Park season is on! The conditions were rocking today at Palisades Tahoe, from cold wintery snow in the Palisades and Mainline to sunny springtime laps in Gold Coast and Belmont’s newly built terrain parks. And the crews built out some awesome lines and features.
This report was written by Ryan Williams.
Upper Mountain
Today’s afternoon session was about spot-checking the two terrain parks, Gold Coast and Belmont. Taking Wa She Shu lift up, the weather was terrific today: sunny skies, 39 degrees at the base, and 30 degrees up top, with minimal wind. The snow at the base was fast and slushy spring. When we got off the lift, it was wintertime chalky groomer, just starting to slush up. Dropping in from Wa She Shu, the turns and snow were incredible.
Heading up Siberia, the groomers were looking great for late afternoon. They were smooth and buttery, super edgeable, and fast. Off-piste was soft in the sun and hard in the shade. It looked like full-on winter conditions. At the top, we were surprised to see a few people getting after the Chimney in the Palisades. Amazing to watch.
The views across the valley and to Lake Tahoe were spectacular today. Blue skies and massive snowpack all around the mountain. We jammed across the cat track to the Gold Coast terrain park.
Gold Coast Terrain Park
It is so awesome to see the Gold Coast Park built out. The park has 4-5 zones: the main jump line (medium/large) with 3 progressive jumps, 2 hips, and 3 separate rail gardens with tons of options from barrel double kink and s-rail to much more. Thanks to the park crew crushing it.
With the big snow season and all the fantastic pow days we’ve had, it was wild to be back in the park. And the conditions are all-time for park riding. Edgeable groomer snow, not too slushy and not too hard, ideal for hitting jumps, rails, and features. We had a blast lapping.
Belmont Terrain Park
We hit Belmont Park on our way down the mountain from Gold Coast. It is always fun to zip over to Belmont right from the top of Gold Coast. The snow on the run over was a total blast. In the south-facing groomers, you could lay down the carves and rock the slashes; so much fun.
The park crew has been keeping the Belmont Terrain Park consistent this year, with the excellent progression set up, left to right. With the beginner/starter features and jumps on the left and the small/medium features and jumps in the middle and right. The condition’s today throughout the three zones in Belmont were a blast and excellent springtime fun for learning and progressing.
We finished the day’s sessions racing down the super fun boardercross course. It is built out way better this year, with more flowing rhythms, rollers, and banks. We had an absolute blast. Such a fun way to wrap up today’s terrain park spot check. Tomorrow is going to be a blast on Gold Coast and Belmont.
