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Pass to eliminate gapers from the park

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Balzberg
Posts: 538 - Karma: 470
so everywhere in CO, gapers are in the park doing idiotic stuff, and i know that winter park requires a pass to get in the park, and i was thinking it would be a good idea for the future to have a pass that gives access to all parks in colorado, and to get it you'd have to somehow show you have common sense
what you guys think of this idea?
Mar 16 2011 8:10PM
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Alex_G
Posts: 11902 - Karma: 1,019
how am i going to fuck your bitches if I can't show them my kewl trix in the park?
Mar 17 2011 12:24PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
I'm not sure whether I agree with the park pass only because I have never seen a system that works.  Here's what I would do>

1) Train ski instructors, patrol and park crew on "Smart Style" or other park code of conduct.
2) Create a system to flag tickets and passes.  Already exists most places. 
3) If resort employees see someone violating park rules, they should notify someone or right down the person's pass or ticket number. 
4) First offense on a day should be a warning and second, pass or ticket should go bye bye.

I coach free style.  This year I had to do a 4 hour training to get a pass that allowed me to take my freestyle kids into the park.  It was pretty ridiculous and should have been watching a video and then taking a test, because you aren't allowed to hit anything in the training.  It was pretty much, "this is a box, this is a rail, this is a jump, this is a good place to stand, this is a bad place to stand, is speed important here". 

I have been begging Vail Resorts to turn it into a video, with a followup test.  That way they could make it mandatory for all employees.  Pretty sure that some of those who are doing stupid shit in the park are mountain staff, like restaurant employees, lift ops, etc.  The great thing about the training is that it definitely covers the do's and don't's like not using rail or box lips as jumps or sitting or standing in places where you are in the way. 

I think if you get more employees to be able to competently enforce the rules, the problem will go away. 
Mar 17 2011 12:37PM
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0l_dopePddlr
Posts: 58 - Karma: 10
there should only be park passes in the big parks no the little baby parks
Mar 17 2011 12:44PM
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PON3
Posts: 3817 - Karma: 783
agree. i dont ride park at all but when im on a mountain i maybe want to do 2 runs on the baby 15 footers which is all i can ride. and i dont want to buy a park pass.
Mar 17 2011 12:51PM
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Powdered_Donuts
Posts: 2180 - Karma: 187
How about a pass to eliminate gapers from Newschoolers
Mar 17 2011 1:12PM
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Yung_Gnarley
Posts: 9092 - Karma: 3,022
Solid plan for sure. That would set a better example.
Mar 17 2011 1:16PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
I likes.  Make all new members must read "how do you get to chad's gap from the bottom of alta"  thread; the whole thread before they can post. 
Mar 17 2011 1:19PM
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MAX_FACtor
Posts: 278 - Karma: 13
^win^
Mar 17 2011 1:28PM
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cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,686
My solution, although briefly outlined earlier, is as follows. Obviously the amount of resources required is higher then some ski areas could afford.

The area has 3 levels of parks, Family, General, and Pro.

The Family Park is open to everyone. It should be in an area, and on a run that is attractive to families. It needs to be well lift served and well marked and signed. This park would include small features including short rails and boxes, rollers and low consequence jumps (think 5 foot tables and small spines). These features should be low maintenance, with little effort required other then a weekly or bi-weekly touchup. Access to this park requires nothing other then a lift ticket.

The General Park would require a special park pass to access. This pass would be free of charge, but would require attending a short safety and etiquette class as well as signing an additional waiver. This class and waiver should be offered at the top of the park. You would need to get a new park pass each season, once you have the park pass it is good for the rest of the season.
The general park would be made up of Medium and large features to include longer and higher rails, kinked or shaped rails and boxes, creative jibs, as well as jumps ranging from 20 to 40+ feet, as well as a super pipe. The general park would be the largest in both physical space and number of features.

The Pro Park would require an additional pass on top of the park pass to access. This pass would cost somewhere between $15 and $30, and require filling out an additional waiver that would only be available in the base area, ie not near the park. This park would consist only of Large and XLarge features, Jumps would be in the 50 to 80+ ft range. The rail and jib options would be high consequence (think gap to rail, swing sets, rail transfers, etc). Access to this park would be near or through the General Park (similar to Blackcomb).

Both of the park passes would be revokable for unsafe actions, bad etiquette, and at the discretion of the park staff. For example if a person sits in the landings (unsafe), or cuts people off (bad etiquett), or continually comes up short on jumps (park staff discretion) their park pass could be pulled.
Mar 17 2011 1:58PM
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pigglywiggly
Posts: 4482 - Karma: 305
If it means paying another 50 bucks for it to get implemented on my season pass for it then I'm all for it. Wayyyy to many gapers at springs
Mar 17 2011 2:04PM
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pink_squid
Posts: 1188 - Karma: 368
id go for this. but the most id pay would be 15$ for the pro pass. and having to watch a vid seems like a total drag
Mar 17 2011 3:05PM
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Gnarshmellow
Posts: 304 - Karma: 30
i know that there is talk of bringing park passes back to seven springs because two gapers in a row pizzaed into a 60+ ft jump and cased hard enough for them each to break legs...its becoming a question of liability

Mar 17 2011 3:11PM
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Balzberg
Posts: 538 - Karma: 470
changin it but i dont think i stole it, coincidences...
Mar 17 2011 3:27PM
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cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,686
The idea is to make it a drag. If you make it a big pain in the ass only the people who actually want to use the big features will go for it, economics 101.

Really, if you ski 30+ days a season, watching a 10 min video once is not that big of a deal. Say you ski 40 days a season, you spend an average of 5 hours on hill each day. That is 12,000 minutes of skiing. I would think that most of us would be willing to spend 0.08% of our ski time to drastically reduce the amount of gaperness in the terrain park.
Mar 17 2011 3:34PM
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pink_squid
Posts: 1188 - Karma: 368
^^ when u put it that way then i guess its not that bad.
Mar 17 2011 3:37PM
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pigglywiggly
Posts: 4482 - Karma: 305
hahaha case in point. the landings and jumps up to rails get destroyed sooo fast because of side jumpers and the sheer amount of people straight airing the jumps to the sweet spot of the landing and killng it
Mar 17 2011 3:42PM
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erejto64
Posts: 817 - Karma: 228
at my mountain some kid snuck into the park without a park pass and tried a backflip on a huge jump.... so they put in the IF identifyer things like at alta where u scan ure pass and the gates open. it works well
Mar 17 2011 3:51PM
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SCB_
Posts: 402 - Karma: 15
word
Mar 17 2011 3:59PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
This!  ... fill the mote with salt water crocodiles and great white sharks. 
Mar 17 2011 4:06PM
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tall_t
Posts: 1036 - Karma: 15
yep. and also you have to know what ballin means
Mar 17 2011 4:08PM
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shaggy.
Posts: 433 - Karma: 299
ingenious, i wonder why no one has thought of this before. you must be truly gifted my friend
Mar 17 2011 4:09PM
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.RYAN66
Posts: 5381 - Karma: 235
great idea and great post +k to your sir.

let me add my thoughts to it as well.

all three parks should be together and be able to acesss off of a main lift, that way if i want to warm up in the beginner park or just screw around after a long day of hucking i dont have to go far to get to it.


in the general park i think a regular pipe would be better insted of a super that way the general park system is more of a progression system, practice in the regular size and move up to the super, not to mention that if you dont know how to ride pipe and huck the 22 foot walls it probably wont end wall if you dont know what to do in the air.

the advanced park is great, + the super pipe bit.


i can go on and on about how i would set up my park if money was an option.

there should be people besides rangers enforcing the rules in the park or the rangers should be informed more on park knowledge, one ranger this year told me that the down hill skier has the right of way anywhere, when he was on the landing of a cannon box and i almost hit him.
Mar 17 2011 4:38PM
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Ski_Alot
Posts: 5900 - Karma: 3,627
so you must pay extra money to the same park you had before for free? no way
or is like you must show off your skills to be able to access the park? in that case no one would be] able to practice and become less of a gaper, cause face it we all used to be one...
Mar 17 2011 4:46PM
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cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,686
Well it would not exactly be the same park as before. The jumps could be bigger, the rail and jib options more creative, and it would not be filled with complete morons.
Mar 17 2011 5:45PM
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terrible_skier
Posts: 2066 - Karma: 226
thanks. idk ive had this icon for a long time and have never seen anyone else with it.
Mar 17 2011 6:09PM
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sammy_
Posts: 1597 - Karma: 467
. i think i have had my mind changed about 4 times within this thread.
Mar 17 2011 6:11PM
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DADDYlongLEGS
Posts: 1574 - Karma: 48
I forgot about a funny ass story that happened earlier this year. Once I was standing on a roller above a rail because there was a lady in the landing and I thought I might hit her. I was waving my arms to try to get her to move and she waved back then moved directly in front of the rail and got out her camera to try to take a picture. She needed to be informed by watching a video or something.
Mar 17 2011 6:39PM
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Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,404
best
idea
ever
Mar 17 2011 6:42PM
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skier_boy26
Posts: 11295 - Karma: 502
listen to COBRA COMMANDER's piece

a lot of mountains could not utilize a 3-tier park system. Those that can SHOULD for the very reasons mentioned: better features, better awareness, and less gapers.


I have to say, one of my biggest pet peeves is dumbass kids saying "we have to learn somehow" or something along those lines. That is not justification to put people in danger.

We all have to start somewhere - hence a beginner (family) park and/or a general park should be accessible, the latter requiring a pass. Having these kinds of parks with features that are small enough to learn on with reduced consequence for all, but progressive enough in size and variety to learn on fills in that middle ground. YOU DON'T NEED TO SHOW YOUR SKILLS. But when I see people (and I'm not alone) that can barely ski or snowboard mingle or "hit" big features, I get pissed. They should not be there. They aren't learning anything. They are putting themselves and others in danger.

Cash money for a pass isn't a bad idea either. Besides, you aren't skiing park for free. Blackcomb has been doing it for something like 8 or 9 years. Payment, video (well, not at Blackcomb), waiver... all these things weed out people who have zero interest in actually being aware of what is going on. I'm just beating a dead horse here. Kids need to get learned.
Mar 17 2011 7:00PM
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esotericjive
Posts: 1889 - Karma: 1,445
Yeah, but fill the moat with sharks. That have fricken' "lasers" on their backs. But not salmon.
Mar 17 2011 7:23PM
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ben-jamm-in
Posts: 344 - Karma: 174

this is a great idea, and would make things a lot simpler, instead of having a winter park pass, a breck pass, a keystone pass, a steamboat pass etc...  or tape everywhere except for on the jump could do the trick, like they do in scandanavia

Mar 17 2011 7:39PM
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SKIU4EA
Posts: 2387 - Karma: 2,072

weekends are the worst.  all my focus is directed towards predicting which direction gapers are going to zig zag in their pizzas of death.

so yeah, park passes in all the medium to large parks.  Let them all crash into each other in the minny parks.  It's so fun to watch... admit it

Mar 17 2011 8:31PM
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.squirrely.
Posts: 7563 - Karma: 7,546
okemos park has no gapers.  its great
Mar 17 2011 8:38PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37379 - Karma: 119,905
Its not just gapers that cause problems, Its people that don't know a damn thing about park etiquette I.E little kids. I'm all for people learning how to ski park but I do think it should be mandatory for newcommers to the sport of freeskiing to touch up on the rules of park.

Its not fair to us whenever someone who doesn't know rules to come into the park, cut everyone off, fall before the feature or fall on the landing and take forever to get up with us almost hitting them and their parents bitching us out about how we need to watch where they are going.
Mar 17 2011 8:44PM
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Balzberg
Posts: 538 - Karma: 470
so true
Mar 17 2011 9:52PM
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Nick_P
Posts: 321 - Karma: 89
Paying for a park pass would be fucking retarded. You are already paying a huge amount for your season pass/lift ticket, why pay more? Learn how to ski the park with gapers. There will always be gapers, if not then skiing won't exist. So park pass= no, spraying gapers if they are in your way= yes.
Mar 17 2011 10:06PM
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DADDYlongLEGS
Posts: 1574 - Karma: 48
Just jib them and show them watsup
Mar 17 2011 10:13PM
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Chompo.
Posts: 4952 - Karma: 88
even on top of this

with purchase of a SEASON's pass no purchase of a pass to the xl park is necessary but you still have to watch the video for the general park.
Mar 17 2011 10:26PM
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Balzberg
Posts: 538 - Karma: 470
haha, ive had it since summer, i just barely go on here though
Mar 18 2011 12:38AM
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