FALL2016
MLBLUE
75
words & photos :: Nelson Phillips
The halfpipe was smoking. Yes, actually smoking: Blue Mountain’s first-
ever halfpipe, built in 1998 by employees with farming backgrounds, was
filled with tight stacks of hay bales. When stored wet, hay bales tend to
catch fire and smoke, even under the snow. The pyrotechnics were never
serious, but still—a lot has changed since then.
What used to be a PVC jib park where riders would gap over junk and
old tires is nowOntario’s fastest lapping terrain park, a 65-foot step-
down, and a competition-ready advanced slopestyle course. The evolution
progresses each year, benefiting from a clean slate as soon as the snow
falls. To give riders a chance to warm up, the park has traditionally begun
its annual life cycle as a happy-go-lucky ride-on, vying for crowd-pleasing
jibs and jumps and opting to leave its advanced features until people
get their snow-legs back. The metamorphosis continues, adapting into an
informal training course for premier athletes from all over the northeast
corner of the continent.
MikeTowers fiddleswith the impressive 22-foot super-pipe cutter inBlue's rail yard.
PARK
&
PISTE
NORESTFOR
THEWICKED
WORKINGTHEGRAVEYARDSHIFT
ATBLUE’STERRAINPARK
