Teenage snowboarders, like most kids, are a finicky bunch. Cool has a lifetime of five minutes and the race to keep up with trends can be brutal. For example, first all the snowboarders wanted halfpipes, then they wanted terrain parks, then it was boarder cross and now, in true retro style, they want pipes again, but much, much bigger ones.
As snowboarding evolved, so did the demand for snowboard-specific terrain and many areas responded to the call. However, as the parks and pipes proliferated, snowboarders’ tastes became refined, as well. They now demand quality, and a quality halfpipe can become a huge asset in attracting the ever-growing 8- to 24-year-old crowd.
Pipe-grooming Implements
If an area has the money and willingness to commit to a halfpipe, there are three things it needs—a halfpipe groomer, space and snowmaking capacity.
Investing in a pipe-grooming implement is recommended for shaping and maintenance. Using an excavator for the initial shaping of the pipe is a good idea, but it is a poor tool for cutting the pipe two to three times a week. Even if the operator is able to cut a perfect transition, it is extremely difficult to continue this cut on two 400-foot walls.
In the final analysis, if purchasing a new or used pipe groomer is not an option, it may be better to hold off on building a pipe until the budget can handle the cost. In this case, having no halfpipe is better than having a bad one.
Several years ago, when the Pipe Dragon grooming machine was introduced, it wasn’t very popular. However, when places like Vail, Killington and Sugarloaf showed what could be done with a Dragon in the right hands, the implement began showing up in resort brochures around the world. The first Pipe Dragons were slow, heavy, cumbersome and, because they were rear-mounted, gave operators sore necks for weeks. The finished pipe, however, drew rave reviews.
With the success of the Pipe Dragon, competing implements began to emerge. Some, like the Scorpion, were similar in design to the Dragon and one major snow cat builder marketed a parking lot attachment as a pipe cutter. Ultimately this failed, but it was successful in introducing front-mounted equipment. Pipe Dragon, Scorpion and Bombardier now offer front-mounted pipe groomers. This is creating a market of used 10- and 12-foot rear-mounted machines that still put out a good product. The machines can probably be found in workable condition for bargain prices as areas upgrade to the new designs.
Space and Location
Space is the next big item needed for a decent halfpipe. Some halfpipes are now over 600 feet long, but at a minimum they should be 300 feet long with another 100 feet for a start/drop-in and a finish area. The wall-to-wall width can erode to over 60 feet by the end of the season or before it is rebuilt midway through the season. The decks (top of the walls) should be wide enough for a cat to till them regularly. The outsides of the walls will be angled because the snow spills over the outside edge of the decks during construction. Leave another 10 to 12 feet for this spillage. (Spillage can run into trees, but care should be taken not to bury hydrants.)
What it boils down to is that a flat, rectangular area of a reasonable pitch (more about that later), measuring at least 400 feet long by 115 feet wide, is needed for a halfpipe. The length can vary more than the width, which depends on the height of the pipe walls, which, in turn, is determined by the height of the pipe groomer—either 10 or 12 feet high. Pipe groomers can cut a shorter wall, but they are most effective doing what they’re designed for.
Besides entertaining snowboarders, a halfpipe can be a big visual addition to a resort. Even if there is no particular event, people enjoy watching snowboarders ride a pipe. This makes the best location for a pipe within sight of the base lodge where it can add excitement to a sleepy base area.
Convenience and accessibility for both riders and spectators during events and competitions are also important in the placement of a halfpipe. It’s much easier to lug items such as announcing equipment, chairs, tables, etc. to a pipe in the base area than to one up on the mountain. In addition, because the pipe grooming implements can be heavy and cumbersome, the grooming staff will be less likely to groom the pipe often if it is a challenge just getting there. And, of course, if the pipe is easily seen, it can market itself.
Summer Preparation
Once the location is decided, summer work can be done to make things easier during the winter, but it can be costly and labor-intensive. It might be a good idea to work with what Mother Nature provides for a debut season, so if any unforeseen problems arise due to a bad location, the pipe can be moved for the next season. Also, a season of building and maintaining a pipe can give some indication about what summer work does and does not need to be done.
Once a permanent spot is found, the biggest summer job is earth moving. Major rolls or pitch changes should be leveled. Then, a wide ditch (100-plus feet) may be dug, and/or berms may be built where the outsides of the walls will be located. These projects have to be done only once and they can cut down on the amount of snow that must be made every season. DO NOT, however, shape the pipe out of dirt because it will not take long for a pipe groomer to hit shaped dirt, necessitating constant rebuilds.
Expansion of snowmaking into the snowboard arena can also make life easier. Air and water availability allowing, the more hydrants, the better. If portable guns (as opposed to tower guns) are used, a row of hydrants on either side of the pipe is beneficial and cuts down on how often and how far the snowmaking staff has to move the guns.
Pitch is also important: too flat, and riders will not be able to generate speed; too steep, and speed control traversing the halfpipe will be difficult and the groomer may have difficulty climbing. Some plans that are circulating call for a pitch of approximately 12 degrees, which makes the pipe easier for a groomer to climb. From a snowboarder’s standpoint, however, this is totally undesirable. New front-mounted designs for halfpipe equipment are shedding weight, making it is easier to maintain a proper 18- to 23-degree pipe. The best idea may be to grade the trail to approximately 15 to 16 degrees during the summer, then increase the pitch with snow. This way, the pitch of the pipe can vary slightly from year to year, as snowboarders’ tastes change. (Right now, upper-level riders prefer steeper pipes, maybe 22 to 23 degrees, in order to generate more speed and go higher.)
Length and Width
In the past, a 300-foot pipe was long. Now, anything under 350 feet is short and 400-plus is being used more often. (These lengths are for the actual pipe walls only and do not include the drop-in and finish areas.)
Width, as with pitch, greatly influences how a pipe rides and is a function of wall height, pitch and time of season. Most new pipe groomers are 12 feet high, but resorts looking into used rear-mounted groomers will come upon many 10-footers. As the season progresses, pipes will get wider from constant grooming. Therefore, they should initially be built a little too narrow. (Snowboarders call early season pipes, or any narrow pipe, tacos. The Bombardier HPG, a 12 footer, takes less material from the walls than the Dragon or Scorpion, so the inside width can be slightly wider early in the season—maybe 48 to 50 feet vert to vert. (Vert is short for the vertical of the top 6 to 18 inches of the pipe walls, which should be 88 to 90 degrees.) When using other 12 foot groomers, the pipe should start at 43 to 46 feet vert to vert. Older 10-foot machines (Bombardiers never came in 10 heights) should start at 38 to 40 feet.
The ideal mid-season width for a 10-foot pipe is between 45 and 50 feet, and for 12 footers, around 55 feet. Steeper 10 foot pipes should be rebuilt when they pass 57 feet, vert to vert. Twelve-footers can go to about 63 feet before a rebuild is necessary. Pipes with less pitch need to be rebuilt earlier, though, because snowboarders will not be able to build and maintain their speed as easily as they would in steeper pipes, making it harder to get from one wall to the other.
The decks must be wide enough for a cat so that the walls can be accessed from both above and below. Many pipes have decks that are only wide enough for hikers, but these quickly deteriorate as the weather changes and the pipe is recut. The best plan is, at the beginning of the season, to make the decks extra wide so cats can always fit on them even when pipe groomers cut away at the wall as the season progresses. If snow is at a premium early in the season, the decks can be gradually widened during the season.
Initial Building
Even with all kinds of planning and preparation, the biggest job is the initial build, beginning with the snowmaking. There are two basic methods. The easiest method is to blow one huge pile and then flatten out an area 400 by 120 feet, 12 feet over the base. This way, it is easy to get both walls to match perfectly in terms of height, pitch and direction. The downfall to this method is the huge amount of snow that must be blown and then pushed out of the center. However, some of the first snow made for the pipe can be put to good use surfacing the area below the pipe.
The second method saves snow, but burns a lot of grooming vehicle hours and can be very difficult to get right. First, two long piles of snow must be made. For 12-foot pipes, the piles should be at least 16 feet high (again, not including the base depth), centered about 55 feet apart. Next, the vert must be staked out at the distance described above. It is then up to the cat operators to build two perfectly straight walls out of the piles. At the finish of this stage, the piles should resemble two bars of gold—flat on top, with sloping sides.
Although the instructions that come with many pipe groomers recommend cutting the transitions (or tranny, the rideable walls) at this point, there is one critical step they leave out before that is done. Using a cat or an excavator, a rough transition must be cut into the wall to prepare for the halfpipe groomer. After examining the radius of the groomer, steps that roughly match can be cut into the wall. Only then should the pipe groomer be brought in, but even with this extra step it will still take many passes and a lot of frustration to get a rideable tranny.
Maintenance
After this initial cut, expect to groom the pipe at least twice a week. These touch-ups should take less than a third the time that it took to bring the walls from rough steps to perfection (depending on the condition of the pipe, of course). And, at least once, probably mid-season, the pipe should be rebuilt, using the same process described above.
Now that a halfpipe is in, it’s time to market it. Events are huge draws. Amateur competitions and non-competitive pipe jams help to create a local scene and pro-tour stops get the word out nationwide. Don’t forget to include the pipe in daily radio and faxed snow condition reports. Riders like to know exactly when the pipe is cut and often plan their day or weekend trips accordingly. And be sure to keep up on the maintenance. Remember, pipes that are consistently maintained are the ones with the good reputations. A)
John Dale has been building halfpipes for over five years including three seasons at Killington, Vt., and a season at Mt. Jeans in Japan. He has four years experience with the Pipe Dragon and one with the Bombardier HPG. Dale has built FIS and ISF spec pipes and is an avid rider of everything he builds.
