“Hey mom can I go to the park and slide some rails with Jimmy?”
Freestyle accreditation at Mt Bachelor
BY AMY OHRAN, N8 EDGELL AND LARRY SMITH

The Scene On March 8th and 9th the first PSIA-NW Alpine Freestyle Accreditation was held in the parks and pipe on Mt. Bachelor. The education/accreditation program is designed to educate instructors on the safety and performance aspects of freestyle riding and coaching as well as to assess and validate their current level of understanding and skill.

The Cast Led by Lane McLaughlin, the group was a vast blend of snowsport professionals; a director and assistant director, a snowboard school manager (on skis), an accounting manager/snowboard coach (on skis), an event coordinator, a tele clinician and several Mt. B frontline staff. The age range was 22-56, all with the common goal of getting JIBNASTIC! Oh, and also to become skilled in freestyle concepts and terrain park usage.

The Playground Our time was spent evenly between the halfpipe, the kid’s park, the intermediate park, the full size slopestyle arena, and natural terrain features. The rails seemed to have a magnetic quality, drawing the group into spontaneous rail sessions. What do check turns and hockey stops have to do with grinding a box or rail? Well, almost nothing!! That crisp edge set we worked so long to achieve is now a menace on the rail, but the body alignment is very similar. Flattening the ski is how you slide the rail. One breakthrough of the event was Beth Ramsey (snowboard/office princess on skis) throwing down an entire rail in style. Either that, or Jason throwing down a 25’ box rail on his chin, chest and one knee, also in style.

The Style Jodi and Tara couldn’t get enough of rolling from deck to deck in the super pipe. Chris impressed us with his “spanning the decades variety,” dishing out spicy moves from old and new school. Amy loved everything over 20’, with a special fondness for the knuckle. Unnatural Nate (snowboard manager on skis) was master of rotation in any direction. Larry (our senior jibber) liked the repair shop( de-tuning his edges), the binding tech (tighten those bad boys up), and the deck of the pipe( on his bum). Greg patented the “surface mute off the cat-track”, easily done in teles. Nick, our youngest most elastic member, threw some circles around the rest of us. Not that we can’t spin switch 7’s over the biggest table tops on the hill.

The Reviews From a management standpoint, the concepts in the accreditation provide user friendly models for assessing riders, developing skill and encouraging responsible terrain park usage. As freeriding continues to grow and add momentum to our industry, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and our students. All of us at Mt. Bachelor will remember the two days of the event as two of the most memorable days spent on a pair of skis.