SAM Magazine-West Dover, Vt., June 11, 2008-Vermont's Mount Snow has announced that the ski resort will dedicate the entire Carinthia area as a freeride zone, transforming 95 acres of trails into a massive park system.

The new freeride terrain will feature rails, jumps and halfpipes and will cover approximately five miles of terrain at Carinthia, once a separate ski resort but long since absorbed into Mount Snow's trail network. The transformation is expected to feature a snowskate playground, hikable park, beginners' learning park and a skate ramp at the area's base, and the base lodge itself will be renovated and outfitted with lounge areas, an extended outdoor deck with ample seating, counter seating along the windows, free wireless internet, flat screen televisions and outdoor fire pits.

The remainder of Carinthia's terrain will be serviced via a high-speed quad and a double chairlift, accessing approximately 125 freestyle features scattered around 12 full terrain parks. Among the other features: a tree-skiing area, a superpipe with 18-foot walls, a mini-pipe with 8-foot walls, an all-natural park absent of manmade material and a big-air site. The tubing park, currently located on Ski Baba at Carinthia, will be relocated to Mixing Bowl on the Main Mountain.

The changes were spearheaded by Peak Resorts' president, Tim Boyd, and his son Jesse, Peak's vice president of operations and freestyle terrain. Jesse oversaw the modification of Big Boulder in Pennsylvania into an all-freestyle mountain and will work closely with Mount Snow during the changeover. Mount Snow mountain manager Elia Hamilton and parks and pipes manager Ken Gaitor, nationally recognized and respected freestyle terrain designers, will spearhead the project. It's scheduled for completion by the time the mountain opens for the 2008-09 season.

Kelly Pawlak, Mount Snow's General Manager, feels that concentrating terrain parks at Carinthia will improve the flow of skier traffic on Mount Snow's three other mountain faces. Pawlak also noted that Carinthia is being designed to accommodate a wide range of skiers and riders, with an emphasis on providing a family-friendly environment. \