How do they make a halfpipe for snowboarding?

Question

There must be some kind of machine that shapes the transitions and arcs of the halfpipe. How do they get the snow to pile that high at the top of the ramp?

Answer 1

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Many resorts dig the basic shape of the pipe into the ground during the summer. This insures that even in low snow years you can have a pipe, however this is far from the optimum situation as you will be limited to the dimensions you created in the dirt. Other resorts just push lots and lots of snow up to create the walls and then use a snow cat with a pipe cutting attachment mounted to it. This is the best option as you can alter the dimension as the conditions permit and with the advent of snowmaking, most resorts can produce the great amounts of snow necessary to make a great pipe.

HPG makes the best pipe cutting equipment at the moment.

Half-pipes require a significant investment in both financial resources and time. But a good pipe is definitely worth it

Source(s):

http://www.halfpipegrinder.com/
http://www.halfpipegrinder.com/six_steps…
I work at a resort

Answer 2

you need a machine

Answer 3

They use these giant machines to carve it.

Answer 4

uhhh have none of you ever heard of a hand shaped pipe? best pipes in the world IMO way better than dragoned. Most super resorts use pipe dragons wich are like the grooming attachments that they use on the back of grooming snowcats that cut away the top layer leaving a corduroy type finish except the pipedragon does it in the shape of a pipe. Venues that are attempting to produce the "perfect" half pipe will just use a snow cat to push the snow out of the pipe in a rough half pipe shape and let the park crew hand shape the walls with shovels. Obviously hand shaping takes much longer but produces a riders dream pipe because the crew know what to expect from a pipe and shape it accordingly.

EDIT: in reply to Paul. pipe cutters are good if you have massive amounts of snow but if you dont get a big dump of snow every week it's impossible to use a dragon properly because every week or two the pipe will get too big from wear and repetitive shaping because the dragons take a layer of snow off the pipe making it bigger and bigger untill its just too big and needs to be filled in and re-made

Answer 5

they just blast snowguns right here then push the snow into colums (the walls) with the cat then cut it with a pipe dragon (a snowcat with this thing that sticks out the side the shape of a pipe wall and then if they care about the pipe they will hand cut the walls to perfection (most places dont unless its for a contest)

Answer 6

i dont know,but there fun

Answer 7

halfpipes ROCK