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Building booters

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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
So, I work at a mountain which doesn't have a terrain park, as it's spring, this is quite frustrating, so today we built a kicker. It wasn't huge as it was just two of us and it does ok, but I feel it could be better

I know some basics about building kickers, ie, use blocks as much as possible, make sure the transition is smooth, try to find a steep landing etc, but does anyone have any other tips? I'd like to make a few more.

Cheers.
Sep 27 2011 9:08PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
make it way bigger than you think it should be (especially way wider) and let it set before you hit it.
Sep 27 2011 9:09PM
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funtimes
Posts: 263 - Karma: 93
i enjoy making step ups. you should try making one of those...they're super fun
Sep 27 2011 9:10PM
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PeteySkeety
Posts: 996 - Karma: 209
Make sure you have the angles set up right, iv built them and when where done we start making the inrun and the jump is pointing left or right
Sep 27 2011 9:11PM
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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
Solid points, thanks. The third is especially important, ours definitely is not pointing where we intended it, thankfully our landing is wide.
Sep 27 2011 9:16PM
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mathmansam
Posts: 293 - Karma: 40
This was a super helpful post...  But definitely as the fellow said above, let it set before hitting it. Also try your best to approximate how lippy the jump will be, what angle it will project the rider into the air at, dont want people goin 90 ft in the air and 1 ft away from the jump
Sep 27 2011 9:16PM
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p-fo
Posts: 9372 - Karma: 6,155
Landing should be really close in angle to the lip.
Sep 27 2011 9:17PM
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funtimes
Posts: 263 - Karma: 93
hah yeah i don't have much advice to offer, because I am a rookie at making them as well, but I strongly suggest making step-ups sometime.
Sep 27 2011 9:19PM
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maxwell666
Posts: 554 - Karma: 20
no, only if you are landing at the same height as the very tip of your takeoff

Sep 27 2011 9:25PM
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DIX~
Posts: 4695 - Karma: 6,502
Make the transition a lot longer than you think. Otherwise it will kick you. Basically make it bigger in every aspect other than height than you think you need it
Sep 27 2011 9:41PM
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POW-WOW
Posts: 1464 - Karma: 46
Yeah I like to go build fairly long kickers with a good transition but Im not sure what the landing angle should be compared to lip? +K for help anyone.
Sep 27 2011 9:47PM
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CassiusClay
Posts: 1757 - Karma: 2
Build the actual jump huge and make sure the gap is 70+ feet. Guinea pig that shit into fresh pow/not sure the condition of your snow. Then when you hike past your buddies tell them how sketchy it is making them feel unsure about it. Now you can rip that shit up while they watch.
Sep 27 2011 10:36PM
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MrChevyCelebrity
Posts: 509 - Karma: 406
buy some grain shovels.
Sep 27 2011 10:37PM
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homestar
Posts: 2124 - Karma: 4,197
The first think I do when building a jump is draw the outline of the jump in the snow with my pole.

Also, make sure to remember to have a good transition to the jump.  If the jump is built on a downhill, make a longer transition so it doesn't kick you too hard.

It's also really really really important to test your inrun early.  I've spent a day building a jump just to find out the snow in the inrun was too sticky to get enough speed. 
Sep 27 2011 10:45PM
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rubasu
Posts: 185 - Karma: 121
WATER. LOTS OF WATER
Sep 27 2011 10:49PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
use skis and boards to create a frame for the back of the jumps- it makes stacking the snow easier.

make the inrun much longer than neccessary, or at least make some small rollers to pump for more speed when the snow gets slower.

throw a layer of salt down between each block layer of snow, it will melts a tiny layer and then freeze the two layers together.

bring tons of water...for yourself and buddies. especially in the spring time with warm temps and sun, you can get super dehydrated hiking jumps, and building jumps.

Sep 27 2011 11:05PM
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Rextski
Posts: 124 - Karma: 13
add water and do the slide down on ure skiis to to bottom
Sep 27 2011 11:08PM
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steezenskis
Posts: 1044 - Karma: 31
where are you that you already have that kind of snow?
Sep 27 2011 11:21PM
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jibpig
Posts: 124 - Karma: 22
when i build booters i like to make it more for distance by making it less liipy. this is easy to do and can make some sweet jumps.
Sep 27 2011 11:40PM
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,896
This is my recipe. I have built tons of booters in Vail where the moisture content in the snow is really low and I was still able to session it the same day. The drier the snow, the tougher it is to pack, but........

As you are building your pile for the booter, pile up a few feet of snow and then boot stomp the crap out of it. You can add salt while you are boot stomping. Basically, by stomping the snow it is like you are creating your own little avi debris field and it will set up really firm. Keep adding more snow and repeat the process. Seriously jog in place on it and make sure that you are really mixing the snow well. Once you get the pile to the size and rough shape of the jump and you can walk up and down it in your boots without post holing, you are golden. Remember to make the base really wide and boot stomp all the way to the edge of the pile. That way you won't have one side of the jump slough off on you the first time you hit it. Carve out a smooth lip, side step it and then side slip it. Side slipping helps you to tell if the lip is level. If you can side slip straight back into the tranny with your skis directly perpendicular, you're good. If you find yourself sliding forward or back, add snow to the side that you slid to.

Make sure that you are also boot packing the tranny. It sucks when your transition gets sugary and rutted out.
Sep 27 2011 11:48PM
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R.Fahey
Posts: 8602 - Karma: 539
There really is only one method I've ever used that works great.

Build a perimeter out of blocks, 4 feet wider that you think you'll need.. if you continue digging for blocks deeper and deeper the more solid you get generally. So it's best to take your blocks from a hillside.

Once you have the perimeter made, keep tossing more blocks and snow in. It helps to have 2 or more people cutting the blocks, then a person stacking them for the perimeter. for the belly of it, toss em in.

stomp it out. No need for water or salt or any bullshit.
just lots of snow and compression... ie stomp it out with skis on.
Sep 27 2011 11:57PM
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skier_boy26
Posts: 11295 - Karma: 502
This. It looks way bigger than it is. Since you need to make it bigger, you need more time; don't get impatient. It takes a lot of time to make a half way decent booter. A ton of time to make a great one.
Sep 28 2011 12:17AM
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Rosbif
Posts: 2543 - Karma: 930
More great tips, thanks. Packing the snow hasn't been a problem, as it's pretty slushy spring snow (in Chile btw), but that stuff is good to know for the coming winter.

Sep 28 2011 11:34AM
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willy_baller
Posts: 1622 - Karma: 693
In places where the snow is too dry, you can't get blocks, that is where salt and water comes in handy.
Sep 28 2011 11:41AM
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CassiusClay
Posts: 1757 - Karma: 2
Since he would have no experience building with dry snow... Utah?
Sep 28 2011 2:06PM
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SSteezle
Posts: 9296 - Karma: 7,752
def. agree with what rfahey said above, i've never had to use water or salt, just keep packing it down after you build the blocks. Also, def. do what he says and build it much wider than you think the jump is going to be. There's nothing worse than building a nice booter then wishing it was a couple feet wider. If you wanna make the jump look pretty do it after you're done doing everything else to it, just take a shovel and carve the outsides.

here's some pictures of some booters my crews built, it's a claim but im pretty stoked on them

Click for larger image

Click for larger image

Sep 28 2011 4:27PM
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