In 2008, Mount Snow announced that they would be devoting its entire Carinthia face to parks and pipes.
Features have sprouted up almost everywhere across the 100 acres of pristine Vermont terrain.
Still, the park diggers have always made an effort to be creative and innovative.
Prospector, for example, is constructed entirely out of timber sourced on hill.
It looks like what would happen if Paul Bunyan got behind the wheel of a PistenBully.
However, the team behind Carinthia Parks has shown no sign of letting up.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak with Carinthia’s VP of Terrain, Elia Hamilton.
How long have you been working for Carinthia Parks?
The 12 pipe was at Carinthia as well.
Un Blanco Gulch, our historic first park was still located at the main mountain.
We created the full-on Carinthia Parks theme in 2008/2009 and have been rocking ever since.
There really wasnt any guidance, structure, or knowledge about how jumps and rails worked.
What builds stand out as some of your favorites?
There are so many!
An easier question would be to say what the worst builds were.
That allows us the freedom to express ourselves while maintaining the basics so everyone is happy.
Most recently, theAsh & Steelbuild is next level.
The irony being that there isnt a single traditional feature in that build.
Before that, I think ofRed Bull All Snowas an opportunity to think outside the box.
It really opened our eyes to the potential for shaping snow.
But back further, working with Meathead films was super fun.
It was super fun.
How have the upgrades to the mountain’s snowmaking system changed what you could do with the trail?
It gave us the opportunity to build a park.
We had always loved the grade and character of that trail but were never able to work with it.
I think we were able to finally accomplish that because of the snowmaking.
What was the thought process behind cutting the walls into such a radically different shape?
Unfortunately, the 22 pipe has been the death of the public pipe.
Kind of like Nordic jumping isnt something you find at a ski area.
So as pipe size grew, usership went down.
How different is it building features for a park shoot when compared to standard resort operations?
Same equipment, different goal.
Elia and crew’s enthusiasm, devotion, and skill are rivaled by few in the industry.
With increased snowmaking capabilities, Fool’s Gold has become a top-to-bottom ripper centering on progression.
