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hey OP, local here. Grew up skiing at the valley, skied in rangers, then freestyle, then coached. So I’ve got some decent insight.
Unfortunately, the resort does not care. Terrain parks are not seen as a significant source of revenue, so little is invested into the park. Additionally, the valley has at least in the past 4-6 years moved towards a more cost affective risk management and insurance model. This includes cutting down the size of features, making sure they’re marked with the little brushes, ride on lips, no knuckle on the side of kickers to prevent collisions etc, and limiting the size of builds.
Another aspect is the actual terrain parks director, along with builders/mountain ops. Due to poor management, borderline disrespectful pay, and poor work environments, the Valley has had a massive turn over rate in Cat Operators, Snowmakers, park crew. On top of this, the Events and Terrain Parks director, who happens to know my family somewhat well (which is why I won’t name drop) is an Ex race director/coach. Up until about 2019, he had purely been in snowcats helping winch and ensure good conditions for racing. Seeing that he now runs the parks, he really has no true idea what a good park looks or rides like. From what i’ve gained from interactions and observations he just doesn’t care much either.
TLDR: Terrain Parks don’t make money, Management doesn’t care for them, Management doesn’t know how to build or maintain a park, The resort has trouble keeping experienced employees, Park Crew has no say or effect on builds or the park.
