Creative solutions and teamwork prevailed in response to the challenges last winter’s weather presented. This goes to show that terrain park crews do some of their best work when powder days aren’t plentiful.
Speaking of creativity, this year stands out among most others, especially in the events and features categories where you’ll find fresh ideas and interesting versions of longtime standards, tweaked just enough to make them unique.
One longtime spring standard that appeared to get more freestyle flair is the pond skim. Multiple entries incorporated park features into pond skim venues, adding an element of entertainment to an already fun spectator event.
Are there more themes and trends throughout this vast collection of terrain park goodness? See for yourself.
Scroll through the categories to see all the entries. Voting ends December 2, 2026.
The Terrain Park Contest is powered in partnership with Prinoth
Vote for Your Favorite Feature:
Mini Park Line
Beaver Valley, ON
Managers of recreation programs Cory Davies and Dano Harris teamed up with terrain parks manager Elliott Black to develop a “Mini Park” line adjacent to the learning hill, creating an easy first step into the park for kids graduating from beginner terrain. The line consisted of four 6-inch-high plastic boxes spaced generously apart and finished with a kid-sized exit tunnel made from a 6-foot-diameter drainage pipe. The park crew reset the boxes each morning and marked the line with the same blue paint used in Beaver Valley’s larger parks. Served by the beginner hill’s conveyor lift and built on the same minimal grade, the line was designed to make the transition into park terrain seamless. Its location just above the base lodge also kept the experience visible and easily accessible, giving young skiers and snowboarders a place to build skills and confidence.
The Plaza of Solitube
Afton Alps, MN
Afton Alps combined nine steel tubes into the Plaza of Solitube, a 70-foot-wide by 30-foot-long setup designed to give skiers and riders multiple ways through a single zone. The tubes were arranged in a variety of configurations, including cannons, curves, combinations and closeouts. Terrain park team lead Mike Wolfert and Dom Lonetti built the plaza in March 2026. Installation took eight hours with one snowcat operator working in a PistenBully ParkPro and one hand-crew member using an Arena Snowparks rake. The completed plaza was open to riders of all abilities.
Schoolhouse Rail
Mt. Baker Ski Area, WA
When Mt. Baker took an 18-foot A-frame out of commission, the ski area repurposed material from the feature and another 9-foot flat rail (fabricated from thicker 6-inch flat tubing that had a tendency to ride sticky) into a new rail. The resulting Schoolhouse Rail is an 18-foot-long, 3-inch-wide flat rail with a 6-foot slideable lead-in, designed as an intermediate-to-advanced feature. Mt. Baker welder Jeff Weber fabricated it from repurposed 3-inch-by-6-inch steel tubing with 2-inch-square legs and expanded-steel skirting near the end of the 2025-26 season. It debuted April 11 during the Last Stand Rail Jam.
Newschoolers SSV S-Rail
Banff Sunshine Village, AB
Banff Sunshine Village worked with Newschoolers to develop the SSV S-Rail as a technical challenge that riders could work toward throughout the season. The 42-foot steel feature stands about 3 feet high when set, although sometimes the crew shapes the snow on the sides to create a volcano-style feature that follows the rail, allowing it to be hit from all directions and multiple access points. Arena Snowparks built the modular rail in 2023 as two C-shaped sections that bolt together. It includes aluminum panels with branded decals; the branding was updated for 2025-26. Setting it starts with roughly 20 minutes of snow preparation before a PistenBully ParkPro moves the sections into place. Hand-crew members connect the pieces before the cat builds snow around the rail and shapes the takeoff; Arena Snowparks rakes are used for final handwork. Setup can take roughly 45 minutes, and up to several hours for its volcano configuration. Throughout the season, skiers and riders test themselves against the feature.
Y Rail
Gunstock Mountain Resort, NH
Gunstock parks manager Nick Imhoof drew inspiration for the Y Rail from the nonlinear riding patterns favored by many park users. Built for Gunstock’s progression-focused CoreNation spring rail jam, the branching feature was intended to encourage creative approaches. The Y Rail measures 12 feet long and was constructed from 3.5-inch pipe. As part of a three-day event build, installing and positioning the Y Rail itself took a couple of hours. CoreNation participants ranged from pro and seasoned riders to newcomers, and the Y Rail emerged as a popular feature. Following the rail jam, Gunstock opened the venue to the public for the remainder of the weekend.
Challenge Tube
Copper Mountain, CO
Each spring, Woodward Copper builds a challenge rail that gives skiers and riders one final feature on which to push themselves before the season winds down. For 2026, the crew went 110 feet long, combining three favorite tube shapes into one continuous feature. The 24-inch-diameter Challenge Tube was constructed from recycled lift tower tubes salvaged from Copper’s Flyer and Timberline lifts. A member of Copper’s snowcat operations team built the feature March 21. A single cat operator then set and raked it in overnight using a PistenBully 400 ParkPro and hand rake, completing the installation in approximately three hours. The finished tube was installed in Central Park and opened to the public.
Panel Wall
The Summit at Snoqualmie, WA
In summer 2024, terrain park fabricator Jared Scholz built the Panel Wall, a billboard-style feature without the footprint of some of the larger walls in The Summit at Snoqualmie’s fleet. It measures 9 feet high, 8 feet wide and 5 feet long and weighs roughly 900 pounds, thanks to a heavy I-beam used as ballast. Construction materials include 2-inch round and square tubing, 2-inch angle, 12- and 16-gauge sheet metal, an 8-inch I-beam, a 6-by-2-inch fork sleeve, HDPE and rivets. Setting and shaping the wall takes about an hour using a PistenBully 400 ParkPro equipped with in-house over-the-blade forks, and one hand-crew member wielding a large Snowboy rake. The feature resides in Central Park, Snoqualmie’s main terrain park, where it is available to the general park-riding public. Its low profile provides a unique riding experience, with more visibility around the feature when on the box top.
Last Call QP Jersey Barrier Channel
Loon Mountain Resort, NH
Loon Mountain combined opportunities for airtime and jibbing into one beefy feature for its Last Call event in March 2026. The Last Call QP Jersey Barrier Channel paired an 18-foot quarterpipe with a 15-foot channel and 20-foot jersey barrier. The jersey barrier was constructed with a steel frame, plywood skirting, and topped with a 12-inch-wide steel sliding surface. Loon’s park staff spent four days building the feature, using an 18-foot Zaugg, a mini excavator, and chainsaw, along with extensive hand shoveling to bring the setup together. The finished feature was reserved for Last Call participants.
The BIG Spring Spine
Palisades Tahoe, CA
With spring approaching, the Palisades Tahoe crew took advantage of the space in the upper pocket of Gold Coast Park to build a large-scale spine. The BIG Spring Spine stood 30 feet high and stretched 55 feet long, with an 8-foot-wide top, weighing an estimated one million pounds. Five crewmembers built the spine beginning May 3. A below-average snow season complicated the job, requiring the crew to farm snow from long distances. Two PistenBully 400 ParkPros and a PistenBully 600 ParkPro spent roughly two nights bulk pushing, followed by another night of shaping with a 400 ParkPro. Two crew members completed the detail work with vert scrapers and rakes. Despite its size, the spine’s design allowed riders to choose their own level of progression and go as big or small as they wanted with minimal consequence, attracting professionals and the public alike.
The Van
Stratton Mountain Resort, VT
For the 2026 Zebulon Rail Jam at HOMESICK, Stratton Mountain worked with snowboarder Zeb Powell and fabricator Lane Knaack of HFM Welding to turn a discarded van into a rideable park feature. The half-ton Van measured 18 feet long, 8 feet tall and 7 feet wide. Knaack retained the existing van frame and added steel piping and sheeting to create three roof rails: a raised round rail down the center and rails along both side gutters. Fabricated in March 2026, the Van was transported to Stratton, where the park crew moved it onto Suntanner Trail with a Prinoth Bison X. The full crew spent roughly six hours positioning and securing it. Over the four-day event, the crew maintained the Van, takeoff and landing despite challenging weather. The feature was used by everyone from beginners to expert riders, with folks putting their own spin on the setup.
Challenge Rail
Sunday River, ME
Sunday River terrain park manager Erika Roy designed the Challenge Rail to present riders with a mental challenge as much as a physical one: a feature that looked intimidating but proved surprisingly approachable once riders committed. Built in January 2026, the feature combined a trap rail and dink rail. Its dimensions included a 12-foot up section, 8-foot flat, 12-foot down, another 8-foot down section and 2-foot dink. The frame was constructed from 8-inch metal, 2 inches thick, with plywood skirting. Four park-crew members and one operator installed the feature using a PistenBully 600 ParkPro. After setting the trap rail and building a level snow pad, the crew installed the down-dink section, carefully aligning the two features to eliminate an edgeable seam. SPT and Arena Snowparks rakes were used for the final hand shaping.
Alaskan Bull Worm
Killington Resort, VT
Killington’s S-Tube gives a piece of the retired Superstar Express Quad a new life, with the terrain parks team turning a tower from the lift—which operated from 1987 to 2025—into an S-shaped feature. The 25-foot-long, 20-inch-diameter tube stands 3 feet high and was built entirely from reused materials. The lift tower forms its body, leftover snowmaking pipe became the legs, and scrap steel from Rutland-based Mac Equipment & Steel Co. was used for the bell caps. Terrain parks forepersons Collin Wolf and Scott Mockler completed fabrication Aug. 3-19 using MIG and stick welding, grinders, paint-stripping disks, a plasma cutter and torch, plus precise calculations to make 18 pie cuts. The feature is slated to debut this winter (2026-27) in Mouse Run Park before moving to Timberline Park. Installation is expected to take five crewmembers and one PistenBully ParkPro operator two to three hours. It is intended for intermediate-to-advanced skiers and riders.
Main Park Bottom Jump Line
Mammoth Mountain, CA
Mammoth Mountain’s Main Park is its showcase terrain park, and the crew built its bottom jump line to provide advanced skiers and riders a progression pathway into the expert level. The two-jump line remained in place from March 20 through May 18. The first jump measured 50 feet and the second 55 feet, with both featuring 12-foot-high, 24-foot-wide takeoffs set at a 36-degree angle. Jake Halverson and Mikey Black built the snow features over four days using PistenBully 600 ParkPro snowcats, with the day crew completing finish work using rakes and sheer-cutting tools. The crew focused on smooth transitions and natural speed to make the large jumps useful for progression, with Mammoth reporting that the jumps became the site of numerous firsts and new tricks during their two-month run.
72-Foot Rail to Pond Skim
Blue Mountain Resort, ON
Blue Mountain added a high-consequence finale to its April 4 pond skim with a 72-foot rail alongside a 90-foot pond. Built for Red Bull Slope Soakers, the custom Coastal Jibs rail gave a small group of willing skiers and riders one more challenge at the end-of-season event. Dave Wright used a Prinoth Bison X for the two-night build, working alongside terrain park and events operations manager Ben Carleton and Blue Mountain’s events and terrain park crews. The first night was spent with Wright and Carleton leveling the deck. On the second night, Wright returned in the cat for another five hours of work along with six staff members hand-digging the rail into place and completing the end pond.
Bush Plaza
Sugarbush Resort, VT
Sugarbush park manager Trevor Borrelli drew on the resort’s previous plaza builds to create Bush Plaza, packing 17 features and 12 feet of elevation change into a 90-foot-wide by 60-foot-long footprint. The resulting setup included three wall rides, four sets of stairs, a retaining wall, propane tank and Red Bull butter box, creating a range of possible routes through one interconnected zone. Borrelli designed and built the plaza, which debuted in January, with Phillip Parrish and the hand crew assisting with final cleanup. Borrelli spent roughly eight hours in a Prinoth Leitwolf X setting the features, followed by about two hours of hand crew using a variety of rakes and shovels to dial in the setup. Google SketchUp and a measuring tape were central to planning and laying out the plaza. With numerous features and possible lines, Bush Plaza was built to offer options for most ability levels.
B-DOG Dog House
Wild Mountain, MN
For the third year of B-DOG Off the Leash, Wild Mountain wanted to build something special. The result was the B-DOG Dog House, an oversized, doghouse-shaped jib built primarily for the professional riders participating in the event. Kyle Anderson fabricated the feature during the 2025-26 winter. It measures about 8 feet tall, 16 feet long, and 6 feet wide, with a frame and supports made from 2-by-2-inch steel tubing. A 4-inch tube runs along the top, while two HDPE-covered slideable wall rides create additional surfaces for riders to use. Installing and raking out the feature took roughly four hours, with one snowcat operator and two hand crew doing finish work with Planet rakes.
Red Bull Jib Jam Pond
Granite Peak, WI
Granite Peak added a freestyle component to its annual pond skim with the Red Bull Jib Jam Pond, offering cash for tricks to entice participants and spectators. The setup combined a 40-by-60-foot pond with a rail and 20-foot jump exiting the water. The crew lined the pond with silage tarps and fabricated the rail from recycled 8-inch snowmaking pipe. The early-April build took two nights. Three Prinoth Bison X cats farmed snow for the setup, with a Stage 5 Bison X completing finish work. Ry Baumann led the design, build and cat work; Kellen Bernhardt and JJ Munguia handled snowmaking, water and the pond liner; and terrain park supervisor Chris Wooldridge and operator Cam Ryan did the hand work. Hand shaping took six hours using Inter-Mountain and Arena Snowparks rakes, with Red Bull branding installed the following morning. The crew tapped into city water to fill the pond with clean water.
Ice Box
Telluride Ski Resort, CO
Telluride terrain park manager Sherwood Smith drew on terrain parks’ long history of translating urban features to snow as inspiration to create the Ice Box. Smith and the Telluride crew repurposed a reclaimed ice box into a feature that measures approximately 3 feet by 1 foot and sits about 7 feet high when installed. In 2025, the crew paired the reclaimed box from Southwest Ice with 2-inch pipe along the top front edge to create a rideable feature. The setup takes roughly two hours using a PistenBully ParkPro, a chainsaw, and two rakes. The feature was designed to be approachable, and intermediate-to-advanced skiers and riders can interact with it in several ways. More than that, says Smith, the Ice Box was “a reminder that good design often comes from seeing potential where others see junk.”
Vote for Your Favorite Feature:
Vote for Your Favorite Event:
Vans Mini Pipe Jam
Beaver Valley, ON
The Beaver Valley x Vans Mini Pipe Jam was conceived to introduce halfpipe riding to a new generation, support the development of amateur riders, and reunite legends to showcase halfpipe snowboarding. Strategically timed in late February just after the Milano-Cortina Olympic halfpipe event and before the Canadian Junior Halfpipe Championships, the hype was high for pipe riding in Ontario. With a pre-season commitment and snowmaking support, Beaver Valley set out to revive its 12-foot in-ground halfpipe and Pipe Dragon pipe cutter. The terrain park ops team stacked and pushed snow throughout January to build the pipe. After multiple cuts with the Pipe Dragon, the pipe was shaped to perfection, delivering consistent vert and smooth transitions for 6-8 hits. Event day started with a morning “RAD Camp” with free coaching from local halfpipe Olympians Calynn Irwin and Brad Martin for 35 rookies, and the free competition in the afternoon drew 90 riders. The community’s response proved that mini pipes still have an important and much needed place in the modern terrain park world.
Schuksan Beach Session
Mt. Baker Ski Area, WA
Mt. Baker Ski Area hosted its first ever on-snow after-hours event to lift spirits during a dry period in January 2026. The team set up portable light towers and a small park in the handle tow area outside the White Salmon Day Lodge for skiers and snowboarders of all ages to lap in soft, sugary snow. The Schuksan Beach Session was part of the buildup for the 73-year-old area’s inaugural weekend of night skiing, which happened later in the spring. The team used a PistenBully 400 snowcat with forks to set two battleship boxes—a 20-foot and a 10-foot—side-by-side on a 5-degree slope. The narrow venue called for a PistenBully 100 to be used to push takeoffs and groom the area. It took about two hours for the build with the help of one freestyle zone attendant and a few hours of touchups and adding snow, shaping, and finalizing the area the next day.
Girls Gone Metal
Mt. Spokane, WA
Girls Gone Metal returned with a bang to Mt. Spokane for year two. This women-focused terrain park event is about more than getting women into the park for a day—it builds community, pushes progression, and gives female riders confidence and space. The park was packed with women ranging in age from 9 to 48 sharing glitter, new tricks (and some bruises from trying them), and plenty of laughs. The Girls Gone Metal build was a full park reset, with 13 features specifically designed with progression in mind, from beginner-friendly boxes to tower tubes and more advanced rails. It took about 10 hours with one snowcat and four hand-crew members to transform the park. The build centered on the hot pink, 20-foot, double barrel shotgun Girls Gone Metal-branded rail with a plasma cut logo in the sheet metal side panel, which was crowdfunded and fabricated for the event by local female welder Max Klane.
Slushshine Rail Jam
Banff Sunshine Village, AB
The Slushshine Rail Jam adds a freestyle flair to Sunshine’s Slush Cup weekend, the final weekend of the season. The crew built two ponds next to each other, both 20 feet long and 15 feet wide. The pond on skiers’ left had a long rail over top of it. In between the ponds was a roughly 40-foot-long challenge box made using a foot-wide flat box to a foot-wide camel box. A 20-foot tube was set up ahead of the pond on skiers’ right and led into a 3-foot drop before a “pond skim,” finishing off with a 16-foot dancefloor box in the landing after the skim. The whole setup took 12 park crewmembers a total of roughly 17 hours to build over multiple days with help from other Sunshine staff—from a snowcat digging the ponds and hand crew cleaning them up, installing tarps, and setting the features around the venue to filling the ponds with water and touching up the takeoffs the morning of the event. It was a wet and wild way to close out the season.
Methodology
Hilltop Ski Area, AK
This year, the legendary, snowboard-specific Methodology contest series added two stops to the tour, including Hilltop Ski Area in Alaska. It was the first time Hilltop has ever been a tour stop for a competition. Amateur and pro snowboarders aged five years and up raced down berms, winding through rollers and jumps to the bottom of the course to blast a 15-foot-tall hip. As is always the case in Methodology, competitors are judged on speed and style, so boosting a stylish method on the hip is part of the deal in this uniquely judged race. It took about a week for the Hilltop team of one snowcat operator and about six terrain park hand crew to transform the park into the classic Methodology layout.
North Lodge Open
Sundown Mountain Resort, IA
The North Lodge Open is an annual, high energy, Midwest rail jam with a purpose. This year’s sponsor and local nonprofit, Midwest Freeriders, held a silent auction that raised more than $1,500 for mental health initiatives, while also offering a prize pool to 51 competitors ranging in age from 6 to 41, in seven divisions. The area outside Sundown’s North Lodge was transformed into a stacked rail park offering something for all levels. The setup featured a 16-foot and 32-foot pill combo to create an offset flat-down, a classic down-flat-down rail with a street-style takeoff, a crowd pleaser wide tube for swaps and transitions, and a skinnier tube set at an angle for creativity and balance. It took the team of six park crew and one operator in a PistenBully ParkPro six hours to build. Tricks were thrown down, products were tossed, and everyone left feeling better after jibbing rails in the name of mental health awareness.
Legacy Rail Jam
Mountain Creek Resort, NJ
For Mountain Creek’s 60th anniversary, the terrain park crew wanted to celebrate the people, progression, and features that have shaped the program and culture. Instead of simply looking back and remembering, they hosted an event that put history back on snow—literally. The Legacy Rail Jam, held Jan. 24, brought together about 75 skiers and snowboarders including longtime Mountain Creek locals, current professional athletes, and the next generation of park riders, as well as 16 sponsors, for a one-of-a-kind competition centered on one of the mountain’s most iconic features: the 60-foot Rollercoaster Rail. The rail was designed in the late ’90s/early ’00s, comes in two 30-foot sections, and is fondly remembered by those who shaped the mountain’s park culture into what it is today. The crew fixed it up, got it back on snow, and it united generations in a rail jam that felt historical as it happened.
The Pete Koukov Un-Invitational
Eldora Mountain Resort, CO
Eldora Mountain Resort local and professional skier Pete Koukov wanted to create an event at his home mountain as a nod to the pure, authentic aspects of freeskiing. The focus of the Un-Invitational was bringing the community together through collaborative progression. The event drew all ages and ability levels—from local up-and-coming street and park skiers to professionals and top competitors such as X-Games silver medalist Bella Bacon—for a mid-December weekend. The Woodward Eldora park crew packed the Timbers Hike Park full of 14 features divided into five different lines of boxes, tubes, rails, street-inspired features, creative combinations, and transfer options. The build went up over two days, with a PistenBully ParkPro and Prinoth Bison X pushing snow and setting features at night, and five hand crew attendants following up in daylight with rakes, shovels, chainsaws, levels, and line lasers to dial everything in.
Airblaster Mini-Skolf
Brighton Resort, UT
Brighton Resort gathered professional invitees for a springtime game of Mini-Skolf. This unique Airblaster event combines S-K-A-T-E (the skateboard style of knockout) and mini-golf. In Skolf, the features are the holes, and nothing about the build is conventional. Each hole presents a specific trick for competitors to complete in as few tries as possible. The course presented riders with challenges such as a rail with a disc golf basket, a flat rail with trenches in the takeoff and landing, a long up-box with a tube set as coping to stall on at the top before sliding back down the same box, a waterfall rail going uphill, and milk crates instead of takeoffs. The Brighton Diggers went to work with a couple snowcats and built the setup in a week.
Red Bull Party Line
Copper Mountain Resort, CO
Copper Mountain and Red Bull presented a unique dual-style pump track course. Registration was open to amateur skiers and snowboarders, but a minimum level of experience was required. The two side-by-side courses each contained nine features, arranged to create a continuous flow line from top to bottom. Each included a series of rollers to generate and maintain momentum through the transitions, a foam-pit jump allowing riders to attempt technical tricks, and a tabletop jump within the line to test timing and control at speed. The identical courses enabled direct rider v. rider comparison as they moved through simultaneously. The build began with two PistenBully ParkPro 400 snowcats tearing down the Eagle Hike Park to reclaim the snow. A team of three snowcat operators and 8–10 dedicated hand crew park staff pushed and shaped for 12 days of combined snowcat and hand work, logging many extra hours to ensure the course met the standard for a Red Bull-branded event.
Zeb & Cac’s Pop Out
Blue Mountain, PA
Zeb & Cac’s Pop Out, hosted by professional snowboarders Zeb Powell and Alex Caccamo, returned to Blue Mountain with a simple purpose: to celebrate snow sports and bring the terrain park community together. The build boasted 13 features designed to ride like a skatepark, where riders used each feature a little differently according to personal style. The team wanted the event to feel like an NBA game—loud, bright, crowds cheering, people scoring tricks. They positioned a 25-foot jump as the signature feature, surrounded by combinations of rails, bonks, and jibs, including beginner boxes, a basketball on a volcano, advanced kinked rails, rainbow walls, and a fish pond crossing. It took about 16 hours with 10 park crew members and one snowcat operator to build.
Sundown Showdown
The Summit at Snoqualmie, WA
Rail jams have a long-standing history at The Summit, though there hadn’t been a proper plaza-style rail jam event in several years, mostly due to location of the park and snow levels. Faced with the low-snow challenge many in the PNW felt last winter, the team moved the terrain park to a new location, one that made it feasible to host a plaza rail jam. Sundown Showdown gave local skiers and snowboarders three rails: a 32-foot down-flat-down lift tower tube, a 30-foot double-barrel down donkey rail, and a 30-foot triple wave rail. The venue was built entirely out of snowmaking snow; it took one snowcat operator eight hours of pushing and four hours of setting and finishing work with a team of four park crew members on the ground.
Bomb Hole Beat Down
Loon Mountain Resort, NH
The second annual Bomb Hole Beat Down went down on a cold January day emblematic of East Coast riding—firm, fast, and for the culture. The Beat Down attracted professional, amateur, and beginner snowboarders of all ages for a free rail jam, with a $10,000 cash purse for the pro classes, and big prizes for the open and grom classes. Hosted by Chris Grenier of the Bomb Hole Podcast, the Beat Down was a spectacle for everyone on site as well as those who tuned in to the Bomb Hole’s live stream on YouTube. It took the Loon park staff two days to stock the plaza with an 8-foot box, a 30-foot down-flat-down rail, a wall with creeper ledges, combo opportunities and kink rails galore, a donkey rail, classic urban-style down rail, c-rail, and a whale-tail box. Two PistenBully ParkPro 400 snowcats did the bulk pushing, while hand crew got in between features to shovel and rake and maintained the course throughout the jam.
Little Belt Log Jam
Showdown Montana, MT
The Little Belt Log Jam is a grassroots snowboard event that brings riders together for a jam-style session on handcrafted wooden features set into the woods. The Log Jam builds back-to-the-roots energy with a rider-based voting system to determine winners. The participants stoked each other up and embraced the creative spirit on this all-natural setup. The jam moved through the park, offering riders an allotted time on each of the eight features. Participants could hike as many times as possible before moving on. The features include two log platform jump features, up-down box, cannon, battleship, rainbow, down rail, and a wall ride. Building this park is a labor of love, beginning in the off-season felling, peeling, and milling trees, constructing new features, and modifying or maintaining existing features. Since a snowcat can’t fit in the woods, the crew moves snow by hand to build the take-offs, landings, and decks. The features live in the park year-round.
Spring Queening
SilverStar Mountain Resort, BC
Spring Queening was an open-to-the-public park that included a series of events intended to keep park riders at SilverStar after the main resort closes rather than traveling to Mt. Hood or Whistler. The specially-built park was open Wed.–Sun., April 1–26, and gets its name from the Silver Queen quad chair that serves the area. The slope’s shady location means the snowpack lasts long into spring. The crew needed to bring features from the main park on the other side of the mountain, and from there it took three full days and nights for a crew of 8–10 pushing snow and doing hand work to create the initial build. The park included 40–50 features on any given day during the time it was open. Spring Queening events included Nothing in the Pantry × The Creative Surge × Gathering Grounds × The Build Up (a women’s-only event on a section built by female park riders), Snake Pit Slalom (banked slalom course built on the area used for winter tubing), and Park Bucks (jam-style event with rollers, bowls, and rails).
GROM Weekend
Crotched Mountain, NH
Crotched Mountain’s GROM Weekend, March 7–8, gave kids ages 13 and under a hands-on opportunity to learn how terrain parks are designed, built, and maintained. On the first day, participants worked alongside Crotched Mountain’s terrain parks team to plan and construct a custom park from the ground up. After touring the crew’s workspace, learning about the tools, and discussing design principles, the kids selected from a variety of features and helped plan the park layout. Together, they created a progression-focused setup featuring beginner-friendly rails, boxes, a small jump, a pole jam, and a rainbow box, with line options for both newer and more experienced riders. On the second day, riders returned for the GROM Jam, where they got to ride the park they helped design and build. By giving participants a deeper connection to park culture, GROM Weekend helped grow the next generation of terrain park enthusiasts.
Homesick
Stratton Mountain Resort, VT
Homesick returned to Stratton for a fourth year, with no intentions of stopping. This annual party is as much family gathering as it is a celebration of snowboarding, art, friendship, and music. Competitors and guests made the trip to Vermont from more than 20 states, Canada, and Europe. East Street Archives works with the Stratton team to put on this multi-day, springtime event. While there is a half-pipe jam and a banked slalom race, the highlight of the weekend is the Zebulon Rail Jam, which welcomed competitors from 8 to 68 years old. The build was a cooperative effort between East Street Archives, Zeb Powell, HFM Welding, and Stratton Parks. It had multiple zones for all abilities, with features ranging from a 9-by-5-foot dancefloor and simple up-flat-down bar to a custom van topped with a rail and a doghouse just below it for advanced transfers. The crew spent about six days working on this three-part build using Prinoth Bison X snowcats and a lot of handwork.
Shaka Brah!
Wild Mountain, MN
When spring rolls around and everything feels like it’s closing, Wild Mountain turns it up with Shaka Brah! This annual, slushy, end-of-season party adds rails, jumps, and more to its last-day pond skim. Classic Midwest. A park team of two snowcat operators and four hand crew spent about four days digging out and pushing a pond and a big air jump. The pond was 20 feet long by 80 feet wide and featured three rails: one going into the pond, another going over, and a pole jam coming out. There was also a 40-foot rainbow box on the edge of the pond for those looking to jib without getting wet. The jump was a poppy, 35-footer with a 25-foot option next to it. This event attracts everyone from groms to some of the best-known professionals in the Midwest rail scene.
Party in the Park
Mammoth Mountain, CA
Over the years, Mammoth Mountain has hosted a number of sunset photoshoots—the pink rails, the mountainous backdrop, the shadows on the transitions—in its parks. For years they were available only for top-level professionals. Party in the Park creates the exclusive, private, sunset shoot feel, but for everyone, and for free. The Party typically falls on the Saturday of Cinco de Mayo weekend. The crew builds out their spring parks with this date in mind, constructing features that are progressive and offer something for everyone—including plenty of jumps. Combined, the advanced/expert and beginner/intermediate parks offer more than 50 jibs of all sizes, 12 jumps ranging from small to extra large, six creative transition features, and an 11-foot mini-pipe. Mammoth makes this a day to remember, with photographers on hand to ensure the memories last a lifetime.
Darn Tough Banked Slalom
Snowshoe, WV
The Darn Tough Banked Slalom was a race intended to bring the Southeast ski and snowboard community together. The two-day event welcomed about 150 snowboarders on Saturday and roughly 75 skiers on Sunday to navigate a timed course with 13-14 turns. Some of the turns were dug into the snow like a snake run. Berms were anywhere from 1 to 5 feet tall. One competitor at a time went down as fast as they could to try and get the best time in their category. The build took almost five days to complete—crafted for speed by two Prinoth Bison X snowcats and a hand crew of about six dedicated diggers.
Down Rails and Double Kinks
Sugarbush, VT
About a decade ago, the crew at Sugarbush Parks noticed an overall decline in the rail jam scene on the East Coast and wanted to help revive the culture. Down Rails and Double Kinks (DRDK) has been pulling skiers to Mt. Ellen ever since. Last season, the park crew stacked the bottom pitch of the main park with two tiers, each three features wide. The build offered an 18-foot down-flat-down rail, a 20-foot down-flat-down box, a 21-foot street rail, a 36-foot lift tower tube rail, a 36-foot street down-flat-down rail, a down-flat-down tower tube rail, and a pole jam down rail. Skiers of all ages and abilities threw down tricks, local sponsors tossed swag, and new friendships and connections clicked. It took one operator about six hours in a Prinoth Bison X to remove the old setup, deck out the new layout, and set features before another operator came in to do finish grade work and cleanup.
Cold Steel Rail Jam
Blue Mountain Resort, Ontario
The Cold Steel Rail Jam at Blue Mountain is the longest standing rail jam in Ontario. Open to all abilities, the 2026 event had a purse of $1,000 for those competing in the open division, and prizes from sponsors for other divisions. As the event happens annually, the crew works hard to keep the setup consistent, while still switching up the build each year to keep it interesting. Last winter’s steel-heavy build featured a rocker box, a flat rail to down S-rail combo, a pole jam to down bar combo, a classic flat-down offset combo, and more. The initial build took one operator about 18 hours of cat time in a Prinoth Bison X with six park crew on the ground raking, shaping, and fine tuning.
For the Love of Joe Memorial Gathering and Rail Jam
Massanutten Resort, VA
Joe Genovese, a hometown hero and legend within the terrain park industry, tragically died in November 2025. This event was Massanutten Resort’s way of keeping his memory alive—and it almost didn’t happen. Warm weather closed the ski area two weeks before the event was scheduled, but a cold snap allowed the team to make enough snow to build the venue, which took a team of four hand crew and three snowcat operators about two days to put together and hold the event on March 21. Whether people came to throw down their best trick or just to cheer from the sidelines, skiers and snowboarders of all ages showed up on a warm spring day. The build was filled with long, mellow rails, transitions, and volcanos. The Joe tribute rail took center stage in front of the lodge. This 20-foot down rail was the last rail that Joe fabricated and was memorialized with the logos of resorts and snowcat brands he worked with.
Strands Sesh
Whiteface Mountain, NY
Whiteface Mountain has a strong female representation in its parks, and Strands Sesh was a way to both celebrate and grow that culture. Created as a female-only park event designed to make the terrain park feel more welcoming and accessible, the female park staff and riders led with encouragement, demonstrations, tips, and plenty of good vibes. The plaza-style hike park, created specifically for the event, offered eight beginner and intermediate features: a flat-down bar, a rainbow box, a battleship box, a fat tube, a flat box, a flat tube, an up-down box, and a small jump. About 30 women of all ages and abilities stayed from bell to bell, hiking, trying new tricks, building confidence, and making friends. It took about six park crew a full day and night to build with two PistenBully 600s.
Micro X Upper Management Pop-up Jam
Sunridge Ski Area, Edmonton
Roughly 100 snowboarders of all ages from around Alberta showed up to compete and have fun at Sunridge Ski Area for an early March pop-up jam put on by Micro Snowboards and Upper Management. The setup included 18 tubes, two barrels, a fence, and a jump ramp. It was built the night before the event with one Prinoth Bison X and about six park crew alongside another six volunteers staying until the middle of the night to complete the venue, and they then returned early the next morning to open it up and run the event.
The Barrel Racers
Granby Ranch, CO
The Barrel Racers, a women’s rail jam sponsored by Lleky, provided women of all ability levels with a welcoming and supportive opportunity to experience terrain park competition. As the first event in a three-part Rail Rodeo series, the event encouraged progression and built confidence in a space where riders could challenge themselves and have fun. The partnership with Lleky, a women’s skate and snow company, helped draw female skiers and snowboarders of all ages and forge a supportive community in the terrain park. The venue was arranged with beginner-friendly features on one side and more advanced features on the other, to encourage progression. Features included a dancefloor box, a flat box, a propane tank, a flat rail, urban-style down rail and flat tube, and a small jump. It took a four-person crew about three days to build, with one operator in a Prinoth Bison X pushing snow and moving rails.
Open Season Rail Jam
Mountain High, CA
Mountain High’s Open Season Rail Jam brought the community together for an action-packed start to the season in mid-December. It was an opportunity to shake off the summer rust and reconnect with friends—with more than $10,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs. Open Season featured a progression-friendly setup of rails and boxes to encourage creativity and style, with something for all ages and abilities. It had three tiers that included everything from a 4-inch flat-down bar to a 10-foot pole jam and the infamous “Rick Rail,” a down-flat-down, 10-inch round rail that tests even the best. Beginners and those working on new tricks were able to find multiple approachable tower tubes set throughout the park. The build took one night of work with the grooming manager and two hand crew helping on the ground.
The Newschoolers Gathering at Sugarloaf
Sugarloaf, ME
It had been almost a decade since Newschooolers.com hosted its last event, and staff felt it was time for another. The Gathering at Sugarloaf gave the Newschoolers community a laid-back rail jam-type event where amateur skiers (and snowboarders) made casual laps in the park. The setup, located at the bottom of Sugarloaf’s medium/large rail park, offered a variety of features on two different pads, with a 12-foot quarterpipe at the bottom. Jibs ranged from a beginner friendly ride-on up box to larger features such as an 8-foot wall ride and the down-flat-C-flat-down combo rail. The build started early, as the Sugarloaf crew gradually integrated new features and changes into the park to avoid disrupting the daily park experience, without giving too many hints as to what the event venue would be. A team of about six hand crew staff, two operators, a PB 400 ParkPro and an ASV-RC60 skid steer went to work 24 hours before the event to set final jibs and prepare the park for game day.
The Longest Lap
Trollhaugen, WI
It is said that you spend more time actually riding the park when lapping a rope tow compared to a chairlift. With the industry abuzz with rope tow talk, Trollhaugen aimed to get some data on the board for the rope-tow side with The Longest Lap, a 16.5-hour, nonstop affair. On Friday, Jan. 9, 28 brave souls—pros and locals alike—began lapping the rope-served park at 10 a.m. Fifteen made it to the bitter end at 2:30 a.m., when the rope finally shut off for the close of Late-Night Friday. Ages ranged from teens to 40s; physical and mental strength ranged far wider. No big tricks were required. No spin to win. No special build because the features weren’t the star of the show—the rope was. In the end, the group did a combined 11,749 laps and traveled a total of 3,336 miles, with the top individual male (skier Nick Drye) going 218 miles and the top individual female (snowboarder Jayva Jordan) just a mile less.
Mini Monster Rail Jam
Red Lodge Mountain, MT
Red Lodge Mountain’s Mini Monster Rail Jam was designed to introduce kids ages 2-12 to the terrain park in a low-pressure and fun environment. The winners got fun prizes, and everyone walked away with a free cookie from Red Lodge Pizza Co. Strategically timed at the end of the season (April 5), this event aimed to boost confidence and excitement for the park over the offseason and heading into the coming season. The setup shared space with ski school and offered young riders two 3-foot-long rails, two 3-foot-long small boxes, a 20-inch jump, and five barrels next to each other on their sides. It took about two days to relocate all the features from the terrain park, with three park-crew members on the task. They used shovels and rakes to set everything, since this was a small build in a small area.
MTP Cup
Cascade Mountain, WI
An idea in the making for nearly a decade, the MTP Cup offered Cascade Mountain’s skiers and snowboarders a three-part competition series. It took place in Mountain Top Park, hence the name. The month-long series started with a qualifier, moved to head-to-head matchups, and finished with finals. Every feature in the two-acre, medium-difficulty park was fair game for competition, including rails, boxes, jumps, jibs, and more. A park crew chose 16 skier and 16 snowboarder matchups after the qualifier; those competitors moved on to a virtual second round that allowed riders to compete on their own time, submit clips, and see those videos recapped on Cascade Mountain’s YouTube channel each week. The event wrapped up with a heavy-hitting round of finals and the presentation of the MTP Cup itself, engraved with the winner’s name and displayed in the park. Throughout the month, the park crew did their normal resets and feature swaps to keep things fresh, and the park remained open to the public except for the qualifier and finals days.
A Grand in Your Hand
McIntyre Ski Area, NH
For the fourth year in a row, the female snowboard community came from far and near to a tiny hill in the middle of New Hampshire’s largest city to represent, design and build, then throw down. A Grand in Your Hand is a multi-part, multi-intentional event—some women came to build and ride for fun, some to compete, and some for a little of both. The weekend started with Park Affair’s Build with a Purpose clinic, where female diggers and a female snowcat operator designed and built a park. A Grand in Your Hand followed the next day as riders competed for the $5,000 first place check (so, more than a grand) and an automatic invitation to the Uninvited Invitational in Park City, Utah. The build had a skatepark, flowy feel. Crowd pleasers included the event-branded rainbow box set up high and center on a pyramid with a pole jam option to transfer on, an urban down-flat-down, a barrel to dancefloor box combo, as well as a few other transition features sprinkled around.
Core Nation Rail Jam
Timberline Lodge, OR
Since park riders, among others, flock to Mt. Hood in the spring, it makes sense to host an event that is open to all ages and abilities and raises money for a good cause—an event like Timberline Lodge’s 4th annual Core Nation Rail Jam this past April. Riders paid $20 to sign up, with all proceeds going to Snowdays Foundation, a nonprofit organization that empowers Oregon’s youth through board sports. Beginners had the opportunity to ride alongside professionals as they gassed each other up, tried new tricks, and experienced spring on Mt. Hood. Core Nation was a temporary, accessible setup built just for the event on the bunny hill chairlift. The crew spent about 10 hours in one day completing a skatepark-style build that was open to creative line choice interpretation.
Boxaconda
Mt. Seymour, BC
Boxaconda was a new event for Mt. Seymour Parks, and the first jam event in several years. The “boxzilla” has become a popular end-of-season sensation, where parks combine many features to create a challenge rail. Dreamed up by Evan Barker from Spreading Good Vibes, Boxaconda provided a new twist on this idea: a rail jam where the box grew in length (and difficulty) every 10 minutes until it reached its final form at 144 feet of combined boxes. Adding features while an active event is happening is a challenge in itself, of course. The park crew worked fast to ensure each box sat properly, lined up, and transitioned smoothly. Using boxes instead of rails, the feature remained approachable for most skill levels, while still offering plenty of challenge. Boxaconda was well received, and the Mt. Seymour Parks crew is already dreaming of how much bigger the snake can get next year.
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Beaver Valley Snow Parks 2026 Season Recap
Beaver Valley, ON
This 90-second edit recaps a season’s worth of park riding and events at Beaver Valley Snow Parks, filmed and edited primarily by terrain park committee liaison Steve Jarrett. The edit tours Beaver Valley’s four parks, including its mini pipe and cross course, while highlighting the ski area’s events, features, athletes and the park crew that supports it all. The riding comes from a mix of park crew and Beaver Valley regulars, including X Games medalist Jasmine Baird; park manager Elliott Black; park-crew member Parker Henniger; Desi Solursh; Ryan Gilmartin; and junior national park and pipe champion Rae Chapman, among others.
All Are Welcome
Afton Alps, MN
Afton Alps’ “All Are Welcome” showcases the type of community the Minnesota resort’s park crew wants to foster. Filmed and edited by terrain park team lead Mike Wolfert throughout the 2025-26 season, the piece features Wyatt Bert, Dom Lonetti, Matt Buri, Bret Neuville, Ben Plante and others riding Afton’s terrain. The premise grew from a less-positive side of park culture: the experience of getting the cold shoulder because you aren’t a local, don’t look the part, or ride differently from someone else. “All Are Welcome” looks to say, “you belong here,” with the park framed as a place where you can make friends, make memories, and be yourself.
Jibland Jib Jam 2026
Gore Mountain, NY
Gore Mountain’s Jibland Jib Jam 2026 edit captures the atmosphere of the Jan. 31 event held in the Jibland park near the base area. Filmed by Joe Zarecki and Noah Yandow and edited by Yandow, the piece documents the Jibland Jib Jam as riders cycle through the setup Gore’s park crew built for the event. There were too many participating athletes to rundown a complete roster, but the edit highlights a variety of skiers and snowboarders flexing their own tricks and styles on the purpose-built features.
TIMBRRR!
Mt. Baker Ski Area, WA
TIMBRRR! documents a Jan. 3 best-trick contest in The Sticks freestyle feature zone (FFZ) centered on the last surviving feature from the mountain’s original collection of five handcrafted wooden rails, which had arrived in 2020-21 when Mt. Baker brought freestyle terrain back after nearly a decade without a park. Five years later, the surviving rail has been rebuilt and weathered countless tricks, while the zone around it has expanded to include 25 metal features alongside a collection of jibable wooden sculptures. Staff photographer Janus Kober filmed the contest, which brought together regulars, including skiers Alex Dufresne, Oliver Cunningham, Jake Balsiger, Tom Gagliardi and Robert Womer, and snowboarders Fiona Burns, Creed Stilwell, Loren Howe and FFZ manager Eliah Drake.
Slush Park
Welch Village, MN
Welch Village saved snow specifically to build a late-season park, extending the season into spring. Before opening the setup to the public, the resort gave the terrain park crew that had put in the work to build it a private evening session. CFO Tony Seyffer filmed the crew taking the first laps. The edit, “Slush Park,” captures the bright white snow in the park, the bright green grass around it, and “vibes that are tough to be matched,” says Seyffer. The result is a “pretty special” video that puts the focus on the people behind the setup.
Sunshine, A B-Dog Bone
Banff Sunshine Village, AB
When skier Phil “B-Dog” Casabon came to Banff Sunshine Village in March, the visit meant something extra to the park crew. Casabon’s style and creativity have influenced several members of the team, making the opportunity to watch him hit the terrain they had built particularly memorable. “Sunshine, A B-Dog Bone,” a Newschoolers Originals edit, follows Casabon through Sunshine’s terrain parks, with cameos from park-crew members Fin McCormick and Jeremy Harvey. Raph Sevigny filmed and edited the piece, with additional filming by Harvey and animations by Simon Roy.
Goodish Jam
Wisp Resort, MD
Created to promote Wisp Resort’s Goodish Jam, this February edit doubles as a portrait of the Tow Rope Park and its community. Drew Carlino filmed riders ranging from up-and-coming local groms to seasoned park-crew members, including Haiden Hinebaugh, Gus Alvarez, Johnny Lascaris, Gage Schwinn, and Zach Goodwin. The edit emphasizes progression, creativity and the interaction between different generations of Wisp park riders. Among them is 15-year-old local Cas Strubin, whose technical riding and style provide a glimpse of the younger talent developing within the scene. More than a promotional highlight reel, this edit is a look at the people and personality of Wisp parks.
Country Club Park Build 2026
Shawnee Mountain, PA
Shawnee Mountain park-crew member Thomas Ilnicki independently filmed the resort’s first terrain park build of the season on Jan. 5, then surprised the team with a finished edit. “Country Club Park Build 2026” documents the work on Shawnee’s Country Club trail, following Ilnicki and fellow park-crew members as they work on the build while mountain operations manager Zach McCormack handles the snowcat. For Shawnee, the unexpected, finished video became a shareable record of the crew’s first build of 2026.
Ian Osby in Peace Park Pop-Up
Copper Mountain, CO
Conditions forced Woodward Copper to move the location of its Peace Park pop-up farther up the mountain, creating both a different riding experience and a fresh look for the annual setup. In February 2026, Tom Haggerty filmed Woodward Copper ambassador Ian Osby skiing in the relocated park. The resulting edit gave new and returning skiers and riders a glimpse of the new setup and built hype and excitement around the reimagined Peace Park.
Hump Day Heaters, Night 4
The Summit at Snoqualmie, WA
No podiums. No winners. Just Wednesday night park laps. That’s the premise behind The Summit at Snoqualmie’s Hump Day Heaters, a monthly gathering for the Summit Parks community. “Night 4,” filmed Feb. 18 in West 52nd Terrain Park, captures Talon Monteau, Cash Farley and Colin Woodward during one of those sessions, with Woodward also handling the edit. The session wasn’t staged around a production schedule or organized to generate specific shots. Instead, the edit captures a regular night in the park with progression and community taking precedence over competition.
Loon Every Month, January
Loon Mountain Resort, NH
Filmed and edited by Tyler Franger, “Loon Every Month” is a resurrected video series that recaps the action in Loon’s parks month by month. Featuring Loon locals, the installments follow the progression of both the riding and terrain as the winter unfolds across the resort’s park network. The January edition features riders Nate Flagg, Brandon Reis, Jackson Saia, Mike Mondello, Nick Durbano, Jesse Warrington, and Zephaniah Wright hitting the mid-winter goods.
HOMESICK & Zebulon Rail Jam 2026
Stratton Mountain Resort, VT
HOMESICK, the weeklong Stratton gathering, brings folks together around riding, creativity, friendship, art, and music, and this edit puts viewers close to the people and work that make that gathering happen. Filmed by Lee Delulio, March 16-22 between HFM Welding and Stratton Mountain Resort, the edit features Zeb Powell alongside Kaden Ruskino, Grey Katko, Sophia Bruck, Joey Fava, Pat Fava, Ellie Weiler, Jaylen Hanson, Lucas Magoon, SK, Jeremy Baye, Shannon Dunn and others. The filmers and photographers are snowboarders themselves, allowing them to work close to the action, riders, and families throughout the week to capture the riding, friendships, personalities, and shared culture surrounding the event.
The Return of the Okemo Halfpipe
Okemo Mountain Resort, VT
Before anyone drops into Okemo’s halfpipe, there’s a lot of work to do. “The Return of the Okemo Halfpipe” documents the park team’s process of bringing one of the resort’s longstanding freestyle features back to life in The Zone in February 2026. The build takes more than 10 days. It starts with five to six days of snowmaking before two Prinoth Bison X snowcats begin pushing and shaping the resulting piles. An excavator forms the initial profile, and a Zaugg pipe cutter then refines the walls and riding surface. The finished pipe measures 200 feet long, with 18-foot walls, a 50-foot deck-to-deck span and a 17-degree pitch. Filmed by Corey Gambardella and Michael Coimbra and edited by Gambardella, the edit puts the Okemo Parks team and its craftsmanship at the center of the action.
Augie Brown in the Main Stage Terrain Park
Wild Mountain, MN
Filmed by Brad Larson during the 2025-26 winter, this edit follows skier Augie Brown through a few laps in Wild Mountain’s Main Stage terrain park. Wild Mountain was Augie Brown’s home hill growing up in Taylors Falls, Minn., and while he’s all grown up now, he still returns to the ski area to hit features.
Summer Still Sucks
Mammoth Mountain, CA
“Summer Still Sucks” takes the terrain park edit off snow entirely, following the Unbound crew for a round at Sierra Star golf course before the group realizes it would rather be back building terrain parks. A sand trap provides the perfect canvas for the crew’s creativity. Samantha DeLeo filmed and edited the piece, with Mammoth marketing manager Gabe Taylor directing and the Unbound crew starring. The concept leans into the satire Mammoth has found resonates with its audience and riffs on a feeling familiar to dedicated skiers and snowboarders: It may be summer, but winter is still on the brain.
Last Day in the Badlands
Blue Mountain Resort, ON
Blue Mountain sent off its Badlands Terrain Park with a sunny final session March 29. Filmed by Ruairi Duggan Motion Films, “Last Day in the Badlands” follows Jona Holden, Jack Bender, Kevin Konings, Colin Konings and others through a park that was dialed in for its last day of the 2026 season.
Whiteface Parks 2025-26 Season Edit
Whiteface Mountain, NY
Filmed by Pat Bly and edited by Jacob Sporn, the 2025-26 season edit features a roster of riders, including Ben Karkoski, John Seemueller, Brian Gardner, Elias Ford, Adrian Hayden, Tyler Wood, Jeff Stevens, Mike Champagne, Conor Bruley, Shannon Bentley, Matti Swan, Tristin Stanton, Sawyer Casson, Stewart Wells and Eli Snow. The edit arrives as Whiteface’s park scene has undergone a broader resurgence. The parks moved to dedicated trails several years ago and now have their own chairlift, giving riders quick laps and an aerial view of the action. More laps have meant more opportunities to progress—and more time spent together. The edit documents that renewed energy.
Sundown Park Vol. 1, Ep. 4: Snowboarding
Sundown Mountain Resort, IA
Episode four of the crew-produced Sundown Parks Video Series focuses on snowboarding, with footage captured by Sundown’s park crew and edited by operations manager Calvin Vize. Josh Lange, Brennan Beau, Paul Buck, Chandler Frost, Anthony Fairchild and others appear in the episode. The larger series aims to chronicle more than the crew’s own riding or the features it builds. It’s about celebrating the groms, park rats and local legends who spend the winter taking laps, hanging out, and keeping Sundown’s park scene active.
Open Season Rail Jam
Mountain High, CA
Filmed and edited by marketing manager Tyler Shippy in the Playground at Mountain High, the edit captures the SoCal resort’s season-opening rail jam. Athletes featured include young grom Tyler Durkins, followed by Brandon Weijland, Pavel Anishchanka and eventual first-place finisher Levi Kaseroff. The Open Season Rail Jam is where Mountain High skiers and snowboarders reconnect, shake off the summer rust and get back onto park features together. The edit showcases that reunion and celebrates the start of winter.
Open Haugen 20th Anniversary Rail Jam
Trollhaugen, WI
For the 20th anniversary of Trollhaugen’s Open Haugen Rail Jam, the Wisconsin ski area farmed snow that had spent six months stored beneath layers of straw and tarps. More than 330 people participated in the Oct. 4–5 weekend event, which had expanded to two days and was served by a rope tow for the first time in its history. The edit captures the payoff from two decades of experimenting with snow storage and growing the event. Robbie Weides filmed and edited the piece, which features a sprawling roster including Jake Antisdel, Sam Lobinsky, Emily O’Connor, Tanner Seymour, Nate Bujarski, Grady Tank, Joey Peterson, Avery Ruegsegger, Faelen Coldwater, Shane Ruprecht, Cayce Walton, Calvin Green and many others.
Moose Flats Rail Rodeo Recap
Red Lodge Mountain, MT
Held Jan. 18, the inaugural Moose Flats Rail Rodeo required the park crew to establish a temporary setup in a new location. The team began installing rails a week ahead of the event, creating an early-season venue for local skiers and snowboarders of all ages. Marketing and events coordinator James Morrison filmed and edited the recap, which features Red Lodge locals who regularly ski and ride the mountain. The event was one of the resort’s earliest of the winter and helped kick off what Red Lodge described as a strong season for its terrain park program.
Slumber Party in the Park Promo
Mount Washington Alpine Resort, B.C.
A weak snowpack and January inversion could have put a damper on the park scene at Mount Washington Alpine Resort. Instead, the park crew leaned into the conditions with a series of events—including a Slumber Party in the Park rail jam with a feature built from an actual bed. Head of park crew Emily Boucher sourced the bed through Facebook Marketplace and transformed it into a jib feature, with the team adding rails on either side before installing the whole setup on snow, pillows and blankets included. Brand and creative designer Jordann Neumann and Marissa Reedeker filmed the event, and Neumann edited the resulting piece, which features Owen Campbell hitting the bed feature and Boucher delivering event details while lying in the bed itself.
Mac & Cheese S3E3: “Friday Night Lights”
Mcintyre Ski Area, NH
For three seasons, McIntyre Ski Area’s “Mac & Cheese” web series has documented the park scene and community at the Manchester, N.H., hill. Filmed during the final weeks of February by McIntyre director of digital media Jared Mancuso, episode 3, “Friday Night Lights,” features local riders Bryce Stevens, Ben Krzys, Max Vavra, Cole St. Martin and Jill Leronardo. The production leaned into the nighttime atmosphere, adding extra lighting to make the park and riding pop on camera. Getting the footage meant spending some long, cold nights outside, but that is part of what distinguishes the episode.
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Sugar Bowl Parks
Sugar Bowl Resort, CA
During a challenging snow year, the Sugar Bowl Parks team adapted constantly, rebuilding and reshaping to keep the parks riding consistently. Dirt foundations beneath Golden Eagle helped the crew open its 50- to 70-foot jump line early and maintain it through difficult conditions. Crewmembers spent the summer widening and reshaping Peregrine Ridge, expanding Golden Eagle for a second feature line, adding snowmaking and building custom rails and boxes. It’s all part of creating an Athlete Zone that snow surfaces director Matt Melilli says should “feel like home”—a place for athletes to train, push each other, and grow, brought to life by a dedicated and creative parks crew. The crew: Melilli, terrain park manager Mike Schipani, supervisor Parker Gokey, and builders Matt Slocombe, Danny Shupp, and Josh King. Their work is supported by Charles Beckinsale and Steve Petrie of Effective Edge, and Brandon Dodds of Koah Earthworks.
Beaver Valley Snow Parks Crew
Beaver Valley Ski Club, ON
The Beaver Valley Snow Parks crew is responsible for four terrain parks, a skier/boardercross course, a 12-foot halfpipe and an air bag training site. Its 50-feature top-to-bottom Main Park includes a three-jump slopestyle course, which hosts an annual provincial snowboard and freeski championship, while the 20-feature Progression Park hosts an annual Groms Park Series. The crew refreshes the parks weekly and tackles custom builds for 16 events each season, ranging from national-level slopestyle and snowboard cross competitions to a banked slalom, mini pipe jam and the annual Jasmine Baird “Ride Like a Girl.” Led by manager/builder Elliott Black and co-builder Jordan Bender, with support from grooming and snowmaking ops leader Nic Elias, the crew credits a simple philosophy for its success: “ride what we build.”
Banff Sunshine Village Park Crew
Banff Sunshine Village, AB
More than 1,000 centimeters of snow made for a busy winter for the Banff Sunshine Village park crew. The team worked a full slate of events and maintained features throughout the season, including a custom kicker built for a Mark McMorris commercial that the crew got to session during a night shoot before it was removed. The work continued into July, when the team had four parks open for Sunshine’s summer skiing program. Their approach, says park crew supervisor Aaron Mann, is “work hard, play hard and face whatever Mother Nature throws at us.” The crew: Mann, assistant park crew supervisor Ethan Smart, Jack Steen, Taylor Goodenough, Matthew Joslin, Michael Seguin, Fin McCormick, Hugh Mckenzie, Jojo Brent, Will Whittaker, Emmett Desjardins, Charlie Gruszewski, Cole Reimer, Pablo Barrientos, Jeremy Meridith, terrain park grooming supervisor Max Middlestadt, and terrain park grooming assistant supervisor Mason Desjardins.
Gore Mountain Park Crew
Gore Mountain, NY
The night before a Saturday rail jam at Gore Mountain, the park was almost completely dirt and mud. Operator Bryant DeMarsh worked through the night, scavenging enough snow to create a setup, then the rest of the crew arrived in the morning to shape, build and get it ready for the event. It was a fitting example of how Gore’s crew operates. “We all have different strengths, but we trust each other,” says terrain park foreman Henry Kirshe. Whether building features, shaping takeoffs or preparing the park for another day, crewmembers jump in wherever they’re needed—and, on this occasion, turned a park that looked nearly impossible the night before into a rail jam setup they were proud of. The crew: Kirshe, DeMarsh, Bobby Altman, Nick Anderson, Joe Zarecki, Manny Allen, Nate Kouffman, John Wilks, Peter Clune, Sean Dean, and Zach Scoville.
Wisp Parks Crew
Wisp Resort, MD
When an early March warm-up forced Wisp Resort to close ahead of its final park jam, the season could have simply ended. Instead, management gave the park crew an opportunity to keep the event alive for one more day. The team rallied, farming what snow remained and rebuilding a fresh, three-tiered park with 16 features. Operator Chris Zandron’s ability to preserve and farm snow throughout the season helped make the final push possible. It was an apt finale for a tight-knit crew accustomed to maximizing the resources of a smaller East Coast resort through creativity and adaptability. As the submission puts it, Wisp’s crew “doesn’t just build a park—they build an experience.” The crew: Zandron, Andrew Dale, Colby Belcher, Drew Carlino, Jonas Shaffer, Haiden Hinebaugh, Gunner Cowan, Ben Lohr, Zach Goodwin, Colby Cascio, Richard Milton and Luke Artice.
Cascade Mountain Park Crew
Cascade Mountain, WI
“Party vibes, serious content.” That was the philosophy as Cascade Mountain crew supervisors Eli Engel and William Buckley revamped the onboarding process for new park staff for 2025-26. In one night, new hires covered safety, working around snowcats, and the finer points of rake work. Instead of slowly bringing newcomers into builds as in years past, the supervisors involved the entire crew immediately. By doing the work from the start, new hires gained a better understanding of what goes into building and maintaining the park, creating a better-informed crew that functioned at a higher level, sooner. The crew: Buckley, Engle, Aidan Viste, Braden Hankwitz, Carston Small, Carter Peterson, Chuck Hiedaman, Deklan Sullivan, Leiland Roessler, Mason Johnson, Matthew Zander, Max Acker, Ryder Radewan, Saun Fahey, Tucker Schmidt and Ty Enders.
Gunstock Parks Crew
Gunstock Mountain Resort, NH
Longtime terrain park groomer Andy Marston jokes that Gunstock’s park crew “will be the death of him”—mostly because their attention to detail can crunch the team on time. That trait served them well last fall as the crew tackled something Gunstock had never done before: building a park at the summit for opening day. With a tight window before snowmaking ramped up, the team transported eight features to the summit by skidder and trailer, then used a cat to position them once enough base had accumulated. Several hours of hand digging, shaping, and adjusting followed. The payoff: Gunstock’s first-ever summit park welcomed riders on opening day of the 2025-26 season. The crew: Nick Imhoof, DJ Cate, Garrett Lang, Gavin Croteau, Sam Bonner, and Aiden Specker, among others.
Woodward Parks Crew
Copper Mountain Resort, CO
A below-average Colorado snow year tested the adaptability of Copper Mountain’s Woodward Parks Crew last season. Working with limited resources, the team stretched available snow, adjusted builds and problem-solved on the fly rather than scale back its park program. Long days, late nights, major builds and changing weather are all part of the job, but the crew’s strength, according to the submission, is its willingness to step up when things get difficult. Every member understands “that it takes the whole team working together to keep our parks safe, consistent, and fun.” Through a challenging season, that mutual support kept the crew strong.
Summit Parks Crew
The Summit at Snoqualmie, WA
The 2025-26 winter became a “season of pivots” for the Summit Parks crew. When low snowpack forced Summit Central, and with it, the usual Central and Greenhorn terrain parks, to close in January, the team quickly resurrected West 52nd, an early-2000s park zone. There, the crew maintained a full progression of features, hosted multiple events and kept the park going without snowmaking through the end of the season. By the final day, a narrow strip of snow along Julie’s Chair still held roughly 25 features, including a challenge rail stretching more than 100 feet. The crew: Caleb Snobl, Cash Farley, Anthony Helms, Danielle Amado, Jonny Haycock, Damon Mallick, Nicole Bartlett, Tommy Snobl, Fedor Nemtchinov, Rileigh Carey, Ben Baird, Casey Mauk, and Earl Strese.
Mt. Spokane Terrain Park Crew
Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, WA
“Man, our crew stepped up big time this past season,” says park manager AJ Ricci. The team kept grinding through a difficult snow year at the nonprofit ski area. Positive feedback from locals and visiting riders fueled their work: “The crew fed off of that stoke and put it right back into their work.” Build ideas kept coming, maintenance never dipped, and the team pulled off two premier events, Girls Gone Metal and Getting Down to Vizzness/Super Sync. But Ricci says what stands out most is the crew’s relationship with its riders. From grabbing a clip for a guest to soliciting feedback at the top of the park, “Nowhere else have I witnessed such a close-knit and genuine connection between park crew and community,” he says. The crew: Ricci, Brayden Anderson, Anekin Burnworth, Jack Cappel, Mason Cushing, Payton Eirls, Zane Ervin, Davey Furois, Jacob Gust, Ethan Hernandez, Cody Kuehne, Diego Morales, Caleb Pratt, Hayden Rogers and Pat Smith.
Loon Mountain Parks Crew
Loon Mountain Resort, NH
“These guys eat, sleep, and breathe parks,” says terrain park manager Bryan Harper. He described a team that moves from build to build and event to event throughout the winter without complaint. Long days? “No problem.” Ten days straight? “No problem.” Harsh weather? “Gladly.” “There’s no one on the East Coast that goes as hard as the LMP (Loon Mountain Parks) park staff,” says Harper. The crew: Harper, Deric Dubois, Jack Czarnecki, Nick Durbano, Cam Rand, Tanner Payette, Seth Learned, Grady Dougherty, Noah Hofeman, Cole Michie, Will Vear, Nico Ripani, Jeff Albanese, Austin Roy, Matt Pehrson, Mike Mondello, and Liam Hay.
Palisades Tahoe Terrain Park Crew
Palisades Tahoe, CA
Keeping Palisades Tahoe’s terrain parks alive through the end of the season became a mountain-wide mission during a below-average snow year. Hand crew kept features buried, maintained, and rideable, while terrain park groomers planned ahead each shift—identifying snow stashes, deciding which features could be saved, and strategically moving snow to preserve terrain. Fleet grooming joined the effort, even stripping snow from other runs to support the parks. During the March heat wave, when snow and terrain were disappearing rapidly each day, every shift required careful planning. “It truly took everyone working together to make it happen,” says terrain park grooming supervisor Alex Schaffrick. The crew: Schaffrick, Aaron Engelhardt, Brandon Yonkers, Adam Eisenman, Eli Garrett, Will Shelton Kidder, Paul Tovar, Derek Sanderson, Tom Richards, Bandit Ferrante, Joey Collins, CJ Look, Kara Padilla, Marina Handt, Jacy Lentini, and Sean Murphy.
Sugarbush Terrain Park Crew
Sugarbush Resort, VT
Strong leaders, lofty goals and a “relentless attitude” define the Sugarbush terrain park crew, according to terrain park manager Trevor Borrelli. Backed by support from the resort, the team looks for every opportunity to improve its product and approaches the work collectively: “The story is we prepare and work as a team.” To capture the team, for the past five years, park groomer Urris White has taken portraits or a group photo of the crew. The 2025-26 installment shows the team—Big Rick, Liam, Cooper, Gail, Sam B, Trevor, Phillip, Gogan, Erik, Ryder, Nick, Avery, Caleb, Sam F, Urris, and Zach—together on closing day.
Sugarloaf Park Crew
Sugarloaf, ME
A difficult spring highlighted the hard work of Sugarloaf’s snow surfaces teams. With April/May-style conditions arriving in March, the park crew battled repeated thaw-freezes and rain while preparing for Air & Après, a Newschoolers.com event, and a visit from the LINE Traveling Circus. Three park operators expanded their usual duties to tackle jib maintenance, and year-round snow-gun maintenance staff helped with closing rakes when needed. For terrain park manager Ben Amburgey, that collaboration reinforces that parks are part of the larger mountain ops team—and that somebody has their back. The crew: Amburgey, Sam Scheff, Mason Darveau, Simon Kern, Ryan Coyne, Evan Schumann, Erin Ellis, Emma Small, Clay Gregg, Finn Baldwin, Arden Weaver, Ryan Cass, Aaron Kalat, Gavin Scoon—and snowmakers Nathaniel Jones, Oliver Woodward, Ella Holden, Mike Carter, and Dana Higgins.
Carinthia Parks Crew
Mount Snow, VT
It takes seven cat operators and 10 diggers to keep Mount Snow’s Carinthia Parks dialed. The crew shapes everything from approachable progression parks to competition-level jumps and rails, continually introducing features, reimagining layouts and adapting terrain throughout the season. Daily inspections, maintenance, and fine-tuning keep the parks consistent, and the team designs and prepares competition-ready courses for events including the Futures Tour, Carinthia Classic, and USASA Series. Behind it all are late nights with shovels and hand tools, carefully shaping and smoothing the terrain that riders encounter the next morning. The crew: Rob Black, Nicky Stevens, Kevin Ramsay, Brendan Bauer, Justin Hongell, Jesse Goodnow, John O’Boyle, Adam Tease, Shaun Murphy, Chandler Bergstrom, Judah Kondracki, Lacey Zeranski, Sofie Pedemonti, Mike DeJohn, Tyler Dlubac, Macklin Allen, and Levi Sorensen.
Unbound Crew
Mammoth Mountain, CA
An early start to winter at Mammoth was followed by two warm months, so the team got creative, using the material it had to produce what the submission calls “some of the best low-tide parks we’ve ever seen.” When snow finally returned later in the spring, the crew was ready, building out Unbound’s spring terrain with renewed energy. “While many resorts threw in the towel, we were just getting started.” Creativity, consistency, progression, and fun guide a team responsible for seven terrain parks and a season that can stretch into July. The crew: Jared Dawoud, Alex Sanguily, Jake Abston, Brendon Simon, Lorenzo Lacava, Gavin Ward, Kenderik Hughes, Garret Davila, Peter Frieling, Ewen Tomier, Mackenzie Tharp, Jake Slaminski, Joel Bowman, Mike Black, Jake Halverson, Breckin Shotz, Anthony Trionfi, Clyde McCoy, Paco Diaz, Jason Rafuse, Levi Colvin, and John Rustin.
Blue Mountain Park Crew
Blue Mountain Resort, ON
With Blue Mountain’s operations running from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., its parks see plenty of traffic and require plenty of attention. Last winter delivered fresh snow along with thaws and melts, making hard work for park crew to keep the park raked and dug out through the weather swings. The team kept at it “with a smile on their faces,” according to terrain park and event operations manager Ben Carleton. The reviews from overhead were good, with consistent shout-outs from riders on the chairlift letting the crew know its work was being noticed. The crew: Carleton, Myko Halpin, Cody Walker, Harrison Ormsby, Harrison Bowyer, Griffin Issler, Grayden Stewart, Evan Barcellos, Oliver Danby, Ben Goppler, Evan Reljic, Marco Savini, Jameson Dickie, Kevin Konings, Owen Edwards, Jona Holden, Jeremy Keyzer, and Cayden Moore.
Troll Park Crew
Trollhaugen, WI
“Fun? Yea, we know about it.” Trollhaugen’s park crew spans a wide range of ages and experience, but the common denominator is heart. Even on the toughest weather days, the crew rallies to build what the resort calls “a home park for so many dedicated humans.” That combination of personalities and experience has created a squad that “feels like family day in and day out” and builds sick parks. The crew: Kian Barrett, Sam Lobinsky, Paul Flotmeyer, Adam Mahler, Matt Boudreaux, Scott Ramberg, John Bryant, Laura Rogoski, Dylan Pattee, Jack Kaiser, Kiefer Ascheman, Brandon Nesseth, Andre Hall, Eric Bergerson, Evan Edstrom, Jonathan Lande, Aaron Boettcher, Craig Lilly, and many more helping hands!
Red Lodge Mountain Park Crew
Red Lodge Mountain, MT
Red Lodge Mountain’s crew may be small, but adaptability is one of its strengths. Given only a few days’ notice to bring the Moose Flats Rail Rodeo to life, the team pulled together the competition, sponsors and all. As snow thinned elsewhere on the mountain, crewmembers also kept the big jump maintained for Throwback ThrowBIG and later moved Mini Monster from Miami Beach to Showoff Alley to close out the competition season, all the while maintaining Red Lodge’s park seven days a week, with a larger goal of growing the mountain’s terrain park scene. The crew: Joel Degutis, Ryan Rummel, Jesse Anderson, Alex Gibson, Taylor Korth, and Josh Ramey.
McIntyre Parks Crew
McIntyre Ski Area, NH
McIntyre’s final rail jam of the season, Chair 46—named for the 46 chairs on the small ski area’s lift—was supposed to showcase a rail plaza the crew had spent two full days designing and digging. Then, “in true New England style,” it poured. Rather than let the weather kill the mood, crewmembers ran to the store, bought a grill and started cooking hot dogs for competitors and spectators. “It was a true vibe saver,” says director of digital media Jared Mancuso. The episode captured what McIntyre means when it describes its park crew as a family: They build the setups—and they also build community. The crew: Mancuso, Luke Boutin, Kris Boris, Dave Dawley, Liam Murphy, Jason Carney, Sage Peterson, Ben Depasse, Will Dionne, Trina Janos, and David Saures.
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