| Guest Writer | |
 Alex Schlopy |
// XGames + FIS Athlete |
My name is Alex Schlopy, and I was born and raised in Park City, Utah. I fell in love with skiing at an early age and have chased snow, jumps and good times on the mountains across the globe in pursuit of becoming a professional skier. Utah has always held a special place in my heart, and I am grateful and proud to call this place home!
Whether you’re a longtime local or new to the western territory here in Utah, we can all agree on one thing: the skiing is INCREDIBLE! From the many ski resorts which all feature an excellent variety of difficulty to the snow that blankets our many majestic peaks, there truly is something for everyone when it comes to learning, shredding and enjoying the beauty of the mountains. Some may choose to work on the perfect turns or chase face shots while waist deep in The Greatest Snow on Earth®. The more rascally of the bunch choose to step foot in some of the best terrain parks in the world.. If you’re looking to get rad and work on some new skills and tricks or master the art of park riding, here is the lowdown of each of the Utah’s terrain parks.
Park City Mountain
If creativity is your thing, then Park City Mountain provides the ideal canvas to perfect your art in the parks and beyond! Boasting numerous (6 parks, 1 Halfpipe and 1 mini-pipe to be exact) immaculately maintained terrain parks each with varying difficulty, there truly is something for everyone looking to take their shred to another level.
Start small with the Little Kings park which is just off the Bonanza lift. After a fun cruise down Jonesey’s run, you’ll see a fenced off area with the signs indicating that you are now entering a terrain park. The features in this park are essentially toned down versions of what the pros would be riding, with jumps ranging from 5-20 feet with a low consequence build style (much more forgiving if you happen to hit the jumps a little too slow or come in a little too hot and jump too far) and various box, tubes and rail features that have an easy approach.Thelips (jumps onto a rail/box feature) put you straight onto the desired feature, and there is a smooth flow throughout to start picking up your rhythm as you land jumps, grinds and tricks through the course. This is the place to learn how to slide rails and boxes and start hitting some jumps.You can also learn some new tricks to build a strong foundation before heading over to some of the bigger parks that Park City has to offer.
Next stop on the park mastery journey is the Pick Axe terrain park located off the King Con lift The jumps here will be bigger and a little less forgiving, yet perfect for taking your skills in the air and on the jibs to the next level. Here you can learn to spin, flip, or just catch more air on some of the best built jumps you can find. Creativity is in full effect here with many unique builds. From hips (jumps with a side angled landing) to rails, from bonks to boxes and jibs that require a little more expertise to execute successfully, this is the perfect playground for getting more comfortable on larger features. It is always recommended to scope features before attempting to hit them.
If you slide over to the Canyons Village side of Park City Mountain, just off the Sun Peak lift is the Transitions terrain park. This park is an intermediate level slopestyle-like course with a significant amount of rail, jump and jib options. The vibe is calm, as the run is tucked away in the trees. This park can be ideal for learning because fewer people are able to watch the falls during your progression. The jumps are all well built, mid range in distance to the sweet spot (10-25 feet) and has scattered rail, box and jib features.. This park is of similar difficulty to Pick Axe on the Park City side, with a whole new world of possibilities as you’re working to take your park riding to that next level.
The “next level” is the Three Kings terrain parks, located right at the base of Park City Mountain. Three Kings is visible from the lower parking lot by First Time lift. Three Kings has its own lift to access the park and boasts some of the most incredible park features and halfpipe(s) in the world. Athletes travel near and far to come get a taste of the big leagues presented throughout the different lines of Three Kings. This park has jumps ranging from 20 to 60+ feet shaped with steeper takeoffs and landings to provide optimal air time. This is where you come to bring the heat. From a straight air to a triple cork 1620 and everything in between, this is the high-level intermediate to expert park-rider zone to get things done. One route will take you to the famous jump line underneath the lift where cheers echo through the air from spectators above while you’re out there shredding like a total boss. The energy is high from open to close. After the jump line you’ll find yourself in jib paradise with ever-changing and evolving features to work on your skills.
If you choose to head to one of the greatest superpipes in the world, all you have to do is take another run past the jump line under the lifts. Off to skier’s left you will see the monstrous 22-foot tall Superpipe. The pipe is so good that Shaun White won an Olympic Gold Medal in it, and with enough training, you could be next!
Remember to always stay on your toes, take turns dropping in, look before you leap and ride with respect and positivity. Always read the terrain park’s code of conduct displayed at the entry of all parks to make sure you and your crew have the best time possible while in pursuit of the joy that shredding brings to all of us. Most importantly, have fun, and be safe out there!
How do I learn? How can my kids learn safely? Check out some of these events and programs:
Park City Mountain events calednar
Local Youth Programs:
- Local Kids Programs at Park City Mountain
- Alpine Training Ski Program
- The Park City Ski and Snowboard Teams, aprkcityss.org
For terrain park-related content on Instagram check out"@irideparkcity"
Check out some of these Youtube videos of local riders in action in the parks at Park City:
- Little Kings Park: watch video
- Three Kings Park: (Ski) watch video
- Three Kings Park: (Snowboard) watch video
- Transitions Park: watch video
- Pick Axe Park: watch video
- Superpipe- watch video
Brighton
Brighton is a shredders paradise. Whether you enjoy big mountain terrain, groomers, jumps, jibs or night shredding, Brighton has it all!
Things kick off early in the season at Brighton with the Bone Zone, which was originally just a few small rails and jibs that eager shredders set up in the woods. The Bone Zone has now evolved into an early season dream jib set up that is thoughtfully maintained by Brighton’s Park crew and locals. You do have to hike the rails, but the energy of all who come to ride is all time as everyone is so stoked to get back on snow and do what they love.
Once the season is underway and the lifts start spinning, Brighton is known for having some of the most fun parks you’ll ever shred. Head up the Majestic or Crest Express lifts, and you’ll be able to access many of the parks. They seem to just keep going and going as you wind, weave, jump and jib your way down some of the coolest, most scenic and fun park runs you'll ever take!
On the Majestic lift, you’ll see people letting loose right underneath you as they rip through the park, which always has a nice combination of fun, flowy, big and technical features. Most of the features down the lift line are suited for more advanced skiers and riders who have already spent the time and put in the work in the smaller parks to master the basics. The energy at Brighton is always high, and you can feel the love as shredders share the joy of shredding and work on their craft and master their ability.
If you want to ride a variety of different parks and features top to bottom, as well as take some laps through the beginner and intermediate terrain parks, head up the Crest Express, and aim towards My-O-My, Candyland, Krista’s or PeeWee.
PeeWee is recommended for those who are new to freestyle terrain and just want to get a feel for different transitions and some easy-going features.
My-O-My is always a fun choice with jumps and jibs winding through the trees and features popping up left and right that keep you on your toes. You can keep the flow going straight into Candy Land or, for the ladies to work on their skills together in a fun and healthy environment, Krista’s park, which also connects to the big line underneath the Majestic lift. The fun levels are in high supply at Brighton, which is why shredders from near and far continue to come and experienceone of the most iconic mountains in the world.
Woodward Park City
If you aren’t familiar with Woodward Park City already, I will give you a little insight. However, the true magic of one of the smallest resorts in Utah by skiable acreage is something that needs to be experienced in person to be fully understood. Woodward is what many would consider the gold standard for action sports, including skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, BMX, mountain biking, rollerblading, scootering, parkour and any other “flippy-spinny” technical action sports. Woodward also has a tubing hill for those who like to sit back and let gravity do the work.
Many people will come just to practice their skills or play inside at Woodward’s massive indoor facility, which has super tramps, Olympic tramps, foam pits, tumbling floors, parkour zones, skateparks, ramps into foam pits, airbags and more. However, the most impressive aspect of Woodward Park City is the variety of terrain parks that have been masterfully designed and built by the best. Better yet, they are all accessed by one lift. For those who are just spreading their wings and learning the basics of park riding, there is also a surface lift. Both lifts are a quick walk across a bridge from the indoor actions sports facility.
Woodward has truly created the perfect template for your progression and mastery with the options inside their action sports hub to work on new tricks and skills and the terrain parks painted across the mountainside that cater to every skill level. This is where legends are made (even if you may be the only one claiming legend status).
The first step in your journeywill happen at the Start Park. This is for never-evers and those who are still getting comfortable on ski and snowboard equipment to learn how to ride, read and conquer mild terrain. With a low-grade slope and some rollers, berms and mini halfpipe-like snow features to play with, this is the perfect place to start riding park. The magic carpet makes lapping the Start Park as easy and fun as can be.
Once you’ve established the basics, you can begin working your way through the three progression parks. Each level will be a step up in difficulty.h Progression I is the easiest and most beginner-friendly. Progression III is a little more difficult. Progression III provides the perfect transition into more challenging and bigger features.
Now it’s time to step it up and journey up the Hot Laps lift to check out the rest of the incredible features that Woodward has to offer. Everything is thoughtfully designed and laid out based on your skill level, with easy-to-follow signage to help navigate to the right places with an unmatched variety of features from top to bottom.
If you’re just stepping up and out of the Progression parks, then the best place to start is Easy Rider and Boomerang. Both offer a variety of beginner-friendly jumps, jibs and features top to bottom that will keep the progression going strong as you eye the big features on the way back up the Hot Laps lift. With enough practice, you will be shredding in the big leagues with some of the best athletes in the world beside you!
I think the hardest part of riding at Woodward is trying to decide which run to take and which features to hit, simply because there are so many options, and all of them are fun! If you're looking to hit some rails, Red’s Backyard is a rail and jib park designed in collaboration with professional snowboarder Red Gerard that gets the creative juices flowing. You can easily spot this area by noticing that all features have been painted red, in good taste. You can also ride around the side of Red’s Backyard and hit Easy Rider which will have beginner-friendly features to keep you progressing as you eye the bigger features and work to dial in your skills to hit them.
Then there’s the Peace Park, The Front Line, the Main Line, the Superpipe and the Big Air jump.
If you're really feeling the creative vibe, the Peace Park is a great place to let loose and enter the flow. Designed in collaboration with professional snowboarder Danny Davis, the Peace Park is a work of creative art. With fun transition features like mini pipes, hips, dips, banked turns and butter pads, you can truly display your artistryt as you create lines through the Peace Park and uplift the energy within you and all around you. This is what shredding is all about!
The Front Line and Main Line are set up to be like a slopestyle course with a ton of rails, jibs and jumps that are crafted by the masters. Here shredders can dial in their best tricks and lines for competition, video parts, or just for the love of send! Woodward keeps it fun and interesting by switching up the features throughout the season and giving the people what they want.
The Big Air Jump and 22’ Superpipe are designed for athletes to train and lock down the biggest and gnarliest tricks to take their riding to the next level. The Big Air jump is where you go to send double corks, triple corks, floaty flips, spins and otherworldly rotations. The Superpipe is also no joke with the walls standing at 22’, which is the same as the standard Olympic height. If you have your sights set on competition, then these massive features are perfect for athletes to take their game to the highest potential.
All said and done, Woodward is the gold standard for breeding athletic talent. If you have a dream to accomplish the impossible, Woodward is the place to make those dreams become reality. From learning the basics all the way up to training for the Olympics or competing against the best, and everything in between, Woodward has you covered. Let the good times flow as you learn, challenge yourself and even compete all in the same place…This is what Woodward is all about!
Woodward Park City lessons and programs
Follow Woodward Park City for all related content on Instagram at @woodwardparkcity
Brian Head Resort
Brian Head is an incredible gem that brings skiing and snowboarding to Southern Utah. Not too far from National Parks like Zion and Bryce Canyon, you can find yourself immersed in bliss as you shred one of the coolest mountains in Utah which also happens to have the highest base elevation of any resort in Utah at 9,600 feet!
The Training Grounds terrain parks at Brian Head offers more easygoing and beginner-friendly features than some of the other terrain parks in Utah, which makes it the perfect place for families and newcomers to step into some freestyle terrain while feeling welcomed..
Easier park features can be found in the Navajo Progressive Park, which has a handful of introductory features, like boxes, rails and some fun transitions and smaller jumps on which to play. There are still many features that require a higher skill level in the Giant Steps park, so skiers and boarders of all ability levels will have more challenging terrain on which to play and learn new tricks. Boasting over 12 features, including mid-sized jumps (20-30 feet), as well as tons of rails, boxes and jibs, there is an endless supply of good times to be had in the terrain parks at Brian Head. If you’re feeling ready to put your skills to the test, Brian Head holds a handful of fun events and rail jams for adults and kids alike, so get out there, and get after it!
Solitude Mountain Resort
Located up Big Cottonwood Canyon next to Brighton Resort, Solitude is no stranger to getting pummeled with TheGreatest Snow on Earth® that blankets the incredible terrain. It’s yours to find unfathomable amounts of joy in shredding, cruising, floating and playing in as you lap and explore the mountain. When the powder is taking a little break, the groomers and off-piste terrain are top notch, which will keep the good times rolling until the next storm.
If the natural terrain just isn’t quite enough, then perhaps a little terrain park action is in the cards. Solitude has made it a point to create one of the most fun, friendly and creative beginner and intermediate parks around! I know from my own experience that some of the best days in the park are the ones where the vibe is right, the features are well built and you aren’t necessarily hucking your face off an 80-foot jump into the unknown. Rather, you’reworking on your flow and style or building new skills with your friends or family. Solitude does an excellent job at providing shredders with an experience that will become one of the most memorable, exciting and vivid anyone can have on snow. The name of the game is to have fun, and when it comes to fun, Solitude is never in short supply. To hit the main terrain park, you can ride Apex or Moonbeam lifts, and the park is in the middle of the Main Street Run.
The kiddos even get a shot at learning the ropes of the terrain park with a mini park set up right under Moonbeam express.
Sundance Mountain Resort
Sundance is not just a film festival founded by Robert Redford. In fact, it is one of Utah’s most beautiful ski and snowboard resorts. Sundance Mountain Resort is nestled between Provo and Heber City, and with just a single turn off of East Provo Canyon Road, shred heaven awaits! And yes, Sundance Resort was also founded by Robert Redford.
Now, a big question I frequently ask myself is, “I love shredding, but if I go to _______ resort… can I do tricks there?” And oftentimes the answer is YES, yes you can do tricks there…but does the resort make things easier by building cool stuff to do tricks on? Well, at Sundance, the answer is still, “YES!” Sundance covers all the bases of any shredder's dreams with excellent terrain, beautiful views, exceptional dining as well as jumps, rails and features on which to spin, slide, fly and elevate your abilities! Located off the Outlaw Trail, the park awaits! This park can be seen from the chair and is a fun one for all abilities. Enough said, see you up there!
Snowbasin
Snowbasin Resort is known for its incredible terrain, perfectly groomed wide open runs and of course the beautiful lodges and landscape to boot. With so much to offer to every skier and snowboarder, the final piece, or the icing on top to the perfect experience for many shredders is the terrain park which Snowbasin has dialed in to cater to those who are just beginning to learn, up to intermediate and professional level features. With jumps and jibs that flow top to bottom with well manicured and thoughtfully crafted designs in every feature, you are sure to enjoy some time getting tricky!
The beginner park, Powder Puff, will be the best place to start as you’re learning to navigate through the terrain parks, which is located off of the Little Cat Express Quad lift. Once you’ve mastered the basics and are ready to step up into some bigger features, the Blue Grouse and Orson’s terrain parks which are the intermediate/advanced parks are located off of the Wildcat Express and waiting for you to get in there and send it!
Beaver Mountain
Beaver Mountain is located near Logan, Utah and is one of the few remaining family-owned ski resorts that brings that extra special touch to everyone’s skiing and snowboarding experience. Whether you're looking to cruise and carve around on some groomers, venture off-piste into the trees and technical terrain, or practice your skills in its two terrain parks, the Beav has you covered.
Gentle Ben Family Fun Park is found off the Dream lift, which couldn’t be more fitting because this is where the dream begins and memories are made. With family and beginner-friendly features, such as mild transitions like rollers and small jumps, as well as easy box and jib features to learn, you can dial in your balance and park etiquette before stepping into the park with bigger features.
Rodeo Grounds Terrain Park is found off Marge’s Triple lift, which will give you access to 1,000 vertical feet of pure terrain park bliss as you venture through a variety of boxes, rails, jumps and jibs. This park will help any shredder progress their skills and keep the excitement flowing through their veins lap after lap.
Beaver Mountain events calendar
Powder Mountain
Powder Mountain isn’t just a puking ground for the Powder Gods…it’s also a ski resort for regular humans like you and me! I’ve always been amazed at how many runs you can get fresh tracks down at Powder Mountain, even days after the storm! With an immense amount of terrain to keep that smile on your face ever-growing along with guided tours, shuttles, and cat skiing all easily accessible, and rarely any crazy liftlines, it doesn’t seem to get much better than that.
However, there is a little something to help that smile expand even more…a boardercross run! It’s where speed, technicality and amplitude meet. You can feel like you’re flying and on a rollercoaster all at the same time! I don’t know about you, but I love to try new things, and setting foot onto a boardercross track sounds like a blast! See you out there…if you can catch me!
Eagle Point
Located in the Tushar Mountains near Beaver, Utah, Eagle Pointis a bit more secluded than many of the other resorts in the state, which makes it an ideal destination for those who are seeking the heart of what skiing and snowboarding is all about. If you are fueled by a passion for snow, fun in the mountains and getting lost in the moment with yourself, or with the people you love, Eagle Point is for you.
The price of tickets at Eagle Point is affordable, and the resort gives you the feeling that you’ve time-traveled back to what ski resorts used to be. The only major difference between the past and present is that jumps are now allowed and often even built by resort personnel in designated areas for skiers and snowboarders to take flight and bring their abilities soaring with them.
Eagle Point has one terrain park that can be accessed off the Monarch chair consisting of jumps, boxes and rails. The Monarch area services beginner and intermediate terrain, making it the perfect place to hone your skills with the whole family.
Cherry Peak
Located in Northern Utah near Richmond, Cherry Peak packs a punch with three triple chairlifts and a variety of terrain.
One of the things I personally look for first at a resort is the terrain park, of which Cherry Peak has a few scattered throughout the resort. It is truly the cherry on top of an already amazing, small resort. With everything from expert terrain, smooth groomers, powder turns and bumps, to rails, jumps and jib features to keep things interesting, Cherry Peak is sure to provide an amazing experience for any family or avid shredder in search of those incredible memories!
Nordic Valley
Nestled near Eden, Utah, and close to Powder Mountain and Snowbasin, Nordic Valley is in a prime location for learning to ski and ride and has incredible terrain for any shredder to have an unforgettable experience. The only question left at hand would be…what about the tricksters looking for a little park action?
Well, Nordic Valley has you covered there as well. If you’re looking to learn some park tricks or just need to let loose on some jumps, rails and boxes, then you’ve come to the right place! Most of the features are more beginner/intermediate friendly with a few more difficult options sprinkled in for good measure. If you’re at Nordic Valley and feel like spreading your wings just a little more, I highly recommend checking out the park, and as always, HAVE FUN, and be safe!
