What happened to halfpipe

[Morwax]

Not something I ever used much but many seem to be ungroomed and roped off. Are they now passe?

 

[dmc]

Not something I ever used much but many seem to be ungroomed and roped off. Are they now passe?

Hunter didn't put one up this year..
Too much work to do it right.

 

[Morwax]

Seems like the park is the new pipe.

 

[Watatic Skier]

It seems rails and large jumps are more popular now. To me it always seemed ridiculously hard to learn, whether your a skier or boarder.

 

[wa-loaf]

Sugarloaf has a really huge one. Didn't see anyone in it.

 

[RootDKJ]

Blue gave theirs up two years ago, and turned that trail into a mini-park & big air bag jump.

 

[bvibert]

Sugarloaf has a really huge one. Didn't see anyone in it.

I skied across the exit to get from my condo to the super quad one time, does that count. :dunce:

 

[dmc]

Halfpipes are almost a losing proposition..

You have to have a really nice one like a super pipe or people bitch..
And it has to be groomed immaculately with no concaved sides or ice or people bitch...

It's almost better to have 2 - a beginner and expert..

I haven't heard nearly as much park complaints this year with no halfpipe..

 

[AdironRider]

I think its more of market thing than anything.

The people that invest in good pipes draw all the pipe riders. Im kinda out of the game back east in terms of park quality, but think of Breck out west. Everyone knows they kill it on parks and pipe, so those types go there.

Halfpipe has been around long enough that you cant just pile up some snowbanks in parallel lines and halfass it anymore. People aren't going to bother to ride some crappy pipe, when then can go to Waterville or Loon and have the best park around.

 

[thetrailboss]

Half pipes can cost north of $50,000 to build and maintain each season. For the few people that will use it, most places simply gave up. Do the math as to how many tickets you'd have to sell to get your money back. Sugarbush has not had one for years.

 

[Glenn]

Mount snow still has two. A smaller "mini" pipe and the Super Pipe which they use for competitions and whatnot.

 

[jimmywilson69]

When Ski roundtop tried the super pipe thing a few years ago, it would take them 3 solid weeks to make enough snow to build it. That was with earth cores. We just don't get enough snow and cold weather to sustain something like that. So they bagged it. They still have a smaller pipe, but you very rarely see someone "thowing down" in it and the conditions usually suck. Fortunately it's in a spot that has very little use for anything else.

 

[Highway Star]

Unfortunately, halfpipes have gotten too big for their own good. The standard 18+ foot superpipe is quite difficult to build and maintain, and then very, very few people can actually ride it to it's full potential........and no one can unless it's in near perfect condition.

Pipes were alot more fun for the average person in the late 1990's when they were in the 12 foot range. As long as a pipe is shaped correctly, there should be very few complaints. The worst is when it doesn't go to vert on a smaller pipe.

 

[polski]

Ski Bradford still maintains its pipe! Although on the lift I heard kids complain about the conditions. I seriously doubt they spend anywhere close to $50k maintaining it.

I dropped into it once on a traverse out of what woods they have ... am I steezy yet?

 

[drjeff]

Ski Bradford still maintains its pipe! Although on the lift I heard kids complain about the conditions. I seriously doubt they spend anywhere close to $50k maintaining it.

I dropped into it once on a traverse out of what woods they have ... am I steezy yet?

There are some places with superpipes where that 50k number is a conservative figure by the time you put all the hours of snowmaking into it(weeks in some cases), all the hours of cat time to construct it(days), and then to keep it in great shape, many pipes will need to be cut every few days. And lets not forget having to buy the pipe dragon (or in the case of resorts that have a mini and a super pipe, pipe dragonS)

Unless there's a big shift towards the 1/2 pipe once again becoming the "in" thing like it was say 5 to 10 years ago, before the park scene exploded, I'd bet that 5 years from now, you'll see only roughly 25-30% of resorts (even major resorts) building 1/2 pipes, with smaller pipes making up the majority them. In reality the only mountains that could have superpipes at them are those that have a close association with a very high level ski academy that has a STRONG snowboarding program

 

[polski]

To be clear, Bradford's is certainly not a superpipe ... they do have a pretty extensive park though, real good for their target audience (including my older son).

 

[jimmywilson69]

Unfortunately, halfpipes have gotten too big for their own good. The standard 18+ foot superpipe is quite difficult to build and maintain, and then very, very few people can actually ride it to it's full potential........and no one can unless it's in near perfect condition.

Pipes were alot more fun for the average person in the late 1990's when they were in the 12 foot range. As long as a pipe is shaped correctly, there should be very few complaints. The worst is when it doesn't go to vert on a smaller pipe.

Agreed. Even when I was at killington, I spent an entire day at Bear and never saw one person get up to the top of that thing, let alone do any kind of air. I suspect the "mini" pipe on Timberline had more use this year. Except for the Dew Tour, of course.

 

[cannonist]

Waterville has purchased a Zaugg, in doing so showing there commitment to keeping one of the best pipes in the East.

http://www.waterville.com/news/48/5...-Zaugg-and-99-Poma-Laps-Park-Pass-on-Sale-Now

 

[freeskier423]

here is my 2 cents. park kids dont have the patience to learn to edge a ski properly to maintain speed to use a 22 foot pipe. Having come from a competitive mogul background, like the first generation of park users, we know how to properly use the ski to maintain the necessary speed, but we are a dyeing breed. I have built 10 half pipes in my life and over the past 5 years i have seen useage drop. this is unfortunate but it is nice that some resorts are not giving them up. we are seeing many of the resorts switch back to smaller 13 foot pipes. these are much easier and a lot more fun for the average user. even a 18 foot pipe is bigger than most people want and their is not enough users to justify putting in tens of thousands of dollars to building and maintaining a proper pipe for no one to use. it is sad

 

[Nick]

Sugarloaf has a really huge one. Didn't see anyone in it.

I went through it once. I'm not ballsy enough to go up those walls. I just made a few turns down the middle like a total wuss.