Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding
Most resorts now have a terrain park and many big resorts even have multiple options – and for good reason as they're a serious amount of fun!
Parks may seem a little intimidating on first glance, with big kickers and solid metal rails scattered across the mountain. But with a bit of know-how and a keen eye for safety (see below), spending some time in the terrain park will take your holiday to the next level. There's quite a lot of lingo to get used to, so to help out here's our in-depth guide.
Features in the Terrain Park
Every snow park has a different variety of features but some, such as kickers and rails, are pretty commonplace. Features offer a platform for performing different tricks or combinations of tricks and this is where the snow park really comes into its own, offering a different sort of riding experience than you will find on the piste or in the powder.
Kickers
Kickers range in size and difficulty, from small jumps to larger snow ramps that launch you into the air in order to do aerial tricks. The landing zone is lower than the take-off which allows you to safely complete a trick.
Rollers
Rollers are a good stepping stone towards kickers, pipes, walls and spine ramps. Often found directly next to a kicker, a roller is an undulation in the terrain. If you jump at the righ tmoment, it is possible to get enough air to perform tricks. They are an integral part of ski and snowboard cross courses.
Half Pipe
The staple in the pipe family. The half pipe lets you do a series of tricks in one run off the top or “lip” of the walls on each side, with the transition areas between allowing you to maintain momentum down the length of the pipe.
Super Pipe
The super pipe is the half pipe’s big brother and, as the name suggests, everything including the height of the walls, length of the transitions and length of the pipe itself is larger. Super pipes are a popular choice at pro events such as the Winter X Games.
Quarter Pipe
The quarter pipe is a cross between a kicker and the halfpipe. Consisting of one shorter side of a halfpipe, there is one transition to the lip of the wall but instead of clearing the feature (as on a kicker), you land back on the same transition you took off from.
Rails
Rails vary from the conventional straight flat type to everything from s-shapes and rainbows to downwards, kinked features – every snow park will offer something different. Their construction will also be different, ranging from a single barrel or flat bar to a double or triple barrel.
Boxes
Boxes refer to any box-shaped object that snowboarders and skiers can jump over or slide across. Because of their width, they can be good to practice on before moving on to the more technically demanding rails.
Table tops
A table top owes some of its being to a kicker but unlike its relative, the ramp leads you to a flat deck area – the table top – which you jump over to reach an equal and opposite landing zone on the other side of the feature.
Walls
Walls are also related to the quarter pipe but, as they are constructed from materials like wood, the style of riding is different. This can range from stalling or sliding on the top edge, to planting on the main body of the wall.
