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Terrain Park Experiment

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theabortionator
Posts: 51260 - Karma: 157,386
It would be cool but probably not worth the time.

Anyway, using the same size features, and setting them up differently. On the one setup, make everything perfect, but then throw some death cookies on the edges, round the corners out, put some bumps along the side of the rail etc.

On the other setup, make it a little janky. Have the take off pitches leaning to the side, or make them too quick/too steep, not wide enough etc, but leave the edges of the take off cut super clean, clean up around the rails and make it look perfect.

Have people hit both setups and see what they prefer. The one setup would ride better, but would they prefer it? How much does the was something looks, how inviting it seems play into the overall enjoyment of it?

Does a better looking setup make it a better riding setup?



Personally I think it would to an extent. When something is set up nice, you real more confident hitting it. That confidence is a huge part of our sport. Im not sure it would override how much better the other setup was, but I definitely think that appearance plays a large factor in the parks, and how we perceive them.


Thoughts?
Feb 16 2016 2:06PM
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Gryllz
Posts: 483 - Karma: 1,204
That would be a cool experiment, I think most skier would pick an ugly rail and sloppy take off that flows better than a rail and take off that looks good but doesnt flow well.. If that makes any sense.

Function over form
Feb 16 2016 2:35PM
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cdip
Posts: 1563 - Karma: 2,449
features that flow > features that look easy
Feb 16 2016 2:47PM
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nate1097
Posts: 361 - Karma: 524
DROPCLIFFNOTBOMBThat would be a cool experiment, I think most skier would pick an ugly rail and sloppy take off that flows better than a rail and take off that looks good but doesnt flow well.. If that makes any sense.

Function over form


But the cleaner edges and such would make the less functional one look almost more functional and our mind would probably interpret it as such so i think it would be a pretty cool experiment. probably the better riders would prefer the truly smoother setup but less experienced riders would go for the cleaner one
Feb 16 2016 6:26PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51260 - Karma: 157,386
nate1097But the cleaner edges and such would make the less functional one look almost more functional and our mind would probably interpret it as such so i think it would be a pretty cool experiment. probably the better riders would prefer the truly smoother setup but less experienced riders would go for the cleaner one


Yeah, if you straight up asked people what they would prefer, most would say the better setup to ride. But that's the point of this.

How much would what we see play into the overall feel of things.

Nobody would want to spend the time to make this happen, but it's a thought that's been in my head.

It would be interesting to actually have some data on this. It would show how important(or unimportant) making things look super clean is on top of having just a well riding, functional park.
Feb 16 2016 6:39PM
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TACO-DOG.exe
Posts: 11986 - Karma: 12,239
i've ridden my fair share of both and i would take a well built jump/rail/landing over some rails that just got slapped in the ground and manicured over a few weeks.

lake louise is a good example. their inventory of rails is insane and their jump lines are incredible every year, but the way the rails are set up always sketches me out. like the lips are way too poppy for how steep the rail is or the landing is too flat, and the park could flow better.
Feb 16 2016 6:39PM
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steezburgereddie
Posts: 1059 - Karma: 1,944
put big bumps beside the feature and see if gapers learn their fucking lesson
Feb 16 2016 6:58PM
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nate1097
Posts: 361 - Karma: 524
steezburgereddieput big bumps beside the feature and see if gapers learn their fucking lesson


good point, this should be a thing
Feb 16 2016 7:06PM
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_Hudzz
Posts: 36 - Karma: 370
ive experimented with this kind of thing before but not to this extent... although I did find that less confident skiers definitely gravitate to cleaner looking features because they appear to be easier to hit. sort of a mind over matter thing if my rambling makes sense
Feb 16 2016 8:06PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51260 - Karma: 157,386
steezburgereddieput big bumps beside the feature and see if gapers learn their fucking lesson


nate1097good point, this should be a thing


Kind of irrelevant to the topic and a waste anyway if someone actually did it.
Feb 16 2016 8:23PM
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rozboon
Posts: 1642 - Karma: 868
The natural hits we put some finishing touches on with shovels always look janky as hell but a couple of us have backgrounds in building dirt jumps so the transition and lip is usually pretty flush, as a result they ride well and we don't really care how they look.

In a commercially operated park though... if a jump/feature looks dodgy, it's usually indicative of the level of care that went into its construction, and this is often reflected in how it rides.
That said I've hit some very nice looking features that were dangerously badly put together, so it's not a perfect indicator of quality.
Feb 16 2016 9:22PM
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Gryllz
Posts: 483 - Karma: 1,204
nate1097But the cleaner edges and such would make the less functional one look almost more functional and our mind would probably interpret it as such so i think it would be a pretty cool experiment. probably the better riders would prefer the truly smoother setup but less experienced riders would go for the cleaner one


agreed
Feb 22 2016 3:45PM
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*JP
Posts: 301 - Karma: 440
steezburgereddieput big bumps beside the feature and see if gapers learn their fucking lesson


there is so much side jumping at my home hill that there are legit bomb holes on each side of every feature. So many people get wrecked anthem it insane.

Kind of off topic, but my hill also has an elbow kink with no skirting on it, and gapers side jump the inside end of the rail all the time and get clotheslined because they couldn't move away fast enough. its funny as shit
Feb 22 2016 4:31PM
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