Big Sky Resort adds new transport method to Swifty terrain park
By Fischer Genau DIGITAL MEDIA LEAD
The people spoke, and Big Sky Resort answered: there’s now a tow rope in Swifty Terrain Park.
After over two years of skiers and boarders blowing up Big Sky Resort’s Instagram page with requests to “put a tow rope in the park,” BSR installed a 500-foot portable rope tow in the middle of Swifty terrain park on Jan. 25.
“People wanted the rope tow because it greatly enhances their ski experience,” said Alex Syversen, the resort’s terrain park manager. The tow rope will allow park riders to spend more time hitting features and less time on lifts and waiting in lift lines, while also shortening lift lines and clearing up packed runs for non-park riders.
“It allows [park riders] to progress at a much faster rate because they can hit so many more features in a smaller time frame,” Syversen said. “The progression in a rope tow park is on another level.”
Big Sky Resort held a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the new feature on Jan. 26, and they invited the tow rope’s most vocal advocate. Frequent Big Sky snowboarder Caimen Nelson, aka @bigbodyjimbo on Instagram, had been leaving comments on the resort’s posts for close to three years beseeching them to add a tow rope, and he was the one to cut the ribbon and usher in a new age of terrain park access.
“It’s great and the flow’s completely different,” Nelson said of the terrain park now. “Everybody’s way more happy.”
Big Sky Resort’s terrain park is accessible from one of its most popular lifts, the Swift Current 6, and Nelson said this made it difficult to spend concentrated time hitting rails there, with riders choosing to hike the park rather than wait in line.
“It was the most busy lift ever and felt like the flow was all off,” Nelson said.
Until the tow rope’s eventual installation, Nelson had his phone set to notify him any time the resort posted on Instagram. When he received a notification he would open the app, type in “put a tow rope in the park,” and hope that eventually someone would hear him. The request gained traction, with more and more people leaving similar comments, and finally this winter his wish was granted.
“At first it was just the park riders asking for a rope tow, but after we had it for the early season park everyone realized the potential benefits it could have if we had one full time,” Syversen said. “Pretty much everyone seemed to be onboard and asking for one.”
Nelson heard rumblings from his friends working at the resort that a tow rope had arrived, and a few days later he got an invite to the ribbon cutting from the resort. While only a handful of people attended the event—including park crew and Nelson—throughout the day more and more people sessioned the park, and a week later, the tow rope is a big hit.
“People are beyond stoked!” Syversen said, adding that the online feedback to the rope tow has all been positive. “It’s a good feeling to know that the community feels heard and that their input counts.”
Although the rope tow is portable, Syversen said it will likely remain in the Swifty terrain park for the rest of this season and plans for it to return next year. The tow rope brings Big Sky Resort’s total lift count to 40.
