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Mount Snow Update! January 2008
Ken Gaitor,
Mount Snow’s freestyle terrain manager, was dubbed one of “the most innovative
designers in the business” in the January 2008 issue of Ski Area Management
magazine, a widely read periodical in the mountain resort industry.
He was the only New England-based designer featured in the “Master Builders”
article. “Gaitor’s work at Mount Snow has resulted in the type of accolades
usually reserved for western resorts,” reads the article, which goes on to
praise the “rhythmical flow” of the five freestyle terrain parks Gaitor
oversees. read the whole article
here.
Interview with
Mount Snow Terrain Park Crew Member TJ Moloney
Interviewed by Lauren
March 2006
Besides helping design and maintain the parks, TJ has spent
over 120 days riding this winter alone. That's equivalent to 12 years of
riding for most of us. He is of course one of the most stylish riders you'll
come across. And this man knows his parks like you know your toothbrush.
It was Mount Snow, who opened the first terrain park in the East. You
have four terrain parks covering more than 40 acres, and a superpipe.
How's the snow TJ?
TJ Really fun snow. All the parks are holding together. There's a
great flow to the parks. We're keeping up with the hand maintenance. The
Beginner Terrain Park has a small propane tank on the quarter pipe, and
drops into a 20 foot table, into a 16 foot flat bar 3 " 'wide, that's
square, made of metal.
The Park opens up into a double line section. Left, a flat down rail with 8
feet flat, 8 feet down. Next to that is a trapezoid fun box, which is up
flat down.Then a 25 foot tabletop and rainbow rail.
We just built a new hip that's super fun, 40 feet long, drops down into a
platform and a16 foot fun box, off that it drops into a 20 foot 2 inch
stock flat bar. After the flat bar there's a quarter pipe tree ride built
into the quarter pipe. That goes into a 15 ft or 20 feet tabletop.
In the park, there's a horizontal mailbox running sideways. into a 20 ft
downbar, into a 35 foot step-down, into a table hip propane tank bonk. Into
a stepped up flat bar, it doubles into a up flat box, and a flat down rail.
Then there's a quick staging area to catch a breather, and it drops you into
a c-box from left to right, and a 20 foot roller coaster rail with 2 humps.
Into a 25 foot tabletop into a 48 foot down flat down rail. Into a 35 foot
table, with an up funbox option, into a 45 foot table.
Whew! TJ. What else you got?
There's an Expert Terrain park too, requiring a high level of skill, for the
Big Dogs. The highlight is a new (Jan.) 48 foot flat-down-flat-down box that
Eliah Hamilton built
.
I hear your halpipe, the the SoBe Gut Superpipe, is
consistently rated as one of the top 10 pipes in the country. I hear some
competitions had to be moved from their scheduled mountains to Mount Snow
this winter because your pipe has been kept in such excellent condition.
TJ Our halfpipe is the belle of the ball. 450 feet long,
with an 18 foot Zaugg (new last year) cut transition. Zaugg is the premier
pipe cutting tool.The pipe was excavated this year.
That means it was dug into the dirt before the snow, and you get a better
pipe, possibly earlier in the season, right?
Yes. It opened at Christmas. We cut the pipe every other night. At the
bottom of the pipe is a wall ride, 8 ft. tall by 16 feet wide, onto a 15 ft.
transition. Many of our park elements are colorfully spray painted by local
graffiti artists. This year there's an Asian theme with anime designs.
There's another wall ride that can be connected or used separately. There
are 2 other new features. A 20 foot round bar, and a 20 foot box with 2
round bars, with 3" of Plexiglas between them forming a narrow fun box.
The Intermediate and Expert Parks, and halfpipe will stay open for another
week. And the rest of the mountain 'til about April 9.
Thanks for the tour TJ. I'll definitely be checking out the scene next
season! |
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