SAM Magazine-Burlington, Vt., Aug. 5, 2011-Members of the ASTM F27 Committee on Snow Skiing met in mid-July to consider expanding the committee's scope to include terrain park jumping features (ASTM stands for the American Society for Testing and Materials). The move, which is expected to be approved, would put ASTM in the business of considering standards for the design and construction of terrain park table top features.

Currently, the scope of the F27 Committee is focused on specifications, test methods, practices, and terminology for equipment, such as skis, boots, and bindings. The new proposal would expand the jurisdiction of the F27 Committee to include design and engineering standards for the construction of jumping features (i.e., table tops) in terrain parks at ski resorts.

The ASTM F27 committee includes resort insurance providers, ski and snowboard manufacturers, engineers and academics such as Dr. Jake Shealy and Dr. Mont Hubbard, as well as representatives from resorts, NSAA and other ski industry organizations.

The effort to expand the scope of the ASTM F27 Committee to include analyzing the design and construction of terrain park jumping features is supported by NSAA, manufacturers, insurers, and resort operators, according to Dave Byrd of NSAA. The vote to expand the committee's jurisdiction will take place in August and September 2011 by the full committee.

Even if the F27 Committee votes to consider potential standards for table tops, the adoption of any potential design standards, if any, is several years off. It will likely take years of analysis, study, research, and debate by the committee before it's clear whether any industry-consensus standards are possible, or what those standards might look like. Any final standards are determined by a vote of the entire F27 Committee.

In addition, the proposal being considered would limit the committee's expansion to consideration of design and construction of terrain park jumping features. It would not include signage, roping, or other issues that are not directly related to the design of table top jumping features.

In anticipation of the expansion of F27, the Committee has set up an informal task force to review the existing body of information on the issue of designing table top jumping features. This task force is chaired by Dr. Jake Shealy, other members include NSAA's Dave Byrd and Sid Roslund, USTPC's Jim McNeil, Steve Hanft from Snow Summit, Irv Scher, Larry Young, Stan Gale and Mont Hubbard.

The next meeting of the ASTM F27 committee will be held at the SIA show in Denver, Jan. 24-25, 2012. Ski area managers, terrain park designers, and suppliers should consider joining the ASTM F27 Committee so that those with on-mountain expertise on table top construction and working knowledge of park operations can share their insights on the important issue of park design and engineering standards. If you are interested in joining other ski area managers and suppliers who are already on the ASTM F27 Committee, it only costs $75 to join, and membership is quick and easy. Go to www.www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP/MemTypes.htm for step by step instructions for joining the F27 Committee. Questions? Contact Sid Roslund, ASTM F27 Recording Secretary, at NSAA (720) 963-4210, sidr@nsaa.org, or Christie Sierk, F27 Committee Manager for ASTM, csierk@astm.org, or 610-832-9728. \

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