freeskiing Open last season in Vail to watch the Halfpipe finals/Big Air event and even though we didn't have a lift ticket for day skiing, we were allowed to take the chair up to the halfpipe for free. Even though I know the US Freeskiing Open is a much larger event with a lot more sponsor support, I don't see why Vegetate couldn't be a much bigger event than it is right now. I remember a few seasons ago before I even started skiing park, I would get so excited to watch those guys ski the slopestyle course. I don't know how expensive it would be to let people take buttercup (or even easy rider?), but it would certainly attract a larger crowd. Another idea for spectators would be to set up bleachers-- either real or made up of snow so that people have a place to sit where everybody can see what is going on instead of just being mashed in a crowd where it's hard to see.

I don't know how reasonable all of that is for MHM, but it's certainly something to consider for future events! Rail jams are fun and all, but I know I and a lot of my friends would love to see a slopestyle event here at MHM.

Thank you so much for your time,

Sara Johnson
 
I won't even be in Oregon for Vegetate, but I'm gonna email him too...I think Sara's idea is very good...To let people ride up to the course for free.

It seems like to spectators who don't ski, a lip 270 to pretzel out looks pretty much the same as any other rail slide...rail jams are not a very good spectator event, EXCEPT that they are very easy to put wherever.
 
just tell them to put the big air on the run where the yellow double is like the race hill they did that like 4-5 yrs ago when candide went that would attract ppl not to far from the lodge
 
too steep for that i think... would make for some crazy step downs tho. Yellow is primo for big air tho.
 
yea, a jump on yellow would be very spectator accessible.

but I get the feeling they want the event RIGHT on the deck. They just want the event to cater to the people who sit on the deck and buy overpriced beer....which makes me angry.
 
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