Park Updates 2007.08

Spring shoot season is finally past us for this year.  The weather was a little tricky but in the end mother nature was good to us and the crews couldn't be more stoked!.

Over the past two weeks Sandbox and Runway Films shoot on Blackcomb Mountain in 7th Heaven, by Cloud Nine on the boundary to Lakeside Bowl.  As always, the weather was an issue for both shoots but both crews ended up having two great days of filming each.

You can expect Lucas and Timmy to push up a bunch of new and creative jib setups and jump lines before the Spring Park reaches its full potential. If you have not seen what's up then come up and check it out. It is fun to have a whole new line with different backdrops for your filming and photographing pleasure. This is the last year we will be doing a traveling park so take advantage of the new angles and get some footage now. Next year we will be continuing the regular park and pipe through the spring including the Highest Level and Superpipe.

Spring update: Blackcomb Mountain has a new exciting terrain park open through to the end of May in the Jersey Cream area featuring a mix of small, medium as well as large jibs and jumps built for the Orage Masters.

This week we are into TWSSF build mode and there will be some changes on the way as we build the TJ Schiller designed super-sicko Orage Masters venue and rebuild the Superpipe one last time. We are also adding some new features this week with the arrival of the new Telus ledges and a complete redesign of the Bobcat line on Whistler. Look for it!

Spring is like a Teenager - Just because the calendar and almanac say it is spring doesn’t mean the weather is going to cooperate. We all know that the sun baked days of shredding park are coming but we will have to wait for spring to decide to come on its own terms. In the meantime we will all have to be content to ride powder...

The final installment of the King of the Rail went off last week with the best set-up to date. A super technical double C-box "S" combo lead into the "Jail Rail" on the right side and a long flat box into the big down-flat-down box balanced out the left side. The snow was cooperative and the tricks being tossed onto the rails were next-gen stuff!

The Stoke is Ageless - The ultimate sensation of being stoked comes from the feeling you get when you stomp that elusive trick you have been trying and slide away clean for the first time.

When it comes to the Terrain Parks; at Whistler Blackcomb we mix up all the different styles of riding and skiing and spit out an offering that has something for everyone. The beauty of Park Style riding and skiing is that athletes can express themselves on the simplest feature or on the biggest and most technical. It is amazing what can be done on one board or two with something as simple as a beat up old barrel or broken picnic table.

The level of skill being displayed in all of the Whistler Blackcomb Parks is astonishing these days. The progression we are seeing in athletes is at light speed and tricks formerly reserved for the rare mutants are now being thrown with ease by local kids. The Parks all got new set-ups this week, some even seeing changes daily.

A little tast of Spring this week!  The parks were all going off with over 500 riders per hour lapping through in the blazing sun. The landings were soft and riders were stomping new tricks and learning new grabs.

The latter half of the season will be dedicated to bringing back some old school.
The secret lines are developing and park riders willing to stray from the classic lines will discover a stack of natural jibs with maintained take-offs and landings. You can expect to see some new rail combos in the Parks as well as the classic spring set-ups we all know and love.

The word of the week is "More". More features, more snow, more shredding, you get the picture. The 2007-2008 winter is proving to be a perfect combo of sun and storms. Days of big dumps and the requisite powder and tree riding seem to be balancing with stretches of blue sky park riding days. This week we are back into the storm cycle after some crisp cold clear days last week. During the gaps in the storm the parks grew more experimental features in addition to seeing the installation of several old classic jibs.

We have a total of 4 Parks at Whistler Blackcomb and in those Parks we now have a staggering 64 Jibs and 56 jumps plus the Superpipe and Snowcross Course which adds another heap of terrain to the pile. The good news is that we are not done yet and already have designs for at least 6 new jibs for next week, several more jumps, and three more experimental features

We almost had to call in the Mars Bomber because the HL Park was ON FIRE this week! The jumps are in sick shape, pros and ams could be seen spinning and corking new experimental airs that are still un-named. Look for some of the footage captured this week in the video parts of your favorite athletes next year

Last week the snows came and the mid mountain snow depth topped 2-and-a-half meters which meant two things for Park riders. First it meant that the plow boys could push the snow into a bevy of new jump features which filled in all the empty spaces in the parks and made for good progressive flow. Second it meant that the riding in the trees reached a point where you could trick off the natural organic obstacles in and around the park with softer landings and better pillows.

King of the Rail 2 went off on January 12 with some high end riding by men and women on skis and snowboards.

La Nina has been pummeling Whistler with snow constantly over the last few weeks and the parks are growing with the height of the snow.

Happy New Year, Brian here with the first update of 2008. Shake off that holiday headache and get up here, it is dumping on the hills and more snow means more product for the groomers to work with! New jumps are popping up in all parks with more on the way as it gets deeper by the hour.

Blackcomb saw the return of the Big Easy Terrain Garden with four mini rails and two snow features. The Nintendo Terrain Park got a facelift with a higher entrance on Choker.  The HL now sports a double entrance for a smooth ride from the spine into the park plus the jumps are growing and the landings are getting longer.

All the new snow meant riders were lapping powder all morning and then hitting the park in the afternoon for some soft landings.

Park and Pipe Udate for December 12, 2007 - Blackcomb Superpipe and the Highest Level Park are now Open. The Nintendo Park on Blackcomb now has 13 features including the C-Box and Tree-Jam.  The Habitat Terrain Park on Whistler continues to expand with new jumps and hits.

After 14 years of running the most successful terrain parks in the industry, Stu Osborne is moving on. Brian Finestone takes over the role of Terrain Parks & Glacier Operations.

Snowmaking teams have been making lots of snow with the colder temps and there's a good choice of jibs and jumps on both mountains.

Blackcomb Mountain is now open & the Parks team worked hard to set up several rails & hits for our Park customers.

We are proud to announce that Quiksilver is a new Parks sponsor and supplier of the 2007/08 Parks staff uniforms.

Fred, Anto, & Eric are wrapping up work on our rails for the 2007/08 season.

The guys have built several new T style boxes, regular boxes, narrow flat bar rails, a long battleship box & down flat down box.

Creating and ensuring our rails are bomber is the task of our ace fabrication crew. Fred and Anto are designing, cutting and welding and Eric covers the painting, paneling, logo stenciling and puck board work.

The picnic tables were a big hit at the Camp Of Champions this summer so the rail team has added four to our own fleet.

Anto, Fred & Eric are back working on the rails for the 07/08 season. Many of the rails stayed on hill & will be checked & serviced on site.