It should be open on Saturday!

Can you use skis and/or ski boards in the half-pipe or just a snowboard?

john, they probably allow skies in the pipe but as a pipe only rider i'll supply this advice. please dont carve the wall!! Most novice pipe riders will use too much edge on the wall which seriously hurts the shape of the pipe. carving should be done to set up your hit in the flat bottom and the bases should be as flat as possible going up the wall. edging too much will cause the wall to develop a kink which ruins a pipe and is very difficult to groom out. A kink is also caused by not going to the top of the wall. also, don't slide the lip!! once the lip get rounded off, a pipe is just a ditch. the last thing is don't pole plant (see beating the lip).

All equipment is allowed in the pipe.

How do you do a pipe on skies? I have tried multiple times and always end op either on my face or in some awkward position. Anyone have any suggestions?

I just got home from Whitetail after spending all day there and noticed that their pipe is crudely cut. There was a groomer sitting at the base of it but it wasn't touched all day. The sides were big boulders of compacted snow and ice chunks. I saw a few rope duckers but it was closed off entirely and there didn't show any work to be done.

Wow...i was at whitetail today and the pipe was the worst cut i have ever seen a pipe! The left side was ok but the lip was almost nonexistant. The right side was more like a box then anything. It was absoutly horrible!!! Also it was complete ice. But i deffinately do not recomend the pipe at whitetail!

Again, I complained last week about the condition of their terrain park. What's going on? Are they just lazy? Incompetant? Why don't they keep up the terrain park better? You could say the bombholes after the jumps are just due to an insane amount of traffic, but how do you explain the condition of the pipe?

my guess is that one or more of several things happened but id say most likely, the pipe cutter was rushed to get the pipe open so he didn't get enough time to thoroughly cut it and because they were rushing, they didnt let the pipe set up long enough. we have this problem at roundtop all the time. when the pipe cant set up for at least 24 hours, it goes to crap very quickly. what it really boils down to is a fundemental misunderstanding on the part of mgmt about pipes and parks. they tend to think that pipes and parks are just like a reg slope in that you groom it quick and get it open.

Well, Saturday was a nightmare day for management. 1/2 the groomer fleet busted over night. It was a miracle that they got the groomers working and off the slopes and the pipe cut at all. I saw the pipe staff opening the pipe around 11 and saw them take afew nice hits on a check out run. I was too busy to personally get in the pipe, but the word had it that it still needed major work. They did let the new snow sit and drain before cutting it. Let's cross fingers they get it fixed before next weekend.

Langely,

It would be easier to help if we could see you. The pipe is definitely doable on skis. You do need to stay perpendicular to the snow surface. For example, when riding up the walls you body needs to go from vertical to horizontal. Practice riding up the walls of hits in the terrain park and the base of the top of the lift on Snowpark (exit right off the lift). Practice riding up the wall, jump turning and riding off the wall. In the pipe, starting by riding up the wall just a little, turning (and hopping) on the transition before the wall goes vertical. As you get the timing down, you can start going up the vertical without killing yourself.

Thanks for the advice rusty! Ill give it a try next time i am able to get to whitetail.

More details about the half pipe and difficulties in making and maintaining can be found in my recent post and reference to an article from Triangle.com.
The Colonel