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just hit up the snowflex set up to day and its one of the most fun things ever
The rails are sick! Flat box, flat down flat bar rail, 1/4 and a log jib.
If you don't want to do the safety session because you think it's going to be boring, you can also do a camp day where you get a full day of coaching in the barn and on the mountain. That will certify you to do drop-ins from then on also. A camp day is $199, discounted if you have a lift ticket or season pass to Copper. All of the coaches are really well qualified and fun.
The lineups for getting signed up can be long...you should come 10-15mins prior to whatever session you want to go to. Tues, Wed, Thurs there is a 12-2 session also, that's a good one to go to if you can make it because it is generally not as busy and you will probably have more time where we can let you hit the jumps/tramps or whatever longer after the OHW. Occasionally the OHW gets really busy and its possible that you will only get one jump on the snowflex in a larger group.
My best suggestion is to do the actual day camp. All of the coaches are top notch and you end up paying approximately the same price as you would with an OHW and an equivalant time in drop-ins, but you get to go on the mountain all afternoon and shred the park/pipe and/or airbag. Plus you have individual coaches attention for the entire day and get to do whatever you want at a ratio no higher than 8-1 but likely even more individual than that. Airbag/on-snow is not a part of the OHW or the drop-in.
Just so everyone knows...you can ask the coach that is at the bottom throwing you the rope to spray down the inrun as much as you want. It's really suprising how much faster you can go when it's all sprayed down. Doubles are without question possible when it's sprayed down.
I had a 12 year old girl on a snowboard stomping double back 180 to her feet perfect last night...
Coaches perspective on Woodward:
Woodward at Copper is state of the Art. There is nothing better in existence that helps you to learn new tricks. The coaching staff is awesome and I think it's worth every penny that you spend. It is a great set up for working on your style. Once you get comfortable with the ski in, the jumps are really consistent. You get a chance to really style out your grabs and figure out rodeos, corks, multi-spins. I should have spent more time tramping into the pit. I think that can be a better way to get something worked out. One of our guys dragged on of the big resi blocks over to the side of the pit and was doing back 180's. I think that would also be a great way to figure out a rodeo. If you really want to get something new dialed in a drop in session, hit up the tramps and other things into the foam pit first before you take it to the ramp.
Downsides are that it is really tough to get out of the big foam pit, and until you get the "tarzan" technique down, it takes a long time. It seems like forever when you're one of a bunch of guys waiting at the top to go and someone is floundering trying to get out of the pit. One of their coaches told me they were researching track cranes. That is what I would use. They have one TV next to the foam pit where, if you get out of the foam quick enough, you might catch your last jump. The footage is on a 30 second delay and runs once. The slope to the jump is about 35 feet long to where the tranny starts and it is a 40 degree pitch. That's about as steep as the steepest landing you will find in any park. I didn't have the sack to drop switch onto that yesterday. It's doable; it will just take some getting used to. For some reason you couldn't really butter off the ramps; you have to pop. Two of my guys tried; one smacked the back of his helmet on the top of the ramp. Based on what I expereienced yesterday legit double corks are not possible. We were all landing in the front half of the pit so going too far is not an issue yet, but I don't think you could ever get enough speed, short of using some kind of tow in, to get enough air to pull it off. Some kid who can flip really fast might be able to do it, but it wouldn't be helpful for most people trying to learn them.
Suggestions I have for the Woodward crew are to build a little slide in ramp so you can get up enough speed to hit the flat box. Figure out a way to get bodies out of the foam pits a little quicker. On the smaller foam pits they have resi blocks under the foam. They should replace those with old rectangular tramps. That way the rebound from someone landing in the foam, bounces the foam back up and automatically fluffs it for the next jumper. It does a better job of self filling in bomb holes too, so less work for the staff tossing foam back to fill in the holes. Under the foam in the big pit, they have a huge inflatable bag that pushes the foam up and the lets it settle back. Sounds cool and supposedly works pretty well, but they could have used old tramps for that too and saved a bunch of money. Where the cliff drop is, I would add a flat box like a flat canon style; something that you could spin or cork off into the pit. They need an elevator that only plays like department store tunes or the Jonas Bros while you're going up in it. Just kidding, but some big ass fans would be good around the stairs. In the summer time, that place is going to be a sauna. Biggest suggestion is TIVO'd cams and more video monitors. Take a page out of the spring board and platform diving coaches manual. Every competitive diving program has a TIVO system where the divers can get out of the pool, go over to a monitor and check out their last dive as many times as they want to in regular or slow mo. It's cheap, it's easy and it is the best way to figure out what you're doing in the air.
All in all, Woodward is sweet. I suggest that you all go there once a week. They are pioneers and we need to do everything we can to support them. Most of the sickest things that went down at Summer X were learned at Woodward. If it weren't for Camp Woodward the cooking channel would be more fun to watch than the summer X Games. No offense TJ; I know that's your favorite channel.
Thanks for the review. Some great ideas in there.
In regards to the resi under the foam pits. Tramps underneath the foam pit is definitely the old school way of doing it. That's what they have at Woodward East and it's not nearly as safe as the setup we have at Copper. You really don't want the foam pit to be rebounding you, it's meant to absorb as much of the impact as possible. The tramp surfaces under the old foam pits are harder on the foam blocks themselves over the long run as well. There is over $150k worth of foam in that building...
We are supposed to have a "crane" style swingarm with wench being built for the big foam pit. The big one, btw, has resi mat underneath it also. It just so happens to have the airbag in between the foam and resi.
If you want to go faster on the jump, have the coach at the rope spray down the inrun with a full back pack of silicone/water. It really takes that much and you'll be cooking. Sling shots help also, with a good tranny pump. They are working on some pull in bars.
All in all, we need a lot more people to start coming in before we can start installing "TIVO's", new ramps, rails etc...
Remember, Woodward is a Camp. There are kids that come there for longer periods of time who may want to mess around on that box. I was suggesting a $20 to $30 dollar sollution to build a small ski in ramp like you would make for an urban. Use scrap lumber, slap some flex on it and call it good.
Like I said, you guys are about as close to ideal as anything I have seen, and considering the Barn has been open for less than 2 months, it is mind blowing. With the exception of the elevated canon box, everything I suggested could be up and running for less than $500 and a few hours of setup. TIVO systems are cheap. You already have the camera; all you need is the TIVO unit which you could probably get on Craigs list for less than $100. Here is an article I found awhile back:
TiVo Personal TV Recorder
You got to have one
Joe Chirico
Boston Area Diving Coach
TiVo – The Best Innovation for Diving Since the Cheeseboard
A TiVo is a “personal TV recorder”, sold at most TV/small appliance stores, that provides an automatic video playback. Once you use this machine you won't remember what you did without it. While designed to record TV shows, when set up properly, the machine allows divers to watch themselves on TV just seconds after doing a dive, without taking up the coach’s time out of coaching to rewind and playback video. Every coach or team should get one – its worth every dollar. It may even pay for itself by creating one more “station on deck” allowing room for one more diver at practice.
A TiVo system is a computer hard drive, which stores and plays back a video image. It has a time delay, which should be set for 30-60 seconds. This allows the diver to dive, receive coaching and then walk over to the TV and get instant feedback. It confirms what the coach said (hopefully). It can also be played over and over, even in slow motion and freeze frame. The TiVo system can also record to a VCR.
The ToVo system is perfect for Masters divers who practice on their own or for teams with no coach because it allows the diver to coach themselves. This is a tool which will help our sport. If you don’t have one yet – go get one. (It also works great for viewing your golf swing).
Tips on buying and setting up the TIVO system
TiVo has licensed its process to Phillips, Sony, Replay TV. ,Web TV. and Echo Star Each work similarly, so buy whichever one is less expensive. Watch for rebates and do not sign up for the monthly TV guide plans. Although the second generation TIVOs are now available, and offer more storage, you will not need one with a lot of storage (minimal storage is fine for coaching purposes).
Setting up the system can be a little difficult; it is not designed to be used with a video camera. I strongly suggest reading the directions. You can either install the monitor and TIVO system permanently in place, or on a cart. Most teams have used a TV cart so they can lock it up in a secure place.
Please note the Replay TV. does not have the frame by frame back button. (do not get one)
You will need to purchase the TiVo system, a video camera (usually a team parent has an old one not being used or go to your local mega-video & camera store and buy the cheapest one you can get with video out)
What you need and Cost:
Tivo System
$299
There's currently $100 rebate
Video or surveillance Camera
$0-300.00
Get the cheapest video Camera you can.
27” TV
$249-400
Get a "open box" or return set (look for S-Video in
Tripod for Camera
$10-40
TV Cart
$100
You should be able to get one for less
S Video cable 50’
$20
All other wires come with systems
You should try to get a camera with S video out and a TV with S video in. The S video is a single line (in place of 3 RCA jacks) it carries more “lines of resolution” thereby giving a better picture. If you cannot get equipment with S video, you will get a standard picture.
Set up
Since a TiVo system works by storing digital video signals on a hard drive, you must “format” the hard drive based on your needs. To do this, you must plug the TiVo system into a phone jack (it has a built in modem). The system calls an 800 phone number and downloads the latest “drivers” and formats itself. If you need a pin number to call out at work, it won’t work properly so do this part of your setup at home.
All TIVO systems come with quick directions which are easy but do not cover connecting the system to a video camera. Plug your video camera into the personal television (PTV) unit, make sure it’s on. You do not need to setup any infrared (IR) blasters. Next connect the output from the PTV to your television, and plug in the power and phone. Turn it on, configure your input sources and you're about ready to go. Your PTV unit controls your input sources; you use the PTV remote to change the channel, it ferries the signal to your input source and changes the channel for you. Your PTV remote can control other devices as well. After wiring the PTV to your home system, but before you can start using it, there is a waiting period while it downloads channel lineups and configures itself ("initialization time").
Things to Consider: As the quality of the recording increases, the number of hours that can be recorded decreases. For example, a Replay machine can record 30 hours on its lowest quality setting, but only 9 hours with its highest quality setting. Set it for the best quality.
You will use your TV remote control to do the setup. When you come to the “program source screen” choose “cable with cable box”. As you go through the screens, you will be asked to provide your cable company and other information – none of these answers matter. You will get a screen titled “connections to receivers”; choose either the video input with RCA jacks or S video (whichever you are going to use). You need to avoid using the RF jack.
Once your TIVO is setup and running, you will need to hit live TV on your clicker and make sure there is a signal coming through the video camera before use.
Prices have dropped significantly since these units were released in early 1999. ReplayTV's all-in-one approach builds the cost of service into the price of the hardware. TiVo separates these costs, so after you buy the hardware, you have to pay for the service. Which for coaches is useless. So do not order it.
No need to read more. Go get one!
Anyway, they're just suggestions; take em or leave em. My crew will be back and we will spread the word.Camp day is $199 including a pass and lunch, $159 if you already have a ticket, also includes a free drop in session later that night. If you want to do a drop in you will have to do the safety course first which is $69, and then a drop in is $25. So you will already be spending a hundred bucks for essentially two sessions and no on snow time. The camp day is without question the better bang for the buck.
Camp day starts at 9am and we session the tramps and snoflex all morning till 12. Then have lunch for half hour/45 mins and then head out to the mountain and sesh park/pipe until 3:45, then head back to the Barn. Then you get to do a drop in on your own at either 4, 6 or 8 that night.
But, if you are pressed on time here is the schedule.
Tues, Wed, Thurs - 12-2, 4-6, 6-8. 8-10
Friday, Sat, Sun, Mon - Camp day 8-4 and drop ins from 4, 6 and 8 as well.
If you can swing it, you will have a much more fun time during the camp day and learn a lot more. But if you can't, the drop in sessions are still fun too.
