park

MAMMOTH CONDITIONS REPORT | Some of the best days hit when you least expect it… Today was one of those days. Even local’s jaws were gaped today thanks to a … Read More

It’s springtime and the sun is out, the snow is sloppy mank, and the hot tub and pool are in full effect. No liftlines, one pieces, bikinis and barbeques at Heidi’s are part of what make spring skiing so fun. So do park laps. So grab your best friends and head to the park! SPT has done a much better job with the park this year at Squaw despite the lack of a superpipe. That’s another story but at least we finally got some big jumps this spring. With Ms. Superpark going off this week, the jumps should be prime for the weekend (and hopefully still open to the public).

The jumps at Squaw have gotten fairly massive at times. Thanks Oakley

Instead of RedBull this year we got Oakley, but atleast they funded some big jumps that were open to the public last week. Photo crews are out and the skiing is park prime right now. So get out there and get upside down.

Think gap the chains... or acid drop the parking garage

According to SnowForecast it’s raining outside today, but looking out the window it looks pretty blue! This year you just can’t trust weather reports from anyone… Did they move up the weather B team? Blowing it. I guess the spring has sprung and that means that Dark Park season is upon us. Check out this edit from the Voleurz family of some of their team RIPPING the highest level park as shot from a couple RC heli’s. It will get you fired up to send some big jumps and land those tricks you promised yourself you would learn back in November.

Matt Wainhouse has been dropping fun gopro edits all season. In this one he and Seth Stusser spend 40 seconds getting rad in the Whistler Park jump line on closing day. Lots of steeze on a sunny day. Check out his channel on Vimeo for more fun edits at both Whistler and Stevens pass. Again, we’re all going to miss Whistler park but stay tuned for some Blackcomb edits dropping soon!

High Fives mark accomplishment and encouragement, and signify victory and elation. They’re what you give your best friend after they just did something sick. High Fives are awesome. The High Fives Foundation might be the best High Five of them all however. Roy Tuscany started the organization to help athletes who have suffered a life altering injury in the action sports environment. The Non-Profit organization based out of Truckee, CA has been putting on the TRAiNS event for 5 winters now, and it’s one of the best times of the year in Tahoe. Alpine Meadows has hosted the event for the past 2 winters and designed some pretty rad features.

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Trains attracted a pretty good size crowd

There was some amazing talent out there this year. Nick Goepper, the Paul Mitchell Breakthrough Athlete of the year was here. He’s fresh off podiuming almost every major slopestyle event in the world this year, and was Winter X games slopestyle Silver Medalist. He’s also still a junior in High School. So were Level 1 signature athletes Parker White and Chris Logan. The local talent was also on display with Garrett Russell, Carson Lehoullier, Andy McDowell, Danny Tourmarkine, Cooper Davidson, Austin Simonpietri, Davis Souza, Michelle Parker and lots of others. Super Groms Aspen Spora, Logan and Cody Laplante joined the party and it went down.

3 jump option for the bottom feature at TRAiNS

Think rapid fire athletes launching over 3 jumps at the same time , or in large TRAINS. Jamie Lavalle from Marker/Volkl cooks up some of the best chicken wings you’ll ever eat, the crowds come out, and a big party is thrown. The athletes competed for the first part of the day to determine best 540, best Male, and best Female. These categories were won by Andy McDowell, Nick Goepper, and  Marta Krusell (who is 13 and wasn’t even in the event!!) . These 3 then chose teams of 11 to compete for the chance to donate $5,000 to charities. A great event for a great cause.

• Best Male: Nick Goepper donated $1,000 to the Reeve Irvine Research Center
• Best Female: Marta Krusell donated $1,000 to the Shane McConkey Foundation
• Best 540: Andy McDowell donated $1,000 to SkiD.U.C.K.
• Best TRAiNS Team: Green Team donated $2,000 to the Shane McConkey Foundation

The top feature had both a large jump and box feature

Thanks to High Fives Foundation for putting on such an amazing event and helping out athletes in every way possible. You guys rock, and HIGH FIVES TO YOU.

MAMMOTH CONDITIONS VIDEO | How’s the weather at the beach these days? Word has it the “May-Gray” has come early this year. Well, up at Mammoth we really don’t have a Marine Layer to contend with. Temps are high, skies are BLUE, the snow’s slushy (in a good way), layers are scant (on bodies and the lower mountain) and all present for Mammoth’s Springfest 2012 were summarily entertained.

Here’s my post-weekend offering for a Conditions Report – some VIDEO and a handful of pics. Otherwise, what’s the skinny on conditions these days? I won’t beat around the bush… Warm temps may make for some comfortable, soft riding conditions but there’s no doubt that our snowpack is melting with a quickness.

I love spring time riding at Mammoth and current conditions have not disappointed. Yet given present temp/weather trends it would appear that this year our spring season may be cut short. My advice: get it while you can, you’ll be glad you did.

Just another day at the beach.

Canyon Lodge Pond Skim - a good time, every time.

West Bowl zipper line is ready to put you in your place!

The PROS:

• Even with a substantial portion of the Mountain now without lift service, there’s a lot of great riding out there.
• Shed them layers and double down on the sun protection.
• All groomed runs have outstanding corn snow.
• A full-on party atmosphere was in effect this weekend. Very quiet out there now.
• As always, the Pond Skim was a hit.
• Great bump lines are taking shape.
• Volcom PBRJ Championships Snowboard Rail Jam was on Saturday – always good for endless oooohhhhs and aaaahhhhs.

Mammoth, weathering the warmth.

The CONS:

• That‘s a wrap for Canyon and Juniper base areas. Juniper limped it’s way to this closing date.
• By mid-day there’s a fair number of sticky spots lurking out there. Regularly waxing your boards is a near must this time of the season.
• Many lifts are now closed for the season. Trust me, you’ll make-out just fine without them.
• Sticky spots aren’t the only thing to look out for – Thin and bare spots are sprouting up daily. Continue to relearn coverage on runs ‘cause you do not want to be caught off-guard by a one of these.
• All-in-all the off-piste riding is sticky and heavy. The more people ride through a line the better the snow gets.

A sign of the times... Thin spot growing at the top of Chair 2

BIG bare spot by the top of Chair 4.

Does this tell the story of Juniper Springs for Sunday? I'd say so.

PARK REPORT:

• This is a great time of year to lap Main and Forest Trail Parks.
• Great time to improve you pipe riding skills.
• Pretty much the earlier you get out the less beat-up take-offs and landings will be. Hey, that’s par for spring park riding.
• Chair 4 and South Park are done for the season – it was in great shape right up ‘til the end.

So long South Park, it was fun while it lasted, even if you never had a half pipe

One last look at South Park for 2011/2012 season.

Like to watch top snowboard talent try to out-duel each other on boxes and rails? You'll love the Volcom PBRJ Championships at Mammoth

The STATS:

• New Snow: Yup, looks as though we’ll see some later this week.
• Base: approx. 6’ and shrinking
• Weather: Temps are high and clouds are building up bigger and bigger each afternoon (even more incentive to get out early). Precip. is forecasted for each day this week. We’ll probably see light afternoon rain the next couple days then hopefully it’ll be cool enough by Wed/Thurs to produce snow.
• Conditions: Deep spring corn, slush, afternoon glop.
• Lifts: Mid-week we’re now down to 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, G1, G2.
• Runs: Upper mountain’s still in good shape. Canyon and Juniper are toast (not that you’d be headed there anyhow).

Bottom line: The spring riding is killer right now, even if only a fraction of Mammoth’s lifts are currently in operation. With warm temps you best get to it while you still can.

USC Ski and Snowboard Party in the Park 2 | Thanks to GoPro Guru Abe Kislevitz, USC’s Ski & Snowboard Club has been cranking out killer edits of their excursions up to Mammoth Mountain. These videos consistently get a ton of play with view totals regularly surpassing 100K!

Abe and his band of winter-sport junkies started dropping their attention grabbing videos in 2010 and never looked back – Ever since, the riding, creative direction and editing has just gotten better and better (that’s saying a lot too since all were pretty on point to begin with).

The above video is the latest composition to emerge from the Abe K.-USC A/V Lab and the skiing and editing may be the best we’ve seen yet. “Party in the Park 2” dishes heaps of style and a killer vibe; afterall isn’t that what it’s all about, having fun?

How did this crew get so good at their respective crafts? Is Ski-Bum-olgy the newest Major to be added to the long list of USC’s academic accolades? Whatever the reason, 100s of 1000s of views say it’s working. Nice job gents, As all around.

Trouble viewing the video? Here is a direct link.

Last week, the annual Holy Bowly event went down in Happo-One’s terrain park in Hakuba, Japan. Holy Bowly basically consists of a group of riders getting together every year to build then shred an enormous bowl feature made of snow.

Although local Japanese snowboarders have been running Holy Bowly for ten years now, this year was the first time that the event has gotten attention from the snowboard industry in the US. Lib-Tech supported and participated in the event, sending big name riders like Pat Moore and Jamie Lynn to participate.

Everyone involved seemed impressed with the relaxed, community feel of the event. Indeed, the phrase “Best contest ever” was thrown around more than once. Pat Moore said that Holy Bowly is “everything you want in a contest.”

It is very cool to see such a unique style of competition getting major exposure, and it is even cooler that this event is happening in Happo-One, Japan.

The redesigned Happo-One park, with bowl.

More information on Holy Bowly can be found on: ESPN and OnBoard

Looking for a last-minute reason to make a last-minute trip up to the slopes this weekend? How about Mammoth Springfest 2012? Yes, it’s definitely spring and yes, Mammoth is not … Read More

Hell to the yes!  These fellow girl rippers present to you guys hopefully the best ever segment in female freeskiing history. Enjoy 4 minutes of pure eyecandy!  Lawndart front flips – and an almost landed double front flip, plus a whole lot more progressive female skiing.

Skip to 00:45 for the action!

All infos in www.ninequeens.com