tft: februára 2017

Get to know: Snowpark Karolinka

If you have never been here before and you had no idea what to expect you might be more than surprised and overwhelmed upon your arrival. Karolinka is something like a small version of Park City Utah terrain park that has been cut out and placed in this small town in Czech Republic. No shabby run-ins, landings or junk rails, but tip-top shaping on the highest level. The whole snowpark consists of 7 platforms so you have 7 hits in one run (3 jumps + 4 rails) which gives you plenty room to throw down and to show off your skills.

///

Ak si nikdy nebol v Karolinke tak budeš istotne pri svojej premiére viac ako milo prekvapený. Predstav si vytrhnutý kus amerického snowparku z Park City Utah hodeného do malého mestečka v Beskydách. Žiadne odfláknuté nájazdy, dopady alebo nekvalitné prekážky, ale poriadne upravený snowpark na najvyšsej úrovni. Celý park pozostáva zo 7-mich platforiem takže máš 7 možností (3 skoky a 4 raily) ukázať čo vieš.

Right at the top as you get off the lift you have to turn sharply to the left where you will find a "warm up" platform that is made of the most easiest and the most difficult obstacle of the whole park. A simple flat box and a f*$^&#g S-rail. The 12 meter long S-rail requires a lot of patience and effort but once you clear it, it is the best feeling ever. When you fall in love with it you won't want to go home :)

///

Hneď ako vystúpiš z vleku musíš zabočiť doľava kde nájdeš "warm up" platform na ktorej sa nachádza najľahšia a najťažšia prekážka z celého parku. Jednoduchá široká bedňa a f*****g S-rail. Tento 12 metrov dlhý rail si vyžaduje veľa trpezlivosti a úsilia, ale keď sa ti ho podarí prejsť, je to ten najlepší pocit. Ak si to zamiluješ. nebudeš už chcieť ísť ani domov.

The "warm up" platform

If you have enough of falling on the S-rail you can head down to the main part of the park, which starts with a rail platform with 3 options. Skiers view from right to the left with easy, medium and advanced line so a down box, down flat-bar rail and double-kink (down-flat-down) rail respectively.

///

Ak si sa už dosť napadal na S-ku možeš sa pobrať do hlavnej časti parku, ktorá začína railovou platformou s 3-mi možnosťami. Pohľad dolu kopcom sprava doľava je tu easy, medium a advanced line ktoré pozostávajú zo šikmej bedne, šikmého jakla a double-kink (down-flat-down) railu.

You choose which one you go for

The legend Ondra Neumann going for the middle rail

Then it's air time. Three jumps are ahead of you. Starting with a small kicker with table of approximately 4 meters, then middle jump with ca. 8 m table and finishing with a "money booter" with 12 m long table. Landings are smooth and nice and kickers pretty kicky so you don't need a lot of speed, but you will fly high. First and second jump are very good for switch hits. So it's perfect time to get your ss 3s and 5s mastered both ways.

///

Teraz prichádza air time. Pred tebou sa nachádzajú tri skoky. Začína to malým kickrom s table okolo 4 m, pokračuje so skokom s ca. 8 metrovým tablom a celé to zakončuje "money booter" ktorého table má cez 12 metrov. Dopady su príjemné a a skoky nakopnuté takže ti ani netreba moc veľa rýchlosti na nájazde a lietaš vysoko. Prvé dva skoky su ozaj super na skúšanie switch 360 and 540 na obidved strany, takže smelo do toho.

Rail platform with first kicker

Working on your switch spins

The "money booter" a.k.a the last jump gives you a lot of pop and the landing si quite long so if you feel strong you can even go for double. We tried only some 5s, 7s and some corks and it's really a comfy jump. Make sure to hit the breaks big time, when you land, otherwise you will get a speeding ticket :D. The lading is very steep and you need to slow down a lot before you go for the last two rail platforms.

///
Posledný skok ti dá ozaj veľa popu a dopad je dlhý, takže ak sa na to cítiš môžeš ísť aj do double. My sme skúšali len nejaké 5ky, 7mičky a corky a musíme povedať že skok je ozaj veľmi pohodlný. Keď ale dopadneš nezabudni začať poriadne brzdiť keďže dopad je slušne strmý a dlhý, aby si neprepálil posledné dve rail platformy.

Above Karolinka

All three jump beauties

If you successfully managed to slow down you can now choose between a down flat-bar rail on the skiers right side or a donkey-dick rail on the left. The donkey-dick is fun to hit, but be careful it can be also very tricky.

///

Ak sa ti podarí úspešne zabrzdiť môžeš si na predposlednej rail platforme vybrať medzi jaklom alebo donkey-dick a.k.a. hokejkou. Hokejku je ozaj zábavné jazdiť ale dokáže byť aj veľmi nepríjemná takže pozor na ňu.

Landing of the last kicker and second last rail platform

Last hit in Karolinka is the ultimate playground with 3+ possibilities. You have flat-down box which is very good for learning switch-ups. Once you have them down-down you can try them on the flat-down mailbox which has a little gap between its parts, so no mistakes are tolerated here. In the middle there is a straight T-Box which could be good for getting those 450s out. Well and because the take-off stretches across the whole platform you can try a lot of different stuff, maybe some transfers, or i don't know, it's up to you and your imagination. That's why it's called freestyle.

///

Posledná platforma v Karolinke je záverečný highlight celej jazdy s 3+ možnosťami. Máš tu lomenú bedňu na ktorej sa dajú dobre nacvičiť switch-upy, ktoré ked už máš v rukáve možeš skúšať na opačnej strane platformy na mailboxe medzi ktorého časťami je však už ale menší gap takže tu sa už chyby neodpúštajú. V strede sa ešte nachádza rovná T-bedňa na ktorej by sa dali skúšať 450tky von na všetky strany. Ale keďže je odraz potiahnutý cez celú platformu (vďaka Jirka Volák) otvárajú sa tu nekonečné možnosti na rôzne kreatívne variácie ako transfery, alebo čokoľvek čo ta napadne. Veď preto sa to aj volá freestyle.

Ultimate jibbing playground

The bottom part of the park

Snowpark in Karolinka is definitely not a one-night stand. There is so much things to do here. It will challenge your inner you and it will teach you how to conquer your fears and how to improve your freeski/snowboard skills. The variety of possibilities on every platform will keep you occupied and won't let you sleep until you do the trick you had in your head. I myself will for sure come back and reserve at least two days only for the S-rail. There is so many things you can do on it. And not like any other relationship, rail can never break your heart.

///

Snowpark v Karolinke určite nie je "vec na jednu noc". Je tu toho naozaj veľa čo potrápi a vyzve tvoje vnútorné ja, čo ťa naučí ako odolať strachu a ako zlepšit tvoje skills. Pestrosť možností na každej platforme ťa zamestná a nedá ti spať kým ten trik ktorý máš v hlave nevrátiš. Ja osobne sa isto vrátim a rezervujem si minimálne dva dni len a len na S-rail. Je toľko vecí ktoré na ňom chcem skúsiť. A na rozdiel od iných vzťahov, rail ti nikdy nezlomí srdce.

/OJ

Photo gallery: