forget boring flat piste, make fun piste
Bored to death on wide flat pistes ? Me too.
Why not bring the best of the freeriding terrain to the piste ?
Our initiative should convince piste-owners to convert the steepest of their slopes into FUN PISTES with elements like
-Artificial HILLS in various forms and sizes, piled up on originally flat piste (there could not be enough of them, they are the best avalanche protection).
-LOFTY PATH is a 2 to 3 m wide path winding down the slope on 0.5 m earth dam like a lofty slalom.
-STAIRCASE is really a staircase covered with snow. The best of us master 45° gradient and 3 m width. Adrenalin comes at 60° / 1.5 m.
-CHIMNEYS are steep chutes 50-70° or semi opened chimneys with ski-turning possibilities in the flanks. After every 30 or 50 m there must be a secure landing.
-SOFT WALL is very steep but short slope covered with soft snow
-HARD WALL, the same as above, but hard and much shorter (guess why ?)
-HALF- and QUARTER-PIPES known from fun parks but steeper
and evtl.with rippled surface.
-STEEP SLALOM is an adrenalin slalom on 40-60° gradient, soft snow.
-CASCADE is a very steep slope with built-in cliffs and soft snow landings between them.
-DIVING BOARD is a 1 to 5 m long, gently declined board, fixed on a steep slope covered with soft snow.
Facing the depth under the board, skier/rider slides slowly over the board before he/she „dives“ under. Leaving the board before the end shortens the free fall.
-TRAMPOLINE is a robust ski-friendly trampoline fixed on a steep slope.
Skier or rider comes down the hill, jumps in, shows some tricks and finally
jumps over the border in the depth.
-GORGE with skiable flanks is winding down the steep slope.
-CREST is a pleasure known to few freeriders, as natural crests are hardly skiable.
Artificial crests could be long descending with gradients up to 60° or short ascending up to 90° .
-HELIX is a half-pipe or couloir having bottom as steep as 40-50 °.
Every 10 m there is an arc spanned over the half-pipe. The arc is a skiable
bridge with a protecting fence on the downhill side.
The trace left has the form of a spiral.
Turn ski highways into playgrounds for adults and kids !
