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Snowboarding–It’s a Right, Not a Privilege Accept no flak from those hostile two-plankers: seven resorts that want you During the mid-to-late eighties, if a ski resort allowed snowboarding at all, it was automatically considered friendly. Not now: Riders want more than just the right to ride a chairlift. They want snowboard parks with things to play on–handrails to slide down, jumps and half-pipes to huck themselves off. They want patrollers who ride boards themselves and understand their Wait, there’s more: Does the resort sponsor snowboard programs, contests, and races? Are instructors certified by the Professional Snowboard Instructors of America? Are the parks and pipes maintained and lift-served? Finally, has the resort integrated snowboarders into its staff (for example, is there a snowboard director)? This may sound like a long list of requirements, but BRECKENRIDGE SKI RESORT One of the first destination resorts to allow snowboarding, Breckenridge has sponsored dozens of major snowboard competitions, including last season’s inaugural FIS-sponsored Snowboard World Cup. Its 20- to 30-acre snowboard terrain garden, on the lower half of Peak 9, is one of Colorado’s largest, as is the meticulously groomed half-pipe, which has no shortage of handrails, SNOW SUMMIT/ BEAR MOUNTAIN About a mile apart in the San Bernardino mountains, these ski areas each ace the snowboarder-friendly test with full-time snowboard directors, a Snowboard Patrol, PSIA-certified instructors, and scrupulously maintained parks and pipes served by their own lifts. This year, Snow Summit plans to add more snow-made jumps, serpentines, and bank slaloms in its park. Bear Mountain, MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN SKI AREA AND JUNE MOUNTAIN Mammoth’s sister peak, June Mountain, maintains a 400-foot-long half-pipe that’s open till Easter and has mountain hosts on snowboards. Mammoth’s snowboard park, new this season, could stay open as late as July. If you’re into hard-boot carving (a focus on turns rather than tricks), hit Mammoth’s Chair 2 early for corduroy heaven, groomed each night. Mammoth provides special BLACKCOMB MOUNTAIN Blackcomb is one of the friendliest resorts for boarders anywhere. Last season, the mountain hired a full-time snowboard coordinator and instructors certified by CASI (Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors) and added a host of services, including buckle-in and tool benches. Also new is the Kokanee snowboard park, with two maintained half-pipes and a park featuring a WATERVILLE VALLEY SKI AREA To provide for this strange new breed of slope animal, Waterville Valley hired Stimilon International Snowboard Consulting Ltd. to help integrate its mountain. The result is one of the East’s premier snowboarding resorts: Its snowboard park, the Boneyard on Mount Tecumseh, includes a bus buried up to its roof in the snow and a monster tabletop jump with 25 feet of flat surface COPPER MOUNTAIN RESORT This resort is so determined to dispel any animosity toward snowboarders that a few years ago it established an ambassador program, in which local snowboarders patrol the slopes, offering assistance and watching for reckless mountain users. (There’s also a full-time snowboard patroller on the mountain’s pro patrol staff.) Try to hook up with a local to access one of Copper’s See also: |
Snowboarding–It’s a Right, Not a Privilege
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