January 20, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

Broken Arrow worth locating at Okemo

by Matt Boxler/

Okemo’s newest terrain park, Broken Arrow, is an all-natural glade with park features made of fallen timber. (photo: Okemo Mountain Resort)

Okemo’s newest terrain park, Broken Arrow, is an all-natural glade with park features made of fallen timber. (photo: Okemo Mountain Resort)

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Asking the Pentagon to lead you to a “Broken Arrow” might not be unlike asking a guest at Okemo Mountain Resort to lead you to the same place. After all, skiers and riders can be as protective of their secret powder stashes as our government can be about matters of national security.

Fortunately, Vermont and Washington, D.C., have two very different agendas, and Okemo’s version of Broken Arrow isn’t exactly highly classified information. In fact, the resort is trumpeting the opening of its all-natural terrain park — Broken Arrow — a playground in the woods with features made from fallen timber.

“Broken Arrow is the culmination of much hard work and careful design on behalf of Okemo’s parks and pipes crew and mountain operations staff,” said Bruce Schmidt, the resort’s vice president and general manager. “The new park further demonstrates Okemo’s commitment to providing fun terrain features for our guests.”

You can get to the new park from the top of the Green Ridge Triple or the North Star Express. It is situated in the woods off of Upper Arrow — but don’t expect to see huge signage to guide you there.

The entrance is concealed and difficult to locate, like a military “broken arrow.” In actuality, the park wasn’t named for that John Travolta action film of the same name from 1996. The name reflects the use of broken timbers within the park, as well as Okemo’s tradition of recognizing the region’s Abenaki tribe through trail names that reflect the Native American culture.

Once into the glade, skiers and riders will enjoy seeking out a variety of natural features, including wall rides, up-down jibs, flat-down jibs, flat logs, a flat-right “elbow tree,” and several tree stump jibs.

“We’ve set up a lot, but it’s a constantly evolving park,” said Dennis Brady, park manager. “Mother Nature is always changing the design whenever it snows or a new tree limb falls, and skier and rider traffic contributes to the layout as well. We have only scratched the surface. If our guests demand it, we will build it.

“Combining the challenges of a gladed trail with a terrain park is the next natural progression in the sports of skiing and snowboarding,” Brady said. “Having to negotiate the trees and the freestyle features takes park riding to a whole new level.”

Broken Arrow, designated a double-black diamond for experts, joins the resort’s lineup of terrain parks that include the Ross Powers Superpipe, RossCross family terrain cross park, the Amp Energy SuperPark, Hot Dog Hill, Innbound Park and Timberline Progression Park.

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