It was only a matter of time before snowboard and alpine freeride skiing trickled into Nordic. While still an emerging niche within the Nordic niche, the advent of terrain parks on the cross country skiing landscape rejunvenates interest and amps up skier numbers, particularly among the Gen Y set--kids nine to 15.
Nordic terrain parks are not loaded with big hits from the X Games. While U.S. Ski Team phenom and film producer Andy Newell performs halfpipe stunts and catches huge air on skinny skis, and Canadian Bryan Czop launches off big hits in XC Zone’s film Unlimited: Clean Oxygen Fed Sport, going big is the exception. Instead, Nordic terrain parks simply inject new fun into Nordic skiing and appeal to another age group of skiers. Parks don’t have to be big to offer big fun.
Target Ages
"One of the best attractions to the terrain park was the draw to the 13 - 26 year old age group," says Tahoe Donner Nordic Director Jojo Toeppner. "This is the age group that is most likely to lose interest in cross country skiing." She added that junior and senior high school ski team kids follow workouts by going straight to the park to play until they have to leave. The park gives them more time on their skis and improves their ski handling with terrain tricks. According to Toeppner, as many as 120 junior high age skiers have been in the park at one time.
Terrain park skiing may not be what we traditionally think of as cross country skiing, but at a time when fewer young people are taking up the sport and kids in general are in desperate need of more exercise, the terrain park functions as a great carrot on a stick. Since it’s not gravity fed, kids must keep skiing. Beside basic fitness, park skiing helps with coordination, balance and the basic ability to move on snow. One coach observed how hard it is to get kids to skate for more than 30-45 minutes, but nothing for them to follow training with another hour playing in the park--continuing their training without thinking of it as training.
Terrain Parks
Just what is a Nordic terrain park? For starters, think snowboard terrain park, but on a much smaller scale. A contrived environment, terrain parks incorporate play features not typically found on your average cross country ski trail--jumps, table tops, rails and even small half pipes. Contrary to freestyle and snowboard parks, Nordic parks are often configured in a loop with a decided flow from feature to feature.
"You don’t even necessarily need a park," says Tor Brown of Northstar-at-Tahoe who advocates a terrain loop. With a loop, kids ski more. Terrain features draw them forward and keep them moving around the loop. "The fun of the terrain park though," Brown adds, "is standing around watching the kids play. Plus, because the park is more contained, it can be monitored better."
A handful of Nordic centers around the country have embraced this new phenomenon. Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor was one of the first Nordic areas to develop and promote a Nordic terrain park. Bear Valley and Tahoe Donner, both in California, have also built parks, and a park is under development at the Rendezvous Trails in West Yellowstone, MT. In the east, Viking Nordic in southern Vermont features snow creatures, a Viking ship, flags and piles of snow sized for kids to climb up and ski down. Sunday River Nordic in Maine has also entered the terrain park game.
Most ski areas site terrain parks close to the main lodge or trail head, in part for convenience, but also for high visibility to generate interest. From Tahoe Donner’s cross country lodge, the park creates a social buzz: Everyone including parents and Andy-Newell-wannabees can watch the skiers’ tricks from the deck.
Go Small
Nordic terrain parks need not be monstrous—just attractive and functional. The size of a couple of basketball courts or one-half to one acre works well. If the area has good natural terrain, hills can be incorporated into the park design, too. Otherwise, a flat area can be equally fun and functional by simply moving snow into piles and sculpting features.
The Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Area in Truckee, CA has always had a kids’ obstacle course, just for play. But last year, with the help of Brown, the ski area enlarged the park to a 100-foot-long by 75-foot-wide space known as "The Corral." One of their groomers, Andy Mitchell, built the terrain features.
Of course, lots of natural snow helps. And equally important, a snowcat groomer must move and shape the snow into park features. Another option requiring less snow, summer dirtwork uses a bulldozer to form the base with hills and starting ramps.
Start Ramps
If available, a good natural hill may serve as a starting point to provide entry to the park or function as an approach to multiple features. Otherwise, a ramp is required to provide the necessary speed to enter the park and begin playing on the features. The location of the ramp is key also, since a sunny spot will diminish speed and, of course, the fun factor. However, for safety concerns, the ramp shouldn’t be too far from the first feature, so the skier does not develop too much speed.
For instance, Tahoe Donner’s terrain park starts with a flat entrance. From here, a skier skates to gain speed to climb up the 10-foot-tall loading zone. From a platform big enough for five to six bodies, skiers then zoom down the slope to a four-foot-high and four-foot-wide tabletop that leads into the corner of the park and a half pipe. Following the half pipe about mid-loop, a series of rollers pop into a spine.
To avoid congestion and maintain safety, the park needs to leave space between features. This concern sometimes takes care of itself, by virtue of the need to build the features with a snowcat, which requires sufficient room to maneuver and turn around. Once the snowcat has finished, park crews wield hand tools such as rakes, shovels and snow sporks—rake-like tools that look more like a 31-inch blade with tiny teeth for a corduroy finish. These clean and dress features.
Terrain Features
Terrain features can be as simple as a series of piles of snow separated by the length of the snowcat or as complicated as tunnels. Ski instructors or staff should test jumps and features to be sure they aren’t too high and the angles are correct. In addition, secondary less intimidating features should offer alternate routes for the less experienced.
Unlike snowboard and alpine parks, Nordic terrain parks are not gravity dependent. Skiers must skate between features and regain speed to continue through the course. Techniques such as herringbone, sidestep and snowplow as well as improved skating can all be taught and practiced in this environment. "And you don’t need to go crazy with big air," Brown says. "These parks are on a small scale, but the kids still have good time on skis without getting hurt."
Maintenance
Toeppner emphasized that maintenance of the terrain park is very important. "We would leave rakes and shovels out and the ski team kids would keep the surface smooth during the day." The park was groomed every night and signs were posted at the entrance prohibiting sledding or walking to keep the surface smooth and the area safe for the skiers.
One problem did arise with little kids, two years old and up. When tykes also wanted to play on the hills, accommodating parents walked them inside the park. Besides the obvious danger to the kids, parents’ footprints ruined the terrain park surface. The solution? The ski area built a smaller separate park for younger kids posted with "no walking" signs.
Future
The terrain park phenomenon is so new that no one really knows where it’s going to go. No one expects terrain parks to be the silver bullet that brings cross country skiing back to its "glory" days. Not likely. But anything that helps kids get out to exercise, enjoy winter and begin to develop a passion for Nordic skiing is good. And who knows, once they’ve outgrown the terrain park, they may head out to the trails. At the very least, parks attract kids who may not think cross country is cool. And if kids come, parents will, too, and take to the trails for more traditional skiing.
The trend is still in its infancy, but terrain parks are likely to start popping up across the country, perhaps even in a downtown area, similar to skateboard parks. Look for one at your local Nordic center soon.
