New Hampshire Backyard Ski Rail
Sitting around a campfire with a few beers and buddies is where the best ideas come about. Just so happens that this idea was to build a 7-foot tall flat down rail in the woods on a natural slope constructed of tree trunks and some PVC. Now that you have the scene for where an idea like this can originate, let's get into the weeds.
The goal here is to build a ski rail for us to practice on in the backyard, a typical home rail setup that many park and freestyle skiers have spent countless hours building and finding enjoyment. The original idea was nothing out of the ordinary... or so we thought. For tools and equipment in this venture, we were able to use a chainsaw and simple carpentry tools and, most crucially, a mini excavator.
The starting landscape was a mossy, brush-covered slope with some trees scattered throughout. The gradual slope was not going to be enough to hold speed long enough to hit the feature. Our proposed solution was to build a drop-in ramp and a series of pumps to hold speed. You can see some pictures of this progress below. We also added a berm to the track. One of the goals of this was to use all downed trees and limit our impact to existing growth. By removing all this ground cover, we actually create an accepting area for new trees to grow in the space.
Our final product on the trail was a huge success and a lot of fun to see the progress moving forward so quickly. The next stage in the build was the rail itself. Now, before we get too far along, let’s just say that while building, we built this narrative in our heads that there would be 4 feet of snow at any point that we were trying to rid this monstrosity. To be clear, it is 2022 during this construction, and it has not snowed that much in years. So, let’s get along to the building.
We had to cut one tree down directly in the path of our new trail. This was an acceptable loss because we also needed one tree to cut into a large log to be set in the ground for the rail posts. This was an easy removal and delimbing process, but to get the tree in the hole required a little bit of rigging. Thankfully, some of the more seasoned, aka old, guys around were able to provide some insight into this. With a quick strap and drop, we had the posts in their holes. A quick level, and the posts were set in some gravel and the existing soil. Added the finishing touches and BAM we are done. Now to wait until winter.
Secured Mega Rail
As the finishing touches settled, our rail posts stood firm, a testament to ingenuity. Now, the stage is set, and we eagerly await winter to reveal the full glory of our backyard rail construction.
Winter is here, spirits are high, skies are clicked, and we are ready to go. But wait, there’s not 4 feet of snow on the ground. Like I said before, this was the plan, but that just didn’t happen this year. It’s New England; who is going to let that stop us? As you can see from the photos, there were some hard crashes, but there were also some really amazing slides. High risk, high reward type fun. This rail was a huge success.
Getting speed turned out to be tough. The ramp and pump track we had designed actually were not very helpful for this size. We needed to have a snowmobile tow us in and launched through the trees. This was pretty insane if I’m being honest. Skiing glades is a regular style for us, but this slingshot on a gradual grade, narrowly avoiding trees, was a whole other game. The path we were trying to hurl our bodies through at the fastest speed that we could be allowed was no wider than 1.5x our shoulders. Enjoy the gallery below.
With the small but significant issues with our mega rail, it was enough to propose a revised design. If you remember back to the original desire, we wanted something to be able to session, practice, and learn. Not necessarily a challenging feature. A super simple process led us to lower the rail, chop the posts, and reconnect the rail PVC. Luckily, the ramp and pump track are now enough to hit this redesign. Enjoy the video clips to the right of us enjoying the smaller features during one of the classic great days of our winter years.
