Telluride Ski Resort brings back halfpipe

Telluride Ski Resort brings back halfpipe
Night time riding under the lights, until 8 p.m.
By BEN FORNELLStaff Writer
Published: Monday, January 25, 2010 8:33 PM CST

It’s back. After two ski seasons in Telluride without a halfpipe, the mountain says it’s built the best pipe ever this year.

At 385 feet in length, with a 15 and 3/4 degree pitch and 18-foot walls, the pipe is of optimum dimensions, said Benji Charleston, Telski’s halfpipe manager.

While building a World Cup course was perhaps the most technical feat for Telluride snowmaking operations this year, the pipe is a close second, with 14 million gallons of water turned into the white stuff, and carefully sculpted by a team of four Snocats working day and night for just 13 days to build the pipe.

Charleston said the process normally takes more than three weeks to complete, but that the mountain brought in Oregon-based Planet Snow Design, which has helped to create massive half pipes and other snow features for resorts all over the west, in addition to competition events.
“The kids are just loving it. At night, you can stand here and hear them yelling at the top of their lungs. This is a very legit halfpipe,” Charleston said, standing below the pipe, bathed in the intense white light being reflected off the snow.

That’s another never-before-seen feature for Telluride — the ability to ride until 8 p.m. under parking lot lights mounted on the towers of the Pomma lift. A halfpipe or terrain park lit for evening riding is a rarity in the West, with the only other night riding at Park City, Utah.

Charleston and Telski Snowmaking Manager Ryan Mackey joked that, with the somewhat limited scope of activities for Telluride’s high school set, they might pitch a date night at the park. Bring your girlfriend, but also bring your gnarliest grabs, twists and spins, or she might be going home with some other park rat.

And on Friday night, the pipe was a welcome refuge for those riders who had worked all day, but still felt the need to hit a little powder, and maybe toss a trick or two.“I love it,” said Justin Justesen, a local cook who said he spends as much time in the park as he can. “One main thing for me, as long as I have a pipe and some stuff to jib off of, I’m a happy camper.”

And keeping that camper happy all comes back to the design and maintenance. The pipe was designed to yield 6 to 8 hits for the average rider, with a booter at the end that was created from snow left over from the World Cup course.

“It’s a workout getting all the way down it,” Charleston said.

http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2010/01/29/news/doc4b5e5374e08e8099388111.txt

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