What keeps me up at night even after an 18-hour shift? Wondering how our guests in the terrain parks are going to interact. Who is going to be standing or sitting in the landing of our largest jump? How are our local shredders going to treat family onlookers? Will our new guests understand the best way to behave on and around our park features?

If you have spent any time in a terrain park, you know what I mean. Very often the contrasting personality types mixed with a variety of features and shapes seems to be a recipe for, well, a truly difficult situation without a simple solution. There are many things to consider in order to avoid having people in the wrong place at the wrong time, and to maximize everyone’s enjoyment of our creations. Following are some suggestions that may help your guests have a great experience in your park.

In order to try and make freestyle terrain safer for all guests, resorts are trying many things, from park passes to online training to face-to-face schooling. Smart Style has been around for many years now and offers great resources to resorts, as well as to guests. Websites such as freestyleterrain.org and the NSAA site have links to videos and lots of good info that can be easily shared with our guests; perhaps with prominent links from our resort websites. Freestyle terrain lessons are being taught at many mountains as part of the ski/ride school offerings. These are all great opportunities for us to educate the new and impressionable park user.


Impress The People
Design is another great way to influence park dwellers and people who are learning or just passing through. Having plenty of small and medium features helps get our guests off to a good start and gives them a chance to feel more comfortable in the park even if they don’t hit the features. “The People” grow and learn better if consistent and small steps in progression are offered. Going from a 15-foot jump to a 40-footer is very daunting for anyone who is starting out. . .and for those observing. With enough acreage and some well thought-out designs, a viewing lane or two may be achievable. A snowcat lane down the side of a park can serve many purposes: egress for patrol, a work road for sloppy conditions, photog stations and a haven for ski-pole-pointing onlookers.

“Visual comfort” is a phrase I tried to coin in the early part of this millennia. It failed, so out of pure stubbornness, I’m trying again.

The point being: if things look neat, straight, clear and defined, the user feels more at ease, and that comfort will be reflected in their riding. A sharp park entrance without too much clutter and an organized feel is a great introduction. It is very important to create an awareness of where you are headed, but The People don’t want to feel like they are about to enter an abandoned uranium mine. Large signs that are easy to read help, especially for park size designations, and can serve as a warning and a welcome. Horizontal lines on take-offs and knuckles that are square and even, without rounded or slumping corners, stand out nicely. Crisp, clean angles on the sides of decks and take-offs help riders and spectators differentiate shapes and better understand where they want to be. If you choose to mark lips and/or breakovers, being consistent and neat with the markings helps guests to understand your system. Staging or starting areas that offer good views of the coming features are often chosen by the park users; if everyone is stopping on a rail platform to set up for the next section, maybe that rail platform should be a staging area instead.


Love The People
Offering great experiences with your on-snow park crew member is, perhaps the best way to spread the love in terms of park etiquette and safety. Screaming at little Jane and her mom to get off the landing sometimes has to be done, but at least go to them afterwards and explain why you were such a dill bag. The approach you take when trying to educate a guest is going to determine the success of your interaction. Horses do not like to be approached straight on, and I believe humans have a similar instinct.

Don’t initiate a confrontation. Try casually riding up next to someone and facing the way they are. Perhaps there is someone else in the park exhibiting the same behavior that brought your attention to this guest. You could then point out to Jane that where Jonny is stopped in that landing is super sketchy, and did she realize that moments before she was in the same position? If your tone and attitude are condescending, then even sweet little Jane is going to block you out. Your enthusiasm for freestyle terrain should be evident and contagious, and your concern for Jane’s comfort and safety in the parks should be obvious.

If this meeting goes well, and you are friendly, not only have you helped this guest out and created a positive memory for them, you’ve created another rider to spread the word on park etiquette and safety. If you have any handout materials, such as Smart Style pamphlets, offer a couple extras up so they can give some to their friends or someone else who may need them. Give out your name if you haven’t already, let them know you’re around if they ever need anything, and toss out a thanks and “see you next time.” Don’t you feel good?


Show The People
Leading by example in the park may be our most powerful tool. I still remember the first time I was in the halfpipe and saw a dude with a rake working out the curb at the bottom of the tranny. Wow, I thought, what a great job…I wonder if he gets paid to do that? Understanding that at any time you may be part of a moment that someone will remember for a long time encourages us to behave as we wish to be seen. If Jonny saw his first huge switch nine in your park, on your jump, that will stay with him and lead who knows where. If Mom saw her kid riding around jumps he was not hitting and stopping in the viewing lane to watch, that will stay with her. When you offer yourself up as an upstanding and friendly contributor to the park and your resort, you will have a positive effect on others and your scene. The kids are watching … what do you want them to remember?

Finally, try and keep in touch with why you are out there and why The People want to come to your resort. They want to be outside. They want to conquer their fears. They want to bond with others. They want to express their individuality, and they want to have fun. This is what you do for your job! Essentially, our guests are paying to be you for the day. Help them and help make our parks “For The People.”