Skiers and snowboarders haven't had too much to cheer about for most of the ski season so far, but that has all changed with recent storms dumping some much needed snow on the slopes. Cody Marshall of the Snowy Range Ski Area told us that the past week has yielded two feet of fresh snow to their slopes, just in time for their upcoming terrain park competitions.

If you haven't been up to Snowy Range yet this year to see the new terrain park set up, the ski area has been working hard to make big improvements in this area. They are officially calling it the "Medicine Bow Terrain Park" and have even started up a separate facebook page just for the community of people interested in using the facility. Pictures at the beginning of this article show this years' park. Last year Snowy Range held the "Battle at the Range" in the park, which we were told was very popular and a great success. This prompted them to start a series of competitions scheduled for 2012.

The first event, called the "Rail Jam," is scheduled for January 28th and starts at 11AM. While competitions held at many large resorts are strictly for professionals, Snowy Range expressed to us that they want their events to be open to the community for anyone to come have fun and participate. Registration for the "Rail Jam" must be completed by 9:30AM on the morning of the 28th and it only costs $5 to participate. The ski area's terrain park staff and instructors will be judging participants as they make their way down the course competing for the best score and braging rights.

Following the "Rail Jam" Snowy Range will host a "Big Air" event on February 18th and end the season with the "Battle at the Range" on March 10th. This final event of the season pulls out all of the stops as participants hit the park one at a time and compete for some big prizes. We were told that the prize list will most likely include skis, snowboards, ski passes and more, which should make the competition great fun.

Even if the terrain park is not quite your style, it still sounds like a great time to pay the Snowy Range Ski Area a visit with all of their recent snow. All but two trails are now reported as being open and those are only closed becuase strong winds have continually degraded snow conditions on those slopes, which we were told is normal even in great snow years.

One other thing that I know I have been curious about related to wind and conditions at the ski area is how it will hold up with all of the beetle kill. Without any trees to block the wind, the chances of keeping snow on the slopes could be a real problem. While there have been a significant number of trees killed at this point, it is actually not a huge concern. The ski area mentioned that they have looked at studies of the forest surrounding the area and that the variety of different pine trees is pretty diverse. The types of pines that are at risk will apparentlyhave little impact on skiing at Snowy Range when they die because they are mixed with such a variety of others; good news not only for the ski area but also for those us who love to hit the slopes just 45 minutes from home. Get out, have some fun and ski or snowbooard while conditions are great!

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