California Ski Resort Reimagining Terrain Park Offerings

As the ski season approaches, Mammoth Mountain, California, is unveiling several updates to its vast network of terrain parks.

Taking center stage is the Main Park, which, after years of housing some of the biggest jumps in the game, is getting a significant facelift. See below.

Video Courtesy: Samantha Deleo, Mammoth Mountain

In the past, Mammoth Mountain’s Main Park was purpose-made for the highest level of snowsports competition. Its terrain park features weren’t approachable for more casual skiers and snowboarders, particularly during the mid-season when the snow hadn’t been softened by the sun, explained Gabe Taylor, a former professional snowboarder and now Mammoth Mountain’s brand content manager. Like a blunt grab, that formula's about to get tweaked.

“What we're going to do is we're going to scale it back in Main Park,” Taylor said. “We're going to have more mid-large size jumps, safer, 40 to 60-foot stepovers, instead of 70 to 90-foot ​​stepovers and tabletops—rail layouts that are going to be more fun for more people.”

However, the commitment to mega features will remain. “There still will be jumps that you can do triples on,” said Taylor. And as spring approaches, the park crew will start to ramp up the feature amplitude, eventually reaching a crescendo with the large, technical features Mammoth Mountain is known for. “We'll build photo shoot-worthy jumps like we've always had,” he said.

Something else is cooking on Mammoth Mountain’s backside. For the first time in four years, the backcountry-style jump zone in the Hemlocks is returning. Around seven years ago, Mammoth Mountain’s park crew started peppering the unmanicured area with jumps, creating an off-piste terrain park that echoed big mountain freeride competitions like Natural Selection. Then, Mammoth Mountain paused the Hemlocks park for several years. Sometimes there was too much snow, other times there wasn’t enough.

But next winter, the Hemlocks, which are hike-to access, will once again be converted into a jibber’s paradise. “We're recommitting to it, and we'll go back to building all sorts of stuff on Hemlocks, and we have some ideas—we’ve identified some new spots,” said Taylor.

“It's a cool opportunity just to open it up to the public,” he added.

A consistent theme emerged during my conversation with Taylor. With its suite of terrain parks, Mammoth Mountain aims to serve an enormous range of park skiers and snowboarders. From Jibs & More—which will see a couple more jumps next winter—to its numerous progression-oriented parks, Mammoth Mountain has all the bases covered.

“We have redefined what terrain parks are because our offering is so vast, and we build with that in mind, we build with ‘how can we create more terrain park features that suit more ability levels?” said Taylor.

He told me about friends of his who are former professional snowboarders that, as they’ve aged, have expressed hesitation towards remaining in the park. It’s understandable—park skiing and snowboarding have a reputation for risk and injury. But Taylor had a response for these friends that reflected the evolving vision of freestyle at Mammoth Mountain: “You don't know what park is nowadays.” Yes, you could find somewhere to huck a triple on the mountain, but lapping through Mammoth Mountain’s parks isn’t always about going for broke—it can also be about having fun.

Related: Mammoth Mountain to Use Old Chairlift Towers as Terrain Park Features

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