Two snowboarders ride Okemo Mountain Resort’s superpipe. It was the first in New England to open this past Sunday, Feb. 7. The 375-foot long pipe has 18-foot walls.
By Karen D. Lorentz
Okemo opened Vermont’s first-of-the-season halfpipe on Sunday, Feb. 7. The superpipe was the first to open in New England (the only other one open by Feb. 7 was in Pennsylvania).
One of the factors that has delayed halfpipe builds was the need to make snow on ski trails first so more terrain could be open. While Vermont received major snowfalls in December, the statewide Christmas meltdown affected the need to focus snowmaking on trails first versus terrain parks and pipes.
January’s consistent snowfalls and cold temperatures changed the picture with more parks opening, but only one or two halfpipes are currently planned elsewhere in Vermont,
According to Okemo Senior Director of Mountain Operations Eb Kinney, building the 375-foot long pipe with 18-foot walls and 300 feet of vertical elevation required: 4 ½ days of snowmaking with a total of 10 days to build and 120 worker hours using an excavator, groomers to form decks, and a groomer with a Zaugg pipe cutter.
Kinney, who has been involved in building the pipes at Okemo since 2005, has seen all versions and different ways of building them.
“Since the 2009-10 season, we’ve come up with a pretty consistent way to build the pipe. The time consuming part is pushing the snow with a snowcat and building the walls in one-foot lifts. We use lasers with a specially engineered instrument that gives us grade and alignment, so the pipe is nice and straight and up to grade,” he said. “Everyone worked really hard to get this built and open — the snowmakers and John Boudro’s team deserve the credit for building it. I’m very proud of their can-do attitude,” he added.
“Last year we built a 13-foot pipe so we had something for our guests. This year we wanted to build a superpipe as we have done in the past. We have put a lot of great athletes through our pipes over the years,” Kinney said, noting part of attraction is having The Pull T-bar, which runs up along the edge of the pipe and services the Zone Park and its pipe.
Addressing the significance and cost of offering a superpipe, Okemo Vice President and General Manager Bruce Schmidt said, “Having a superpipe sets Okemo apart from other resorts and helps us continue our support of the Okemo Mountain School athletes as well as the Okemo Mountain Freestyle program. There is a cost associated with the construction of the superpipe, but we also use the pipe to store snow for our lower Arrow and Lower Mountain Road trails heading into the spring season. We also do ground work to prepare the pipe so we can use less snow. While we are not always able to build one every year, we will always try and are really proud of our accomplishments when the superpipe is completed.
Terrain park crews at Okemo Mountain Resort use a variety of specialized tools to create freestyle jumps, rails and pipes.
Okemo’s terrain parks
Peter DeLameter, Okemo’s new terrain park manager, grew up in Myersville, Maryland, riding a snowboard in the mid-Atlantic mountains of the southern Pennsylvania Appalachians. With over 20 years of riding experience, DeLameter comes to Okemo from Vail, Colorado.
He’s a classically trained artist in several disciplines, specializes in mechanical engineering, and likes to restore vintage snowmobiles and motorcycles in his free time.
“We value every aspect of the skiing and riding experience. Terrain parks are an important facet of our culture and our community,” DeLameter said. “From the moments we share on the lift to the deluge of emotions that comes from finally riding away from that one trick you’ve worked so incredibly hard on, our sport — our art form — fosters meaningful connections between each other and the world around us. It gives us purpose; it puts a smile on our faces; and it gives us an opportunity to be a part of something greater than ourselves — a place to belong.”
He added that all five of Okemo’s parks have been “totally reimagined” for this season.
“In the beginner-oriented parks on Bounder and Hot Dog Hill, skiers and riders can expect to find small, easy-to-approach features with low-impact designs as an introduction to the discipline of terrain park riding,” he said. “Larger offerings will be found on Tomahawk [to open soon], Black Out, and The Zone. These features are designed to be technically interesting, larger, and more aggressive with a focus on a clear line of progression. Our competition-caliber halfpipe completes the parks picture,” Delameter added, stressing that it takes “many talented individuals” to create the parks and pipe. They are “dedicated to excellence in an environment where accuracy and precision are a necessity to mitigate risk,” he said, praising the skills the crews bring to their work.
A terrain park crew member walks with a rake to fix a rail.
