Parks and Pipes
| Royal Rides |
Stratton Mountain, Vermont
802-297-4000
www.stratton.com
Cost: $60 per day
Vertical: 2,003 feet
Terrain: 493 acres |
Vail, Colorado
970-476-5601
www.vail.net
Cost: $61 per day
Vertical: 3,360 feet
Terrain: 5,164 acres |
Blackcomb, British Columbia
800-766-0449
www.whistler-blackcomb.com
Cost: $61 per day (Canadian)
Vertical: 5,280 feet
Terrain: 7,000 acres |
Mount Tremblant, Quebec
800-461-8711
www.tremblant.ca
Cost: $55 per day (Canadian)
Vertical: 3,001 feet
Terrain: 610 acres |
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Board: Ride Brushie
Snowboarders once had to pass a proficiency test before they were allowed the same access to the mountain as skiers. Halfpipes—and in the mid-nineties, terrain parks—helped to change all that. When management realized snowboarders would buy a full-price lift ticket and proceed to spend the day riding the pipe and walking back up, they grew
positively fond of snowboarders. Think of it: more ticket sales but shorter lift lines, and, because skis were too long and stiff for the steep walls of the halfpipe, a natural segregation of users. In their isolation, snowboarders eventually demanded—and got—better halfpipes and better pipe-specific equipment.
Because the halfpipe is a work of symmetry, your stance should be too. When you're riding fakey half the time, you don't need extra length on one end. Freestyle boards are true twin-tips, making spin moves easier to pull. The Brushie, named after and designed in part by long-time halfpipe standout Jeff Brushie, is the ultimate pipe weapon. Its balanced
flex and Ultra-Lite wood core (30 percent lighter than Ride's standard) unloads a pop of a rebound off the lip but still absorbs icy landings. And its "sintered" base—a harder, faster, more expensive variation of P-Tex—is a better choice for quick acceleration and ding-resistance in the park. So is that all it's good for? Not by a long shot.
Although the stance and tips of the Brushie are symmetrical, the sidecut has been shifted back from center for precise turning, even in deep snow. The halfpipe, after all, is the last to get groomed on a powder day. On the Brushie, that's not such a bad thing.
Ski: Salomon Teneighty
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| Gerald Bybee/SF |
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There's been a lot of talk in the ski industry (and in this magazine) about skiing's "new school," which basically involves freestylers launching big air with wildly creative acrobatics on short, wide skis with turned-up tails. Not to be a buzzkill, but way, way back in the seventies, new-schoolers were called hotdoggers; in 1974, Olin introduced
the Mark IV—a 175-centimeter twin-tip ski with a 70-millimeter waist. Nowadays, however, new-school hotdoggers get to play in halfpipes and terrain parks—forbidden turf only two years ago. The skis they're riding are also light-years ahead of the old sticks in terms of materials, construction, and sidecut design, if not so much in overall size
and shape. The best of the new breed is the Teneighty. Designed two years ago with input from the high-flying members of the New Canadian Air Force, it's back this year in a different color, but the specs are the same. Why change it? With its chubby 75-millimeter waist, the Teneighty is as versatile as most mid-fats, and its moderate sidecut lends itself to
bump skiing, making it a great, if short (the longest is 177 centimeters), all-mountain soft-snow ski. Although other manufacturers have tapped the park-and-pipe market, they still haven't quite equaled the ski that started the trend. Stiff and wide enough to absorb harsh landings in the flats, but lightweight and short enough for complex maneuvers, the
Teneighty is still one full revolution away from the pack.
| Gear Up |
helmet and pack |
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Giro Nine | $125
WEIGHT: 12.5 ounces
831-457-4476
www.giro.com
 It's tough to wear an unventilated helmet on a sunny spring day: Your head plumps up like a Ball Park frank and salty sweat runs into your eyes. Not so with the Nine. Remove the rubberized foam vent plugs, detach the earflaps, and the air blows through it like it
was a bike helmet, which, incidentally, it's as lightweight as. The Jack of Spades graphic (shown here) doesn't really signify anything at all. We just like it.
Dana Design Snow Factor | $269
CAPACITY: 3,200 cubic inches
WEIGHT: 4 pounds, 8 ounces
888-357-3262
www.danadesign.com
 Helicopters crash, snowcatsbreak down, and guides run naked and screaming into blizzards. Trust yourself, and carry a loaded pack. The Snow Factor is big enough for a down coat and a bivy sack, and the closed-cell foam framesheet detaches and unfolds to form an
emergency sleeping pad. Pull your shovel from the external pocket, dig a quick trench, and it's nap time until the cavalry shows.
photos: Gerald Bybee (2)
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