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January, 2025

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Why are park rails so pussy?

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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
im hoping for a real answer here-- why are the rails in parks so small and short? you go to nice parks and they have no problem having 60 foot jumps open to the public but you can't find a rail that lasts for more than a split second or has more than 2 kinks in 99% of parks

wassa deal?? im always so jealous when i see parks in edits that have quad kinks and shit...that shouldnt be that rare eh?
Jun 2 2013 9:38PM
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MilaKunis
Posts: 1480 - Karma: 3,646
They are expensive and unfriendly.
Jun 2 2013 9:43PM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
that's definitely a good point but can't you argue the same about a huge stepdown? lots of cat hours = $ and plenty of ways to hurt yourself on that
Jun 2 2013 9:45PM
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Crehm
Posts: 951 - Karma: 842
I dont know where you live, we have a 40 foot flat tube and usually a flat down flat down box, that ends up being 40 feet long as well.

And my hill may be the cheapest shittiest hill of all time.
Jun 2 2013 9:47PM
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Karl_Hungus
Posts: 510 - Karma: 3,664
like i kinda get your point but then again i ski at hood and t line has some pretty gnarly s rails, kink rails, and the rail jam setups can get insane
Jun 2 2013 10:15PM
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PsychedelicMoose
Posts: 792 - Karma: 3,568
gapers rack themselves on them.
Jun 2 2013 10:17PM
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250r
Posts: 2276 - Karma: 1,013
yea i know what you mean. we never really had anything super massive this year at whistler other than the big cannons and what not for wsi. we had a quad kink and another pretty long rail, but i just atleast want some longer down rails and stuff. That huge 100 foot long rail that i think windels used to have looked like so much fun.
Jun 2 2013 10:27PM
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SSteezle
Posts: 9338 - Karma: 6,666
agree with OP, my home mountain's longest rail is maybe 20 feet. Resorts don't realize how much satisfaction we'd get out of a 60 foot double barrel flat rail
Jun 2 2013 10:27PM
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Karkoskier
Posts: 2999 - Karma: 4,662
Totally agree with you too. I go to Gore a lot and their problem is they take all their shit and make impossible sketchy features that no one will hit. If they just set shit up the way it's supposed to be it would be fun. I can't stand when a rail is like not even a foot off the ground though. There's no point in that.
Jun 2 2013 10:34PM
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DeRizzo
Posts: 3827 - Karma: 3,485
Haha exactly. My home mountain is gore. It's so annoying sometimes. I'm not the best skier on the mountain no doubt but I'd like to see some more interesting rails. The first thing that came to my mind when reading the thread title was the first rail you encounter when entering lower sleighride.
Jun 2 2013 10:43PM
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DBL
Posts: 1405 - Karma: 2,218
Mslm in Ontario has a 140 foot rail
Jun 2 2013 10:46PM
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Karkoskier
Posts: 2999 - Karma: 4,662
That down rail was alright it was just super short. It would've been way better if they just made it a flat down with the other rail like they usually do. Did you do when they flipped the A-Frame and made it into a donkey? It was 100%impossible to slide because the kink was like an 80 degree angle. I saw 2 people try it all day and neither of them cam close.
Jun 2 2013 10:48PM
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Lick
Posts: 1927 - Karma: 518
double barrels are the shit
Jun 2 2013 10:50PM
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Easy-E
Posts: 751 - Karma: 1,686
I ski at a park in wisco. And I'm not verry good but the park crew has this annoying thisg of either building no kicker to. The rail that sticks 3 feet out of the ground or putting a rail below the surface of the snow... I'm not verygood but I can tell a decent rail from shit
Jun 2 2013 10:57PM
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Algebra
Posts: 5215 - Karma: 1,677
well yeah that's def true cause my home mountain is gore and I'm the best skier on the mountain.
Jun 2 2013 11:00PM
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Sir.Steezealot
Posts: 1156 - Karma: 677
Every park need one 15ft+, properly setup, flat, double barrel, rail.
Jun 2 2013 11:00PM
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DeRizzo
Posts: 3827 - Karma: 3,485
Haha I can't imagine what happened when they tried that donkey. I remember seeing the A-Frame and I'm just trying to imagine what it would look like upside down.
Jun 2 2013 11:08PM
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Karkoskier
Posts: 2999 - Karma: 4,662
Exactly what you're thinking. retarded. lol
Jun 2 2013 11:09PM
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bighomieflock
Posts: 2040 - Karma: 2,445
Keystone has no shortage of gnarly rails. Staircases, closeouts, wierd jersey barriers, and they had a z rail to down left down this year.

Click for larger image
Jun 2 2013 11:13PM
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DeRizzo
Posts: 3827 - Karma: 3,485
Ask Terrence if he knows who Rizzo is
Jun 2 2013 11:14PM
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DeRizzo
Posts: 3827 - Karma: 3,485
LOL FUCK THAT. Down flat downs are hard enough haha
Jun 2 2013 11:15PM
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Jaskier
Posts: 335 - Karma: 733
back in the early 2000s rails were scary as shit and people would just end up getting hurt because of how insane the rails were. I rather see mellow 30 foot flat down rail than a 45 footer 10 feet high roller coaster rail any day.
Jun 2 2013 11:19PM
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Karkoskier
Posts: 2999 - Karma: 4,662
You're right Peter sucks.
Jun 2 2013 11:20PM
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fredyferl
Posts: 2952 - Karma: 14,916
The type of rails aren't the same nowadays, there are a lot more tubes, down rails, donkey, kinks ,etc. instead of big roller coasters and rainbows, wich is how it's supposed to be. But definitely park rails are too pussy, in Mont Avila where I ski they build big sketchy step downs but the park ranger tells me that a quand kink is too dangerous. Difficult rails are fun, and if you're gonna have flat rails or down they should be at least 30 feet, if not they're getting old fast IMO. Also, staircases are always way too short
Jun 2 2013 11:37PM
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danbrown
Posts: 11939 - Karma: 21,833
someone find a photo of the dub trap rail from shanghai six
up flat down flat up flat down
Jun 2 2013 11:42PM
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fredyferl
Posts: 2952 - Karma: 14,916

10 Years of Keystone Area 51 from Level 1 on Vimeo.



1:20
Jun 2 2013 11:47PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37816 - Karma: 125,772
TBH I'm too stoned half the time I ski to even have the slightest urge to hit gnarly shit. I love mellow rails, yo.
Jun 2 2013 11:47PM
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Saga.
Posts: 3812 - Karma: 45,337
For the most part I think park builders and crew want a park that people are hyped on riding. You don't get hyped just trying to make it to the end of a rail. You get hyped learning new tricks on rails right? So by having smaller more user friendly rails makes people happier to ride there. Look at sugarbush's park this year.
The other major factor is big rails are a real son of a bitch to put it, maintain, and move. If you're keeping the park fresh and changing features often moving big rails around sucks and you have a higher chance at bending or breaking bigger rails.
Jun 3 2013 12:04AM
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Stickity
Posts: 7750 - Karma: 769
dis
Jun 3 2013 12:31AM
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skibum_mark
Posts: 515 - Karma: 567
1.cats have a lift capacity so rails can only get so big. 2. the bigger the rail the harder to transport and not damage. 3. mslm pulled off the 140 foot rail cause its in ground and they dont get much snowfall.
Jun 3 2013 1:18AM
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GreenHorn
Posts: 4896 - Karma: 1,209
I thought about posting something like this.

I agree, rails in parks should be bigger. At least have a couple really long, sick rails. Even just putting a few together to make something. I think parks would be way more fun with 50 foot rails and such. Cause hitting a 20 foot down rail can get a bit boring.
Jun 3 2013 1:40AM
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CrotchKiller
Posts: 9037 - Karma: 6,943
The clip of Downey packing shit to his face is terrible every time haha
Jun 3 2013 2:01AM
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Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,017
eh i'd say the hype is equal

making it to the end of a burly quad kink is a great feeling, almost better than k-fedding a flat rail
Jun 3 2013 2:15AM
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250r
Posts: 2276 - Karma: 1,013
yea you just need a bit of both. a park that only had quad kinks and 70 foot rails obviously woudlnt be good. but to just have a couple big things to go along with all the normal stuff so you dont get bored doing the same thing
Jun 3 2013 4:45AM
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NH_OPERATOR
Posts: 1070 - Karma: 2,883
I think one thing that alot of the smaller mountains forget though, is that you need some progession. For those of us who are learning, yeah those killer long kinked rails look cool, but how am I supposto work up to that. My mountain this season had ONE beginner rail, and it was pretty shitty for a beginner rail, it was an 8 foot long flat bar. The next easiest rail was a 20 ft down rail over a staircase with a pretty big step up onto it, or a 20 foot flat/down rail. You know what would be nice before stepping up to that? maybe a 20ft flat bar. On an 8 ft rail, I can pretty much just flail my way across and be fine because the things so short. I think that if mountains put a few more beginner friendly features, you would end up with alot more people hitting the cool dfds and shit, because at my mountain unless its super busy there are only ever 2-3 guys hitting every rail in the park.
Jun 3 2013 5:45AM
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SKIU4EA
Posts: 2387 - Karma: 2,072
2 foot long rail at the maximum will be the norm soon, and 3 inches off the ground. Don't want anyone gettin hurt now...
Jun 3 2013 12:20PM
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spliff.Life
Posts: 7847 - Karma: 1,544
see im jealous of this, the hill i ski at (bogus) has a lot of potential but then fucks it up because management or someone doesnt want anything to be 'dangerous', i wish we had sketchy awkward features so i wouldnt get bored
Jun 3 2013 12:45PM
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Blindsurfer
Posts: 2252 - Karma: 2,800
at mslm we have a 140 foot rail lol idk what youre dealing with
Jun 3 2013 1:24PM
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fortyvalve
Posts: 1442 - Karma: 1,573
i'm fortunate enough to have mt snow as my home mountain so there really isn't a shortage of rails there. couldn't find a picture of it but one of my personal favorite features is at Okemo, they used one of the arms of a pipe dragon and turned it into basically a giant cannon box. so dope.
Jun 3 2013 2:32PM
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a_burger
Posts: 5247 - Karma: 20,886
What kind of pisses me off is how "beginner" parks all have rails/boxes that are like 6 feet long max.

I think just a long like 16 foot box or something would be better then like 20 4 foot rails with no takeoff, not to mention a lot cheaper.
Jun 3 2013 3:08PM
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SpliffyJ
Posts: 778 - Karma: 565
Wachusett Mountain has a lame park
Jun 3 2013 3:13PM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
(in response to this and Theron's post) oh for sure, don't get me wrong, i dont want the smaller rails eliminated, those are great for learning new tricks (and learning rails period) and i love some mellow rails

but stuff like that z to lefty DFD at keystone or the double trap from high five (?) are just so sick. i like learning rail tricks but personally i'm way more into rails that take a number of tries to grease

love small/medium rails but im so sick of the longest rail slide in the park to be DINK DINK DINK DONE. sometimes places like mt snow will make frankenstein rails like a couple DFDs put together or whatever and it's just so damn fun

totally understand that big rails are expensive and hard to maintain and move but i think putting "medium" rails together like that sort of solves that problem in a lot of cases

lots of good posts in here, thanks
Jun 3 2013 4:18PM
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ESB
Posts: 9274 - Karma: 10,656
Long rails are harder to move and place, and they have a greater chance of being bent or broken while being moved. That's why most park rails don't get much longer than 30 feet. It's easier for a park crew to build longer features by combining rails than to move around behemoth rails.

Case in point: Quad kink at Timberline. DFD plus a flat-down, same stock, and you're money.

Click for larger image

Jun 3 2013 4:58PM
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johnk
Posts: 232 - Karma: 2,646
What happened to park shoots?! the rail features from that video were way sicker then the classic cut out gap and gap to box you see nowa days...
Jun 3 2013 5:00PM
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tripnip
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 482
Keystone had a fair share of rails this year that i considered pretty damn sketchy
Jun 3 2013 5:06PM
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CrotchKiller
Posts: 9037 - Karma: 6,943
i would love a park with only burly ass rails.
Jun 3 2013 5:12PM
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danbrown
Posts: 11939 - Karma: 21,833
i like getting to the end of a super difficult rail way more than doing a trick on a 15 foot flat bar
Jun 3 2013 5:23PM
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MEOWMIXXX
Posts: 556 - Karma: 2,624
Mount st Louis Moonstone in ontario has a huge selection of rails, you've probably seen TC vids of it
Jun 3 2013 6:18PM
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