Terrain Park Safety

Understanding

Park Smart

Every Feature. Every Time.

Make a Plan

Always use the Terrain Park Mantra: Pre-ride, Re-ride, Free-ride

Things happen fast in this sport. Stack the deck in your favor with a plan—envisioning everything you need to do—and visualize yourself doing it successfully. 

  • Preview terrain before you attempt it, as it can often be difficult to see the entire story from upslope. Take a warm up lap and scope the features (i.e. go around the jumps first, not over them).
  • Your speed, approach, and takeoff directly affect both your tricks and your landing. If someone else hits the feature before you, see what speed works for them. Be aware that features constantly change throughout the day due to weather, usage, grooming, and time of day.
  • Take the time to read signs and heed hazard markers and flags.
  • Use a spotter.  They can see new hazards (like an unaware skier entering the feature incorrectly).  If you crash, they can signal to those above you to wait.
Know Your Limits. Land On Your Feet.

Take it Easy

Ready for a few hot laps through the park? To make the most of your time, keep these points in mind:

  • Practice the tricks you can already nail before moving on to bigger variations.
  • Try new variations of your tricks on small features before moving to large features. 
  • Start on (or close to) the ground, and move up from there. For example, working on your backside 360? Try spinning on the ground, and then a smaller jump before you move onto a big tabletop.

Remember that freestyle skills are all about control, whether you’re on the ground or in the air. Your abilities and experience dictate your ability to land a trick. And please note, because inverted aerials increase your risk of injury, we don’t recommend them.

Make this lap one more of many, and take it easy. Trust us: you won’t regret it.

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