Short Sands terrain park at Mt. Bachelor ski area is designed to introduce skiers and snowboarders to freestyle terrain. Its features are labeled as “small” and “extra small,” which is ideal for those venturing onto jumps and rails for the first time. The jumps in the Short Sands park are about 5 to 10 feet high. Bigger, more advanced terrain parks are also located near the Skyliner Chairlift. Coggin Hill, the freeride director for the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation, takes his young skiers and boarders in the MBSEF development program to the Short Sands park, where they can build their skills before moving on to more advanced terrain parks. “Really, it’s being comfortable in your riding all-around, and understanding that the jumps are designed for you to go a little bigger and land past the knuckle, and it’s actually way more comfortable if you do that,” Hill says. The “knuckle” is the top, flat part of the jump between the takeoff and the landing. Riders are supposed to land past the knuckle, on the downslope.

—Mark Morical, The Bulletin