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Nickc88I second your assessment, Im a PA guy (Big Boulder) so I didnt have much experience with Mountain Creek before 2014, but ive been there 2 times in the last 5 years. First time probably in 2015, definitely wayyy better than when I went in 2017-2018 season. If I had to guess I would say that the parks experienced a brain-drain. Mountain Creek used to have quite a few heavy hitters in the the parks, like Sam Zahner and i think Mike Cappola. Otherwise I doubt the employees there have any idea whats going on, or at least the mountain doesn't give a fuck about parks.
SnowshoeThompsonProbably an unexperienced manager. The ski industry is extremely bureaucratic. I remember seeing a bunch of edits coming out of there, that’s a bummer
freeskibum82Park skiing is dying and the majority of the skiing public doesnt use it. With lack of snowfall in the NE year over year it's been on the decline. Even Stratton parks "the birth place of snowboarding" sucks now. Jerrys keep complaining about the trails being terrain parks and Stratton listens and caters to those paying for lift tickets and staying in resorts. Racing is also a bigger money maker than park. It'll be interesting what happens to Mt Snow/Carinthia with Vail owning it now.
860media*well they own Big Snow now and that place is pretty proper haha maybe people bailed over to that. Big Snow only opened last year tho.....
freeskibum82Park skiing is dying and the majority of the skiing public doesnt use it. With lack of snowfall in the NE year over year it's been on the decline. Even Stratton parks "the birth place of snowboarding" sucks now. Jerrys keep complaining about the trails being terrain parks and Stratton listens and caters to those paying for lift tickets and staying in resorts. Racing is also a bigger money maker than park. It'll be interesting what happens to Mt Snow/Carinthia with Vail owning it now.
freeskibum82Park skiing is dying and the majority of the skiing public doesnt use it. With lack of snowfall in the NE year over year it's been on the decline. Even Stratton parks "the birth place of snowboarding" sucks now. Jerrys keep complaining about the trails being terrain parks and Stratton listens and caters to those paying for lift tickets and staying in resorts. Racing is also a bigger money maker than park. It'll be interesting what happens to Mt Snow/Carinthia with Vail owning it now.
theabortionatorIdk about that. The core woah wow snowboard park sick dude vibe def died off a long time ago, and the freeski revolution was over a decade ago but parks are super busy.
If anything more places are focussing on small medium parks that cater more to everyone and building less XL jumps. These days it's not just about "Holy fuck look at that huge booter or that crazy rail" it's more "are people using it".
Halfpipes died out many places but have kind of stabilized. Some of the few that build them enjoy the novelty of having the only or one of the few around. I hope they don't disappear too much more.
Idk. Parks are pretty busy though. Maybe not everyone is killing it but they get a lot of traffic. Especially the smaller parks with baby jumps, dancefloors, wide boxes, short rails etc.
Idk what the hell stratton did ro their parks but it sounded like they got nuked over a decade ago.
Will def be interesting to see what happens with vail owning peak resorts. BB is a real heavy hitter on there as well. If there parks get it would be pretty sad.
Also jerries suck
freeskibum82I do agree with you that places do not need 80' kickers or 12' cheese wedges anymore. But from my perspective they are becoming an afterthought (outside of Killington and Mt Snow). Maybe Stratton gave up because if people want park just drive 10 miles down the road to Mt Snow. Park rats dont spend money on resort.. But look at the location where parks are now, most of the time off an in the corner of the mountain. Even ski manufacturers are moving away from park. just look at their ski lineups.some only have a single park ski. They dont sell and when they do the kids expect to get them 50% off.
freeskibum82Park skiing is dying and the majority of the skiing public doesnt use it. With lack of snowfall in the NE year over year it's been on the decline. Even Stratton parks "the birth place of snowboarding" sucks now. Jerrys keep complaining about the trails being terrain parks and Stratton listens and caters to those paying for lift tickets and staying in resorts. Racing is also a bigger money maker than park. It'll be interesting what happens to Mt Snow/Carinthia with Vail owning it now.
a_burgerI don’t like this assessment that park skiing is “dying” sure the growth has flattened off a bit but to me it feels like a self fulfilling prophecy. Old heads in charge see the slow in growth and cut the budget, which in turn slows the growth even more and drives park riders away to other mtns.
Parks are going to be crucial in the next 20-30 years for growing skiing participation. Racing may make money in the short term but it’s not exciting enough to make younger kids get off the internet and go outside to try skiing like park does.
freeskibum82I do agree with you that places do not need 80' kickers or 12' cheese wedges anymore. But from my perspective they are becoming an afterthought (outside of Killington and Mt Snow). Maybe Stratton gave up because if people want park just drive 10 miles down the road to Mt Snow. Park rats dont spend money on resort.. But look at the location where parks are now, most of the time off an in the corner of the mountain. Even ski manufacturers are moving away from park. just look at their ski lineups.some only have a single park ski. They dont sell and when they do the kids expect to get them 50% off.
yungmishLets get #JibsOnBear trending
Grindy_McSliderIt depends on where the experience is tbh. Some cat drivers/ park crews just don't have the knowledge to be able to build the massive features that will be safe. That being said, there is no reason for resorts NOT to have at least, a small park. And like others have said, these little shredders come with their families who are probably the whales for the resort.
Doing the big features and having pros come to your park does wonders for a resort's marketing.
swagmasterflexYa true but I just don't understand how a park crew that was able to build perfect large and xl features just disappeared in a matter of 3-4 years and now the biggest kicker is like a 20 foot gap if you're lucky.
swagmasterflexYa true but I just don't understand how a park crew that was able to build perfect large and xl features just disappeared in a matter of 3-4 years and now the biggest kicker is like a 20 foot gap if you're lucky.
partyandBSGlobal warming man. Those large kickers have melted to smaller ones.
a_burgerI figure most people who are that skilled would probably want to put their talents to use somewhere with a longer season and better snow. I feel like I saw a listing for the park manager position there for a while the past few years, and not having a manager mid season is a great way to make the park suffer
SkiBum.Curious to see what big boulder and mount snow parks are like this winter. I’d assume they are much smaller then previous. Especially mount snow. No way Vail keeps that park and that location as big as it was.
freeskibum82especially with that fancy dancy lodge they build over in carinthia and offer valet parking now....
SkiBum.Curious to see what big boulder and mount snow parks are like this winter. I’d assume they are much smaller then previous. Especially mount snow. No way Vail keeps that park and that location as big as it was.
a_pla5tic_bagI've been skiing creek since the late 90's /early 2000's, I forget. Creek has sucked for a while. I've been going Blue in PA and occasionally Windham but that's really far from me.
-South is overflowing with NYC tourist snowboarders making the lift lines incredibly long on weekends or other times where people have off.
-The trails are ultra short so time on lift is significantly longer than time spent skiing.
-Snowboarder bombholes on all boxes and rails
-Most rail features seem designed exclusively for a snowrboarder to "50-50" over. 50-50ing a box wider than your board isn't a trick.
-NJ has gotten horrible snowfall for years now.
-Transportation, be it skiing or otherwise, between peaks is terrible.
-Trails are frequently closed for races all day.
**This post was edited on Sep 17th 2020 at 3:40:18pm
theabortionatorYeah because skiers don't do any of that stuff?
a_pla5tic_bagI don't know what you mean. I can't ski a trail if it's closed for a race. Features meant for snowboarders to 50-50, i.e. 2 ft wide boxes placed in ground are boring. If I want to ski other trails, I typically have to take bus between the three peaks because the trail between hasn't opened for some time because no snow. Trails are short but it's NJ so my bad for having expectations I guess.
The little park they set up right next to the right most lift on South (if looking uphill) has been pretty ok though. They had a quarter pipe at the end one year.
dan38Yeah noticed the same on my local mountain, Mts Southington. Small little hill but used to have a solid park, worked a lot with jibsforcribs and had a bunch of jams. All that's gone now (At least as of the last time I was there in 2018), features are so small and bland or are built pretty exclusively with snowboarders in mind.
theabortionatorJibs for cribs always seemed kinda shit for mtns to have. Gore had a history of buying rails from places like that. Idk stuff is great for backyards and stuff but doesn't hold up that well at resorts. I mean ive seen sketchier features at resorts for sure but I think mtns should just figure out dimensions that don't suck and build shit in house. Or pay up for a company to build stuff.
dan38Yeah, it was all custom made for the mountain. The also sponsored the comps stuff like that. I remember going to Gore when I was first learning how to hit features and somehow they had jibs for cribs stuff that sucked wayyy more than the local hill near me.
theabortionatorOh word that makes sense. Yeah gore had the normal backyard stuff i think. The boxes were weird and kinda bouncy if you 50 50d them. They were really small too. The guru rails gore has are kinda wonky too. The shotgun is such thin steel me and my buddy bent it straight by standing in the ends.
Then again the down flat kink that gore built was like a 40 degree kink with a gap to it. So maybe not everyone should build their own features.
swagmasterflexYa totally agree. Creek died when Cappola left. Boulder goes hard tho, hella far drive for a day trip for me but still worth it. They know how to build and maintain a really solid park, wish it was closer
a_pla5tic_bagI've been skiing creek since the late 90's /early 2000's, I forget. Creek has sucked for a while. I've been going Blue in PA and occasionally Windham but that's really far from me.
-South is overflowing with NYC tourist snowboarders making the lift lines incredibly long on weekends or other times where people have off.
-The trails are ultra short so time on lift is significantly longer than time spent skiing.
-Snowboarder bombholes on all boxes and rails
-Most rail features seem designed exclusively for a snowrboarder to "50-50" over. 50-50ing a box wider than your board isn't a trick.
-NJ has gotten horrible snowfall for years now.
-Transportation, be it skiing or otherwise, between peaks is terrible.
-Trails are frequently closed for races all day.
**This post was edited on Sep 17th 2020 at 3:40:18pm
theabortionatorThose boring wide boxes are for skiers to 50 50 too. Idk the everything is snowboarders fault is pretty 2005.
Idk ive honestly never even ridden mtn creek but landjngs of features get bombed out, people side jump things, and people 50 50 dancefloors.
MXmxI’ve got bruised ribs and shit ton of scratches on my arms from a snowboarder snaking my line 1 second before I was landing a jump.
Don’t you notice all the deep scars in the snow? Impossible for skis to make.
Stuff being snowboarders fault is very last week at big snow in New Jersey.
theabortionatorMeh. I've been hit by both, snaked by both. People who are bitter against snowboarders are jerrying out. I get it, it's "those guys" but still. And the trenches you're referring too are really only noticeable from apline boards. Also on most east coast days the snows not even soft enough to noticeable cut up.
Maybe we should just make them snowboard parks again and any crusty skiers can go back to just skiing moguls and cliffs. Johnny tsunami that shit.
Idk I feel like for the last 15 years it really hasn't mattered if you ski or snowboard. A lot of mixed crews, even families.
I get being frustrated by people getting in the way, kooking it up, running into you, sitting on features, snaking your line etc but that isn't a skier or snowboard issue, just a noob thing.
MXmxI’ve been skiing since I was 4. Never had a park accident until last week. Rarely snaked by a skier.
Moguls and jumps are cool...
It almost always is a snowboard issue with camping, snaking, etc. It’s cultural.
Better yet, deer valley should get its park back and Alta and mad river glen should get parks.
I don’t have a problem with anyone, but I do notice who is consistently doing BS on the mountain.
theabortionatorI've seen so many hordes of skiers duck walk up take offs, families camp on landings, a ski indtructor that put 8 kids directly behind the takeoff on the knuckle of a 70 foot jump, snakes for days, etc.
Sorry you got hit but no need to be crusty about it. It's not cultural. You just seem to have a blind spot and only notice the issues with snowboarders.
Maybe I'll spray you while snaking your line next time I see you. I gotta get to that box and get my 50 50 on. It's cultural.
Wanting to ski park at deer valley to get away from snowboarders is hilarious. Maybe you're just one of those ski chads that's always hated knuckle draggers. Whatever it's your problem. Everywhere else skiers and boarders are squadded up ripping the park and mountain while you shake your fist at the sky and curse them.
It's honestly amusing seeing how core some people are on here. There's douchery in both sports but def a lot of shot entitlement in skiing. Especially from people who were in bigger racing programs as kids.
Winter will be here soon, smoke a bowl or something and get over it my dude.
