Located in the largest and the most visited ski resort North America has to offer (situated 125 km north of the City of Vancouver), in the middle of Blackomb and Whistler mountains, on 99 acres with over 100 rails, countless tabletops and wall rides lie the Nintendo Terrain Parks (3 on Blackcomb, 2 on Whistler). The parks are laid out between the two mountains connected by Peak 2 Peak Gondola for moving between in about 11 minutes. There are many expresses and chairs to get you to the below listed parks.
Big easy
Big easy also known as Terrain Garden featuring mini rails, boxes, rollers and jumps is suitable for beginners and children. This overnight groomed park is a perfect place to start and get familiar with the park features. The park is also family-certified, which means it is perfect for parents to watch their kids out while having fun.
Difficulty: easy
Length: 3,116 ft
Location: the park can be accessed off Easy Out on Blackcomb Mountain on the Big Easy run
Habitat
Habitat is also referred to as Whistler Park. The area consist of three separate runs each with various sized features: Cougar (S), Chipmunk (S, M), and Bobcat (M). Cougar features the smallest jumps and boxes and is built with beginners in mind. Chipmunk steps it up with a few Medium features into the mix; Bobcat line has a larger selection of medium jibs and jumps. All lines have low to mid range jibs and rails such as fun boxes, rainbows, flat and step down rails. The Habitat Park is a great place for slightly experienced park riders to improve their skills on the progressively shaped hits and rails in each line.
Difficulty: easy to intermediate
Length: 1,100 ft
Location: the park entrance is near the first tower of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola on Whistler mountain side. Lifts: Emerald Express.
Choker
Nintendo Terrain Park a.k.a Choker is 3,480 feet long park packed with table tops, hip jumps, spines, step-up jumps, banks, rails, and fun boxes, all mixed together for endless options. Also the Nintendo Superpipe is accessible through this park. The Snow Cross track also runs along riders right of the park with access to this entrance off Springboard.
Difficulty: intermediate
Length: 3,480 ft
Location: the park can be found according signs near the Rendezvous Lodge or PEAK 2 PEAK Terminal on Blackcomb side. Lift: Solar Coaster and Catskinner.
Highest level
Nintendo Highest Level park is for expert park skiers and riders only. With some of the biggest and most technical table tops, spines, rails, jibs and jumps in the industry, this park is frequented by top athletes with their eye on the podium at the next Olympics. Helmets are mandatory here!
Difficulty: hard
Length: 1,720 ft
Location: the park is accessible through the "Choker" park on Blackomb side of the mountain and is located just down from the Rendezvous Lodge.
They don't call it the Super Pipe without good reason: over 450 feet long, it has a 17 foot radius, a wall height of 16.5 feet, a 64 foot width from lip to lip and a flat bottom 33 feet wide. Groomed nightly with the Zaugg Pipe Monster, the pipe is for advanced to expert park riders and is home to exciting events all season long.
Difficulty: hard
Length: 450 ft
Radius: 17 ft
Location: The pipe is accessible through the Nintendo Terrain Park (Choker).
Now that Snowboard and Ski Cross are recognized winter Olympic disciplines, the Snow Cross track provides a daily training ground for aspiring athletes. Big banks, rollers and step-ups challenge skiers and riders daily and are tweaked up for event days. Set a personal time to beat or race your buddies, the Snow Cross is a great place to improve high speed skills.
Location: the track is accessible from the Springboard run.
All of this, of course, wouldn’t be possible without the help of the Whistler Blackcomb Terrain Park Rangers. With over 30 “top three” Park and Pipe Awards since 1996, they’ve built a reputation for themselves as the world’s finest. Transworld Snowboarding readers ranked Whistler Blackcomb’s terrain parks as number one in the Top 10 Best Parks category, for 2008.
Brian Finestone is the man with the vision when it comes to Terrain Parks at Whistler Blackcomb. Every rail, every jump and every jib has his stamp of approval on it. He leads the Parks Crew on their quest for grooming perfection all winter long and his ideas are crucial to the progression of the sport at Whistler Blackcomb.
Source: whistlerblackcomb.com. Thanks to Jill Young. All images are property of Brian Finestone.
