Difficulty
Terrain parks (in the United States and Canada) have designations with respect to safety similar to standard alpine slopes. They differ in their designation and degrees of difficulty. They are identified with orange ovals to differentiate them from standard slopes, and are further distinguished by Large, Medium, or Small features.
While features vary between resorts, commonly Small features will be short jumps and rails that are even with the slopes surface, Medium will be 10 – 30 foot jumps along with jibs requiring small jumps to get on top of, and Large will include 30 – 90 foot jumps along with complex jibs and large vertical pipes.
Jibs are any type of fixture which can be ridden with the board/skis either parallel or perpendicular to (ground), ridden while spinning around on (buttered), or ridden and jumped or tricked from. Many jib features resemble outdoor items used when snowboarding in urban areas (stair rails, benches, tables, etc.).
Rail: A metal bar, either rounded or with a small flat surface, which a skier or snowboarder can slide across (called "jibbing").
Trees: used as natural surfaces and can be found either on or off the trails.
Rails and boxes have many different shapes and sizes: straight, sloped, curved (often called a "Rainbow"), or kinked. Rails, especially rainbow, will also be seen curving over obstacles or vehicles.
Park Bench and Picnic Table: A funbox type feature that resembles a park bench or picnic table. The edges are made of metal rails and the surfaces of UHMWPE. These features provide multiple sliding surfaces.
Wall ride: A vertical, or near-vertical, wall-like surface made of UHMWPE. Most wall rides have another similar surface at the top that is angled down towards the wall, but more perpendicular to the ground (like a sideways funbox attached to the top of the wall ride)
Bonks: A more recent addition to terrain parks, bonks are features usually shaped like garbage cans or vertical cylinders with a small jump leading up to it. This feature is jibbed by going off the jump and tapping it in various ways with your skis or snowboard. Variations include spinning to and from the bonk, tapping with different parts of the skis or stalling on top of the bonk.
Step-down: A jump in which the landing is lower than the takeoff
Step-up: A jump in which the landing is higher than the takeoff
Hip: A jump with one landing, which is perpendicular to the take off
Spine: A jump with two landings, which are perpendicular to the take off. Similar to a hip, but with a landing on both sides
Super kicker: A large jump used for air, spins, and or flips. Also called "Kickers."
Channel gap: Looks like a wide jump cut at the middle, so it becomes a gap between the two jumps
Quarter-pipe: A vertical lip with the intention that the user launch straight into the air, then land on the same lip.
While their size may be less than that of larger resorts these areas are more appealing to terrain park riders as they are typically cheaper, have more extreme, or uncommon features, and have music played over loud speakers throughout the area. These areas are generally rider owned and operated. Some examples can be seen from Echo mountain park (www.echomtnpark.com) and 540 central board park (www.540Central.com).
Mount Snow, Vermont has the only all mountain park face on a mountain called Carinthia. With three other faces of the mountain, Carinthia attracts thousands of riders to this destination in Southern Vermont to throw down their tricks.
The parish of Tux covers the higher and largest part of the Tuxertal, a side valley of the Zillertal that branches off at Mayrhofen. The territory of the parish extends to the glaciated peak of Olperer (3,476 m) and the 2,338 m high saddle of the Tuxer Joch, a crossing between the Zillertal and Wipptal valleys that was heavily used even in the protohistoric period.
Tux consists of the five villages of Vorderlanersbach, Lanersbach, Juns, Madseit and Hintertux.
On 25 January 2005 the state government renamed Lanersbach to Tux because, although the municipality as a whole was called Tux, there was no actual village with the name.
Vorderlanersbach (1,300 m AA) is the first village along the road from Finkenberg. On the mountainside above lie the hamlets of Schöneben and Gemais.
The farming settlement of Gemais at 1,450 m was placed under conservation protection as it has a historical coherence and unity of architectural style that date back to the 17th century. It developed from a former Schwaighof - a type of livestock farm typical of the Alpine region. The 2,292 m high hamlet of Geiseljoch lies on the way into the Inn valley that was once a busy trading route to the markets in Hall in Tirol and Innsbruck.
Lanersbach (1,300 m AA) lies about two kilometres beyond Vorderlanersbach and forms the cultural and business heart of the Tuxertal. Lanersbach is both the seat of the municipality of Tux as well as a church parish that has existed since 1891.
Hintertux (1,500 m AA) lies furthest up the valley at the foot of the Hintertux Glacier (one of the most popular summer skiing regions in Austria), and is surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It consists of hotels, guest houses and scattered farmhouses.
In Hintertux are the highest thermal baths in Europe, with their various mineral springs. In the immediate vicinity of the Spannagelhaus lies the Spannagel Cave, that is over 10 km long and the largest natural cave in the Austrian Central Alps.
The cave is under a preservation order and may only be visited as part of a guided tour.
At the Tuxer Ferner glacier is an all-season skiing area with a large number of lifts. The place is the base for many walks and high Alpine tours.
The Hintertux Glacier Ski Region (Skigebiet Hintertuxer Gletscher) belongs to the Zillertal 3000 ski region and is a popular with skiers in summer as well as winter.
Hintertux has a population of 178 (as at: 2006). Until 1926 it belonged to the parish of Schmirn am BrennerTux is accessible from Mayrhofen by road. From Mayrhofen station on the Ziller Valley Railway there is a bus service. The nearest Austrian Federal Railway station is at Jenbach, which is also the departure station for the Ziller Valley Railway. Within the Tux valley there is a free bus service - the Tuxer Sportbus - that runs during the day between Vorderlanersbach and Hintertux. In the winter months there is also a fare-charging Nightliner bus until 2 a.m.
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