The latest updates from Whistler Blackcomb's terrain parks.
Friday, February 29, 2008
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 skipping school to ski and ride. (Don’t skip school!) This week I witnessed 16-year-olds throwing double back flips, 19-year-olds spinning corked 10s and a 4-year-old slide a four foot round bar. This progression has pushed the Park crew to step up and create the best possible playground for these athletes and then work backwards to ensure we have a smooth progression. The bar is being set high for the next generation and we are doing our best to evolve at the same rate.
The Parks all got new set-ups this week, some even seeing changes daily. On Whistler Mountain we changed up the top section to include a new barrel bonk in addition to the stump jibs as well as freshening up Bobcat with a never-been-tired-before combo box with a quad kink. There are also new jump styles on Chipmunk and two “Skate Style” spines with log and metal coping for every transfer trick imaginable.
The Choker Park saw the addition of the Quicksilver and Nintendo boxes set up in series as mellow up-boxes as well as the addition of a mini shack booter style step over jump. The Superpipe rebuild has resulted in the best pipe I have ridden in a long time and special props go out to Andy Morrison for his epic 17 hour shift grooming the pipe se we can all rip it this week!
The Terrain Garden continues to be one of the busiest parks with hordes of newbie riders getting their legs on the small jumps, mini spine, boxes and rails offered up in this line. We are hoping to add a few more basic flat boxes to the mix so trick development can progress here too.
The HL Park has basically been split into Lucas Land’s rail line for metal grinders and the main park for jumpers. The left line continues to be the BIG XL line while the right side offers up the L / XL multi-takeoff options.
If you have not been up in the parks yet this year, you are missing out! Don’t wait to see it in next year’s vids, come on up today.
See the Photos
Few weeks ago we were contacted by MSP to build a gap step up for top skiers Sammy Carlson & Simon Dumont. Simon has been busy winning big $ @ pipe comps in the U.S. but Sammy was up to hit our custom booter. The gap step up was 60 feet from take off to uphill landing point. The kicker was approx 15 feet high & the uphill landing was higher @ around 25 feet.
Sammy said, “This is the best jump I have hit all year!” & based on what he was throwing down, looks like he was fully into it! The gap step up took 3 days to build by our skilled Park Grooming lead hand, Olex Iskaat. Stormy weather put the hit on hold then a final groom out made the feature ready for action this week. Sammy made the jump look effortless on every jump, blowing on lookers minds.
Park lead hand, Eric Gendron was in charge of shuttling Sammy back up to the in run start via sled so the action was fast & non stop! The shoot went into the sunset hours so expect to see some awesome footage in the next MSP film out this Fall. Big thanx to the Parks staff, leads & Olex for building & re grooming the hit so it was ideal for Sammy to hit over & over again.
Monday, February 05, 2007
We are very lucky to have 7 dedicated Park groomers on Blackcomb, Marty Gautrey, Oleksander Iskat, Kirby Litzenberger, Jason Josling, Lucas Ouellete & missing from the photos, Tim Austin & Andy Morrison. Marty is the lead hand & Kirby & Andy are our pipe shapers. Our grooming team is the best ever, bringing grooming experience & a Park background to the team. Nothing happens in our parks & pipe without our Groomers who continue to deliver quality building & grooming each night.
The Park staff take care of the hits during the day & the lead hands, Fred Lepage & Eric Gendron, pass on the maintenance & new build requests to Marty & Olex @ the start of their grooming shift. Our Groomers use Pisten Bully snow cats & specifically the Park Bully model. Specialized combing teeth have been added to the Park cat blades for even better ramp shaping when back blading. The Park groomers also use forks which attach to the snow cat blade to move & install the rails. We all owe a huge thank you to our Park groomers on Blackcomb for all their hard work & dedication in bringing you the best Parks & Pipe experience. Here’s a little back ground on our drivers:
Marty Guatrey – Lead hand & grooming the B Park since 1990. Marty started in Lake Louise, made the move to Whistler & has been working in the Parks in winter & Bike Park in the summer. Marty likes working with the younger crew & enjoys skiing what he builds. “I love building jumps. It’s challenging to build & progress with the skiers & snowboarders needs. It’s great to watch people having fun & enjoying my work & I do have a beautiful work environment”.
Oleksander Iskat – Works opposite shifts to Marty & leads the team on Marty’s days off. Olex has been grooming in the Park for 5 years & also has been a key member of the Bike Park in the summer. “I get to build what I want to ride & have the freedom to build an idea. I try to make everything I build as safe as possible. I may not ride the biggest hits but I’m happy to see people progress on our features”.
Jason Josling – 2nd year in the park grooming. J was mostly in the Terrain Garden last season and now grooms the main Nintendo Park & helps out in the Highest Level when needed. “I’m still learning but feel I’m 100% better than last season. My job takes precision, a skilled eye & attention to detail. I try to make everything safe, rideable & fun”.
left to right: Oleksander, Lucas, Kirby, Marty & Jason
Lucas Ouellette – 1st season grooming & worked on the Parks day crew last season. Lucas is mostly in the Terrain Garden but is also working on the secret jib & jump section in the Highest Level Park “I like building stuff & hitting it the next day. It can be lonely @ times yet peaceful inside the snow cat. I crank up the punk rock tunes & build the jumps.”
Kirby Litzenberger – 6 seasons @ Whistler & specifically grooming the super pipe. Kirby took a couple of seasons off but we are stoked that he is back on our pipe team once again. Top riders know when Kirby has cut the pipe, it rides perfect. Kirby built his first pipe in 1988. “It takes vigilance to build the best pipe possible. I want to build & maintain the best pipe. Being rated #2 for pipe is not good enough. Southern Cali is all hype”.
Tim Austin – 2nd year Grooming the Parks & also came from Park day crew. Tim rides what he builds & rides hard. Tim started grooming the Terrain Garden his first season & is now involved in the main Nintendo Park grooming team.
Andy Morrison – Our longest serving groomer with over 16 years of grooming experience, Andy works on the winter & summer Glacier half pipes. Andy has been pipe shaping for over 5 years & has used the Pipe Dragon & the Zaugg Pipe shapers.
left to right back row: Lucas, Oleksander, Marty. Front row = Kirby & Jason
Excellent snow conditions combined with outstanding building by the Park groomers has brought the Highest Level Park to an all time high. The HL Park is entertaining the top riders & skiers & blowing the on lookers minds. A new combo rail by the shack booter followed by the 50 foot flat bar plus there is another single pipe kink rail going in below that which will keep the jibbers challenged.
All the table tops have received some love and are now getting into the huge category. Looks like the weather will continue to hold the high pressure so more advancements will be made on the right line for the HL park along with more rails to go in. In the Nintendo Park extra rail and table tops have been added so there’s lots to choose from outside the HL Park. Park riding has never been so good, come up & experience it for yourself.
Our W park has never looked so good. Lots of action on the new Bobcat hit & rail line…
Whistler Habitat Park Expansion
The Habitat Park on Whistler now has two distinct & separate lines to meet everyone’s needs. The lower line or Chipmunk run of Habitat continues to offer S to M features and now has snow & rail features top to bottom. The park groomers & staff have now extended the upper line or Bobcat run to include several L table tops, a huge step up, a series of street style rails and a barrel bonk to finish it off. The new Bobcat line is packed with riders & skiers trying out new & old tricks. Great weather & warmer temperatures up top is making for excellent riding in the Parks so come see why the Whistler Habitat park is the best it’s ever been!
Whistler is having on of the best seasons ever! Endless fresh snow keeps falling (27+ feet and still counting) and we are well over a 3 meter base now.
Yep, that's a rail.
The fresh pow makes for epic riding but is actually slowing down the Parks expansion as we have to continuously dig out the rails, features & rebuild the park almost weekly! The park staff do their best to clear off snow on the rails & hits so our park riders can still hit the features each day. At night, our park groomers are plowing the snow off, rebuilding table tops and rail platforms.
Huge thanx to the day & night Parks team for making the effort each day to offer you the best park riding experience. Fences buried to the top & waist to chest deep drifts around the rails is giving the Parks team a work out almost every day.
Maybe the on line contest www.ifullrwasagirl.com is causing Ullr to be vengeful with the all the snow this season!?
So if you’re up here and in the park, enjoy it, and props to the team for keeping it in shape. If you’re up here and out of the park, well, you know how good it is, we don’t need to remind you. And if you're not here, well, you know what to do...
You probably already know about the contest currently going down with $25 grand up for grabs. Whistler Blackcomb is running an on line contest called if ullr was a girl, and still with almost 2 months to go there’s 200+ girls vying for top spot, and more signing up daily. What does it have to do with the park?
Finalists will win a trip to Whistler during the Telus Ski & Snowboard Festival & all kinds of events & activities are planned to finally choose one winner for the Open & Amateur Categories.
To get the stoke on here in Whistler, Anto Orts custom painted a down box with the Ullr contest artwork. The ifullrwasagirl down box is set up in the Highest Level park & is open to guys & girls to hit.
Check out the website & help choose who you think is the ultimate female Ullr! Meanwhile for the ladies… start hitting the Ullr box, who knows, it may be one of the challenges for the finalists!
Monday, December 18, 2006
It's been epic snow in Whistler with powder conditions almost daily. Not that you should be spending that much time in the park in conditions this awesome, but that doesn't stop the crew.
The Park teams have been digging out rails, building, fences, signs, etc. with shovels & snow cats! Lots of new snow & more groomers coming on line means the Parks will expand just in time for the holiday season. Expect to see more rails & hits going in on the Habitat Park as we expand onto the Bobcat line and add more M – L features including some of the new rails.
Over on Blackcomb, the Highest Level Park will also see more of our new technical rails being installed along with more hits & jibs on the main Nintendo park. We should have the Terrain Garden ready just before Christmas.
Huge props to the day & night Park teams for dealing with all the snow. Ullr, you’re doing a great job so far this winter!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
One of skiing's hottest females on and off the snow, Sarah Burke is the real deal. Not only does she kill it in the backcountry, taking home gold at the US Open for halfpipe is something she's done two years running. Check her out in Matchstick's latest release "PUSH" and then click here for her full profile
There are over 280 ladies on the site with profiles and pics to prove why they should be Whistler Blackcomb's Ullr Girl. And, if judging this event is your idea of the dream job, sign up to be a judge, and you and a buddy could win an all expenses paid trip to Whistler for the Ullr Girl Finals during the TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival.
Matchstick Productions & Standard Films paired up once again for an epic jump and film/photo shoot on Whistler. Ace cat driver Curtis Von Cube & I worked for a week to create the vision that was presented to us by Mike Douglas & the MSP crew. Curtis & I were asked to build a cross over jump so skiers could air over & under each other at the same time. The X jump was built in the Burnt Stew area just before the Flute gate entrance. Curtis did an outstanding job on the build and I assisted with measurements & kicker shaping.  X Jump completed. The second jump site was near the bottom of Frontier pass off the top of the Peak chair. Curtis once again re worked the jump to the groups desires and made the jump perfect once again. The Standard Films crew joined in on the Frontier jump and once all athletes figured out speed for the in run, the action was unreal.  The end of the day to sunset shooting will be something to see in the magazines & part of the Standard Films & Matchstick Productions releases this fall! Big thanx to Curtis for his fine cat work & Mike Douglas for the daily consultations & for helping us dig & shape the kicker for the Frontier jump site. Recognition to Patroller Shawn Beaudoin who helped with all the fencing, gear shuttles & general all around help before & during the shoots.  Kurtis finished with the X.
Hey All, We didn't get a chance to post our Festival ending update for y'all, so I just wanted to give the link to our Parks & Pipes Page where you'll find our last update for the year from Blackcomb. It was an epic season on both mountains, and even with Blackcomb resting up for next year Whistler is still open and going strong until June 4th. We've also got a new video on the homepage. Spring shredding is finally here...
The Telus Ski & Snowboard Festival is upon us! Several usual events will take place including skier & rider super pipe and big air. One new event that took place this weekend at the top of the Emerald chair on Whistler was The Stompede. The Stompede challenged skiers & riders to put on a slopetsyle type run thru hits & rails condensed into one area.
Who took the crowns? Kaya Turski again took first place in the women's ski category and Mike Henitiuk won the men's. For riders, Star of Peace Quinn was crowned winner of the women's snowboard Stompede, and Craig Beaulieau, landed in first in the men's snowboard finals.
For a behind the scenes of what went into building the Stompede...
Snow cats prep the Stompede event site.
Park Lead Hand Anto Orts and Park groomer Keith Zajac were building the features for Stompede & the park rangers helped out with final shaping. Local & Atomic rider Dennis Bannock provided input for the course design which Anto & Keith were creating. Everything you can imagine was on the Stompede course including a huge channel gap with a box suspended over it, vertical log jib and multi face cowboy hat table top.
Park Ranger Loreti shapes the vertical log jib
There's plenty more action coming later this week. For more info on the Festival running until April 23, check out www.wssf.com or http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/twssf.
![pp_april12_5[1].jpg](http://files.colonies.com/UserData/558448/BlogPhotos/pp_april12_5[1].jpg)
Keith steps out of the cat to inspect suspended box
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Rider on Westbeach Kink.
Sorry it took us a while to get this one up, stay tuned for another update coming really soon....
The B parks team have been busy creating a totally unique skate bowl style snow feature just above the HighestLevelPark entrance. The Park Rangers have hand shoveled a multi line bowl with kickers, garbage can lid, rail & maze gate features. The dsrop in is from the back of the hip and the Parks crew are expanding the bowl from 2 – 4 bowls that will flow right past the back of the HL Park entrance building. Skiers and riders have been having a blast trying to get multi hits in the mini bowl.
Pointing out mini bowl.
Kevin Sansalone and the Sandbox film crew had a big session on this unique set up for the upcoming release. The parks crew only ask if you hit it up, help fix it up & the team work has been going really well. Pro skiers Callum & Sean Petit were also riding the bowl for hours as it is much easier for them being juniors and riding on shorter skis! The Highest Level table tops are riding well & the Westbeach battleship kink is also now up & open to jib. Blackcopmb closes on April 23 so get up & enjoy some of the best Parks in the world. The World Ski & Snowboard Festival is coming up soon with the Stompede rail jam on W, super pipe on Blackcomb & the night time big air in the village. Check out the best skiers & riders in action April 15 – 22. For more info check out www.wssf.com.
Tim Rail Grind
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Dave on double rail.
Last week the Whistler Parks team was busy working on some new hits & set ups. The step up jump under the emerald chair is riding well and leads riders into the S – M park. The Parks team will be building a smaller version o fteh step up next to this hit & move the easy box down hill for better flow. Two rails have been joined to make a technical ride in the M – L section of the Habitat park. The tables are flowing nicely and into a series of jibs and the step down box. Rail and jump set ups continue to evolve weekly in the WhistlerHabitatPark, come join the fun!
![loreti on W step up[1].jpg](http://files.colonies.com/UserData/558448/BlogPhotos/loreti%20on%20W%20step%20up[1].jpg)
Loreti on step-up.
Suitcase air.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Park Ranger Loreti in the clouds on double box
The Whistler Parks team has now set up a double box combo that has been attracting a lot of attention. Top riders & skiers have been challenging the set up including Mathieu Chamberlain who slid the entire set up with ease. The double box set up took some time to set up perfectly with the help of Park Ranger James and Park Groomer Chops putting in the finishing touches on the install. The double box & other new snow & rail set ups will be included in the upcoming Sprite Park Rider Series Slope Style event in the HabitatPark on Sun, March 19.
Front view on the double box set up
Parks staff had a treat last weekend when I took them down to the Korn concert in Vancouver. The ride to & from the show was an event in itself as we rented the Canadian Snowmobile Adventures van with one of our volunteers Brannon taking on the chauffeur role. All of us had a blast and the show was well deserved recognition for my Parks team. For the record, the Parks team on Blackcomb is Fred Lepage, Eric Gendron, Phil Turbide, Steven Pitt, Jonathan Turbide, Tyler Weed, Mark Badger, Lucas Ouellette & Matt Poynter. Parks team on Whistler is Anto Orts, James Sayers, Dave Shannon, Chris Loreti & Dean Newman. Thanx to my crew for all their hard work each day in the Parks this season.
Fred, Anto, Steve, Dave, Tyler, James, Jonathan, Eric & Chris after the Korn show @ GM Place
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Construction is under way for this weekends 9th Annual Sapient Showcase Showdown in the Blackcomb Night Pipe at Base 2 this weekend! Events and diggers are putting the final touches on the site today, and the weather looks sweet for the event: cold and clear!
Spectators can access the event via the Blackcomb Village Gondola; the Night Pipe is just above the Magic Chair.
Check it out; there are tons of prize giveaways for the crowd from Sapient, Option, Vans, Anon, Salomon, 32, Forum and Volcom.
Details... http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/todo/events/detail/showdown.htm
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Photo by Anto Orts
The Whistler Parks team continues to be creative with man made & natural jib set ups. Try out the new upper Park entrance which has 2 separate lines down to the Jolly Green Giant run into the HabitatPark. The first drop in takes you over a step down table with snow stairs dug under it and leads into the newly installed mini wall ride. The second drop in has the easy rainbow and kink box for an easier jib entrance to the park. On the natural side, the Rangers have the goal post log jib suspended from the trees for that wooden jib feel. The log is tied to the trees and continues to provide fun for our Park users.
Photo by Anto Orts
Photo by Anto Orts
Over on Blackcomb the TerrainGarden now has a new box donated from the Night Moves stock. Four mini jibs from Whistler Kids will be installed on the Countdown merge road into the lower section of the Garden for more entry level jibbing Great grooming & weather will keep the Parks fun on both mountains this week.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
With the Blackcomb Nintendo Terrain Park and Nintendo Habitat Park on Whistler both open for the season, we'll update the Parks & Pipes Blog to bring you the latest news and updates on what's going down.
Or you can always check out our Parks & Pipes page.
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