Squaw Valley expands its Mainline terrain park with 22-foot super pipe

A snowboarder takes on the challenge of Squaw’s new 22-foot super pipe, located in Mainline. (Photo by Matt Palmer)

Squaw Valley has openned a 22-foot super pipe in Mainline on the resort’s upper mountain. The super pipe is the latest addition to Squaw Valley’s terrain parks, which include two Start Parks and four terrain parks spread across the mountain.

The terrain parks currently include a 13-foot mini-pipe and a snowcross-course under Big Blue Express, a five pack jump line and wide variety of jibs on Gold Coast, and the 22-foot superpipe in Maineline off of Siberia.

With features ranging from mini learning features all the way up to pro-style jumps and jibs, the terrain parks at Squaw Valley have never had so much variety and offered snowboarders and skiers so many choices for park and pipe fun, a resort spokeswoman said.

The park crew at Squaw Valley has been working with Snow Park Technologies (SPT) to develop and maintain top-level terrain parks for skiers and riders of all ability levels. SPT is the world leader in terrain park development, and is responsible for the park builds at the Winter X Games and the Dew Tour.

Start Parks located at SnoVentures and in the High Camp beginner areas offer the cutting-edge concept of terrain based learning. These snow-sculpted features help first-time skiers and snowboarders make their first turns, ultimately reducing the time that it takes to learn how to link turns.

For skiers and riders who just starting out in terrain parks, Squaw’s Belmont Terrain Park offers small to medium features in various shapes and sizes. The Belmont Terrain Park is now easier to access than ever before with high-speed access from mid-mountain via the resort’s new Big Blue Express and The Pulley – a modern rope-tow that helps skiers and riders make it across the flats.

Squaw Valley’s new high-speed lift, Big Blue Express, also provides access to the resort’s new 13 foot mini-pipe and a new snowcross-course that winds through the terrain underneath Big Blue.

“Many of the small and medium features located in Belmont are actually ‘mini me’ versions of some of the bigger features in Gold Coast,” said Jess Richitelli, terrain park manager at Squaw Valley. “We set it up that way so skiers and riders can get comfortable on the smaller features before they step it up to hitting the larger features in Gold Coast.”

One of the biggest improvement’s for Squaw’s terrain parks this year is the recently-expanded Gold Coast Terrain Park, which features a five pack jump line with step-over and step down jumps, with each jump getting progressively larger. The expanded Gold Coast Terrain Park also offers a large assortment of jibs and the new custom GoPro feature consisting of three boxes on one ride-able elevated platform.

Last but certainly not least is Squaw’s new 22-foot super pipe, located on Mainline – just one run over from the Gold Coast Terrain Park. The super pipe officially opened on Feb. 15 in time for President’s Day weekend, and has already been a huge hit with everyone.

Squaw Valley’s park crew and SPT are continuously working to keep the parks full of fresh features, so skiers and riders can expect more fun in the parks throughout the rest of the season.