Terrain Parks Gone Wild
by Susan Schnier
December 2006

You follow the wood signs to the Stash and drop in. Float over some pillow drops, slide a huge fallen log, clear a road jump, then bank some turns through the trees. It feels fluid and natural, but this isn’t the backcountry, it’s the Stash, a new run at Northstar-at-Tahoe. At the bottom, you ride the new five-minute Tahoe Zephyr lift and session it again – no skins or sweat required.

The first of its kind, the 800-vertical-foot run, opened on December 15th.  Northstar-at-Tahoe was the obvious choice for Burton’s brainchild. The Petri dish of the jib scene, what it lack in steeps, it makes up for in park design and grooming.

To build the Stash, Northstar dug deep, moving earth, positioning logs, and building jumps that clear roads. The Stash doesn’t have any metal, only chainsaw-carved wood like stumps, yeti heads and giant gorilla statues that can be jibbed or jumped.

Skiers and riders can huck or slide the “CK Cabin,” a small hut that pays tribute to deceased big-mountain snowboarder, Craig Kelly.

“The Stash is a chameleon. When it’s snowy, it’s more backcountry, and when it’s not, it’s more terrain park,” says John Chapman, owner of Porters Sports Lake Tahoe. “This is a first for the industry, and skiers will enjoy it as much as riders.”