Mt. Hood Meadows is bringing in a top terrain park design firm to help build a spring park from the upper mountain to the base area with a continuous flow of features.
Meadows Executive Director of Communications Dave Tragethon said the resort has entered into an agreement to build the spring park with Snow Park Technologies, which has been building top-tier parks since designing the first Winter X Games course at Snow Summit in 1997.
Two of SPT’s expert designers are scheduled to arrive at Meadows March 23 and to work with the Meadows Parks team to design and build the course. Depending on weather and construction conditions, the spring park could be ready by the weekend of March 29-30.
“We’re teaming up with the best crew in the business to put together one of the longest flow parks that will be available to skiers and riders this spring,” said Tragethon. “This is an opportunity not only to take our parks to the next level and give those who ski and ride access to the creative features, unrivaled construction and flow that SPT is known for, but to offer even more value to those who’ve purchased our Spring Pass.”
The park will target intermediate and advanced skiers and snowboarders with features similar to those in Park Place, with 4,600 feet of terrain and a 1,000-foot vertical drop. It will run down Catacombs to Daisy Bowl and into the 18-foot Meadows Superpipe.
This is the first time that Meadows has brought in an outside firm to design a standing terrain park for public use. Tragethon said Gunnarson and his crew have long expressed an interest in doing a spring park build at Meadows. SPT comes to Mount Hood each spring to attend Cutter’s Camp at Timberline, so they are familiar with Mount Hood terrain and culture.
“We chose SPT because they’re the best,” said Tragethon.
Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson, owner and president of SPT, said, “For my team, this is a cool opportunity to take an entirely new mountain canvas and create one of the most progressive terrain parks that will be offered at a resort this season.”
To see a slideshow of SPT’s more radical builds for major events, click here.
The collaboration between Meadows and SPT should help Meadows compete with the lively spring parks scene at Timberline, which attracts freestylers from all over the country with its large jumps and a $99 spring pass good through May 26.
With a snow base of 115 inches as of March 18, Meadows plans to remain open daily through April and for at least the first two weekends of May. The resort is selling unlimited spring passes for $139.
Last modified: March 18, 2014
