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CAN ANYONE CERTIFY TERRAIN PARKS?
We doubt that the self-appointed U.S. Terrain Park Council (USTPC) thought its Smart Parks certification plan would generate controversy. Its primary aim is education, and what’s not to like about that? But when Sierra-at-Tahoe GM John Rice voiced his reservations about the group in a blog on saminfo.com, he unleashed a torrent of criticism.

The crux of the issue regards who, if anyone, is qualified to certify terrain parks. The USTPC says that it sincerely wishes to help resorts build safer terrain features. To that end, it intended to provide an “open, collaborative environment to promote research and education related to terrain parks,” and to compile industry best practices into a two-hour seminar, according to its founders. For $25, individuals could join, and for a fee, USTPC would certify resorts.

From the outset, though, many industry veterans have been suspicious of the group’s motives. One of its members, retired physics professor James McNeil, co-authored a research paper with plaintiff’s witness Mont Hubbard. While McNeil himself refuses to have any voluntary involvement in legal cases, many in the industry found him guilty by association.

Another source of irritation: Veteran park builders questioned the USTPC’s expertise on the grounds that USTPC members have relatively little experience in building parks. Four of its five founding members are primarily riders, not builders, and the fifth, McNeil, is a physicist.

Yet another irritant: to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest, no actual builders would be allowed to take part in the USTPC certification process. While that might make sense in theory, it annoys park designers, who feel that, as a practical matter, if anyone is qualified to certify parks, it is they.

But the real dispute lies in the USTPC’s assertion that resorts are not designing parks to account for as many variables in the jumping process as they could, and that areas have been “standing behind skewed physics,” as one USTPC member wrote--much as resorts accuse plaintiffs of doing. The USTPC believes that the application of physics and engineering to jump design will lead to safer jumps. Critics believe that no amount of engineering can account for the ways users will ride a feature. To further confuse the issue, researchers themselves don’t agree on the science.

The upshot is that, to the park community, the USTPC came off as insulting, condescending, arrogant, or worse. The USTPC acknowledges the builders’ contributions and practical knowledge, but these same builders resent the group’s implication that the USTPC knows better than the builders, despite the USTPC’s relative lack of experience. Among the comments to Rice’s blog:

“What foolishness has inspired that group to offer up advice with no real data or actual hands-on experience?”

“The only thing I take away from it [the USTPC’s ballistics model] is that the steepness of the landing area should be as close as possible to the angle of descent of the skier/rider. Gee, we don’t need PhDs to understand that!”

“You offer nothing new to the mix and only work to slander the hard work of the people that have been behind the growth and protection of terrain parks.”

In response to the USTPC’s certainty that its physics models can provide specific guidelines on jump design, one builder--who said he has used physics modeling for years to help design jumps--termed the USTPC’s model impractical, as so many of the variables involved in jumping can change quickly, and for a wide variety of reasons.

Over the course of the blog, both sides moderated their positions. The initial vitriol and recriminations subsided as it became clear that USTPC was not, in fact, actively involved with plaintiff’s suits. Some park builders expressed appreciation for the USTPC’s aims. For its part, the USTPC, recognizing that it had turned off many of those it intended to work with, announced that it was suspending its certification program for this season. The group plans to work with two areas in British Columbia this winter, along with others in Europe and Alaska, to evaluate its program in the field.

In the end, as Rice suggested (and the USTPC agrees), the best forum for determining how science fits into the park-building equation may well be ASTM. “While the science debate will continue, it would be in the best interests of the industry to allow all sides to be heard in a neutral environment like ASTM. There are so many variables involved in terrain park use, it might be premature to accept a single point of view,” Rice wrote. That sounds like a reasonable conclusion to a raucous debate, and the start of a new chapter.


TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE
Two groups of aging hipsters, K2 Skis and The Rolling Stones, have collaborated to celebrate their 50th anniversaries by creating limited-edition Rolling Stones skis. The first of four models in the K2 Rolling Stones Limited Edition Ski Collection, based on K2’s SideShow chassis, will be in stores by the middle of November. The graphics feature memorabilia such as the band’s original concert set list, lyrics and rare photographs. The ski bases will sport the Rolling Stones Lip and Tongue and classic K2 logos. The skis themselves, of course, will rock.


ONTHESNOW BIDS TO BE ONE-STOP SOURCE
The Vail Resorts-owned digital resort information source is expanding its mobile and online offerings as it aims to become a skier or rider’s go-to source for all snowsports news. Mobile innovations include an iPhone Gear Guide application, free snow reporting apps for iOS, Android, and Blackberry, and an iPad app. The website gets new resort photo and video sections, and there are now Brazilian and Russian versions as well.

Some of the new functionality comes via purchase of skireport.com. SkiReport’s apps allow readers to post photos and Twitter-style snow reports from the hill. The combined mobile user base is nearly 1,000,000, big enough to reach a critical mass of on-hill snow reporting, with hundreds of updates and photos from resorts across the continent every day. User-generated content will appear on OnTheSnow’s media later this winter.


SNOCOUNTRY STEPS UP ITS GAME
SnoCountry, the other snow report service, is also bringing its products up to date, redesigning its website and adding a mobile app and a weekly newsletter. The website redesign, by Resorts Interactive of New Zealand, will be more visual, with expanded photo and video capabilities, available at no charge to resorts. The reports themselves can include a link to a resort’s Liftopia ticket deals. The website was set to launch about the time SAM hit the mail in early November.

The mobile app incorporates up-to-date snow and trail reports as well as social media capabilities. It’s also possible to add Trail Tap (trailtap.com) technology with a variety of features similar to Vail Resorts’ EpicMix. Among them: GPS-enabled trail maps allow users to track runs, pinpoint their location on the mountain, and track the location of family and friends; Facebook and Twitter integration; and awards programs. These features can only be accessed by guests with iOS and Android devices, but that’s becoming less and less of a limitation.


SUMMER OPS BILL: THE GOOD GUYS WIN
The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act evaded Congressional gridlock and passed both houses of Congress--with nary a “no” vote--last month. The bill paves the way for expanded summer operations at the 121 ski areas that operate on public lands, approving a wider array of activities including ziplines, mountain biking, ropes courses and Frisbee golf courses.

It’s a tribute to all involved that this is one of a small number of laws that will make it to the President’s desk this year. Colorado Sen. Mark Udall was a key sponsor. He was joined by Sen. Barrasso (Wyo.) and Representatives Bishop (Utah) and DeGette (Colo.). NSAA’s Geraldine Link and Rob Kautz, NSAA’s public lands committee chair, provided leadership. Rusty Gregory, Rob Katz and Beth Ganz provided key testimony at committee hearings, and Jerry Blann engaged the Wyoming delegation at strategic moments.

How soon will the law’s impact be felt? That depends. Many common summer activities already in place at ski areas, such as mountain biking and ziplines, will likely be approved without much delay. But newer or less common summer activities, or those that require significant infrastructure changes--such as mountain coasters--may have to wait. That’s because the Forest Service must develop new policy guidelines based on the law, and that could take a year. That process has already begun, and the industry is doing all it can to keep it moving forward.