The park has a few unwritten rules that keep everyone out of hospital. None of them are hard. Learn them before your first lap and you'll fit right in - and you won't be that person standing on a landing.
Dropping in
The park runs on a simple system: one rider at a time on a feature, and everyone else waits. To take your turn, shout "dropping" or put a hand up. Then still look around - a raised hand doesn't give you the right of way, it just announces you. If you ride a line without stopping, nobody should cut in on you. The moment you stop between features you've given up your turn, and you drop in again from scratch.
Where to stand
Never stop on a takeoff, on a landing, or on top of a roller. What looks like an empty patch of snow to you might be the landing for a bigger jump you can't see the point of. Give every feature a 15-meter bubble and stop well outside it, somewhere you can be seen from above. On a narrow line, don't stop at all - ride the whole thing through.
Side hits count too. If a natural bump has tracks over it, someone's jumping it. Treat it like a park feature.
If you crash
Ask yourself one thing: am I seriously hurt? If yes, stay put. If no, get up, grab your board and anything you dropped, and get off the landing fast. Someone can be coming in behind you at full speed, possibly switch, and they can't see you until it's too late.
If you see someone go down hard:
- Cross your arms above your head in a big X and shout so the riders above you stop dropping.
- Get someone to stand on the takeoff or block it with their gear.
- Go to the rider, ask how they're doing, and call ski patrol. Save the resort's SOS number in your phone before your first day.
- Tell patrol where you are, who's hurt, and what's hurt.
Respect the X when you see it from the top, even if you can't tell which feature it's for.
Hitting a feature for the first time
- Look at it first, from a spot that's out of everyone's way.
- Ask the riders at the top how the jump is riding today, or ask to follow one of them in. Park regulars are friendlier than they look.
- Check for gaps. Some boxes and rails have a gap between the lip and the feature, and riding straight at one puts your nose into the metal. Look from the side to see how steep the lip is and where the rail sits.
- Not sure about speed? Pop next to the feature first and see where you'd have landed.
- Start at 10-20% of what you can do. Straight airs, a 50-50, a small 180. Build up from there.
Learn more here:
Video by Stomp It Tutorials
Key tips
- Shout "dropping" or raise a hand, then look before you go
- Stopping between features means you've lost your turn
- Never stand on a takeoff, landing or roller - stay 15 meters clear
- Crashed and fine? Get up and clear the landing immediately
- Big X over your head means "don't drop", so stop dropping when you see it
- Look at every feature before you hit it and start small