MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2017

28 ML BLUE FALL 2017 UP FRONT For skiers and boarders at Blue Mountain, craning your neck to watch the action in the Badlands Terrain Park while riding the chair to Happy Valley is a familiar ritual. Park riders also use the chair-time to decide which features to hit, and watch friends nail lines. But that familiar location will change in 2017/2018 as the Badlands Terrain Park relocates to the Orchard. “The Badlands Terrain Park Chairlift has reached an age where it isn’t feasible to continue to operate,” explains Mike Towers, manager of Bike and Terrain Parks. “So the decision was put forward to remove the chair and breathe new life into the Terrain Parks. With the removal of the chair there was nothing holding the park to the Badlands location. Recently, a proposal to relocate the park was accepted and both terrain parks will be in the Orchard for the 2017/18 season.” Last year, the Grove Terrain Park operated off the Orchard chair and this move will see the two parks much closer together. “The Badlands— which will feature medium, large and x-large features, will be accessible from the Orchard Express Chairlift on the Fall Line ski trail, utilizing the entire run,” explains Towers. “The Grove Terrain Park—with both small and medium features—will be relocated beside Badlands, accessible off Butternut on the lower flats.” Towers see this as a move forward for those riding the parks. “This will create a full top-to- bottom park for our advanced riders with the beginner park in close proximity,” he adds. British Columbia-based Arena Snow Parks has been hired to build the new park beginning in December. Builder and Project Manager Lucas Ouellette grew up in Ontario and helped build the original park at his home resort of Lakeridge back in the day. “Blue Mountain has always had a reputation for having one of the best parks in Ontario,” says Ouellette. “We are excited to be part of this new park and to bring Blue back to the forefront.” Ouellette was involved with building last year’s World Cup Ski Cross course and is stoked about the possibilities the new Orchard location brings. Arena has an impressive resumé, having built everything from World Championship to big air and even Olympic courses. While Ouellette enjoys event builds, he really loves building parks for resorts where riders will progress year to year. “It’s awesome to be able to come back to Ontario and help build something for the next generation.” —Allison Kennedy Davies NEW HOME FOR BLUE’S BADLANDS TERRAIN PARK RICHARD ROTH/BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORTS