Main Photo: Tomo having some fun!

It’s hard to convey just how much the terrain parks have come to mean to the mountains in New Zealand. Over the last decade, they have gone from a couple of boxes to what we see today – huge jump lines, a massive array of features and dedicated express lifts. Tony Curulli and the team at Cardona run this park like an amazing (and fun) military operation keeping the park in pristine condition and taking a huge amount of pride in the fact that they are operating what has recently been described as one of the worlds best facilities.

I was stoked to see that our friends at 3CS are a main sponsor for the park too – they have decked the crew out with some pretty rad uniforms that the staff were so stoked on. Check them out in the gallery above.

Stef Zeestraten was hitting jumps when I was getting the tour – even though he is only weeks away from surgery on his ankle… You can catch his take on the park in this clip:

The main jump line is a huge double cannon (box and rail) to a 53 foot, 61 foot and 73 foot jump in that order (although they may have dropped a little with the good weather over the last week). The jumps are built with a rising hip rather than a flat table to keep injuries down. Better to knuckle from five feet than fifteen. The other features include a Burton sponsored barrel (double size version of Frank The Tank at Buller), short dance floor, assorted boxes and rails set for varying skill levels.

The guys also track park usage. Generally they get 27% of the customers at Cardrona using the park facilities and when you see the total amount of ride-able terrain on the hill, that’s an impressive stat. The park is considered an essential part of the mountain. They do earthworks in the summer to create lines in the park that can run really well with minimal snowfall.

Check out the gallery from the park above and huge props to Tony Curulli, Nathan Hodgson, Anthony Piggins, Hamish Rudhall and the crew working in the park. You guys are killing it!

More information above Cardrona can be found here and and for info on New Zealand visit NewZealand.com.