Blackcomb Park is Open
Hey Park riders, Brian back at the keyboard to start another season of Park updates. The Americans are about to jump into their Thanksgiving weekend and although the Canuck version is long gone, I am going to poach in on their parade since there is something I am supremely thankful for. I could not be more stoked about the amount of snow we have received in the month of November, shattering age old records and making opening day jump 12 days earlier on the calendar. We have already got a mid-season snowpack depth and more keeps-a-coming in the high alpine even when it is pouring rain in the valley.
The natural snow combined with the snowmaking crew’s results has put us in a good position for the opening of the Blackcomb Park. Once Marty and Lucas actually found the rails in their cats and the veteran rangers dug them out we got to work building and have a solid offering for Blackcomb’s opening day. We have three LARGE jumps set up in the Highest Level zone although it is not officially the “HL Park” and you won’t need your HL passes yet. The crew also managed to set up 10 rails and boxes and have a few more on the “to do” list tonight likely bringing our jib count up to a dozen or so by the weekend.
Also on the go at Blackcomb is the construction of the Superpipe by Olympic pipe builder Steve Petrie. That’s right we got the man himself from Arena Snowparks to come and build our pipe first. No eta for completion yet but check in regularly and I will keep you posted on the build process.
Whistler has been plowing along with the crew digging out the features and battling to keep them open through the storms. Murph and KC have been fishing out jibs and prepping pads in their machines all week and spending hours packing the Park to make it ride-able. They have now bumped down from the top of Emerald to the top of the Park and have four jibs, a jump and a hip ready to go and a few more ideas on the go for the weekend.
Big props to the groomers who have been working along side the rangers getting everything dug out daily!
I’m thankful for the snow and you will be thankful you made the effort to come and ride. Wax up and get up here, don’t miss the epic start to the season. -B
