Standing on the ridgeline of Woodward Park City with General Manager Gar Trayner, I was mesmerized by the little boy on a snowboard eyeing the gargantuan 22-foot halfpipe carved into the snow. Without hesitation, the kid dropped in and somehow vaulted his tiny 4-foot frame more than five times his height to reach the top of the pipe, then sliding down to do it again on the other side.
Little Rowan exemplifies life at Woodward, a transformational facility that has taken an historic local ski area turned tubing park and converted it into a Mecca for kids and a vital asset for our community.
Trayner moved to Park City in 2018, taking on a role as sport education director for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. A former British ski racer, he forged a career path as a sport educator, bringing together coaches and athletes to help them achieve their dreams. He slid over to Woodward this winter as its new GM, quickly engaging with the staff there to provide even more learning experiences for Woodward’s young and old clientele.
As Parkites, we all know Woodward – it’s that little ski area we all pass as we drive to Salt Lake City on I-80. Most of us also probably think it’s a great place for kids. But many of us are a bit unsure how we can engage.
“So many people presume that this place might not be for them,” said Trayner. “The reality is, it’s something for everyone. There is no better situation to learn how to ski or snowboard than right here. You think of this entire place being very purposefully built in the notion of progression through our programming.”
As we chat from the indoors mezzanine and boot up for skiing, kids below us are doing flips into a foam pit, skateboarding down a ramp and working out on padded mats. There are kids of all ages having the times of their lives.
“Progression is all about simple to complex, slow to fast, flat to steep, even small to big,” said Trayner. “But it all starts in here with what should be sort of a psychological safe space for kids to come and learn and challenge themselves.”
Trayner’s transition to Woodward has meant a change of mindset from developing educational programs for national team coaches to working in a system at Woodward that brings dreams to life for “never-evers.”
“Here we systematically make things as easy for people as possible. People can explore a little bit. They can activate a little here in the trampolines. Get outside, try something out. Be back here in a 100-yard walk, grab a hot cocoa, reset, go back out there, try something again, hit the magic carpets. Maybe day one, they’re hitting some really basic terrain or some boxes and undulating terrain to accelerate their learning. And then maybe day two, they’re hitting hot laps and they’re up making laps on Boomerang, which is super easy now with accessible terrain to any learner.”
I had a sense where this was leading. While I may be a kid at heart still, I’m, well, a little bit older than young Rowan in the halfpipe. I knew that today, out on the hill, my friend Gar and his colleague Luke Giacopelli were going to help me progress in some small way.
For what it’s worth, I do love riding in parks. I just avoid the features, save maybe a few hits on the low level flanks of ramps. Progression goes skier’s right to left at Woodward, so Gar and Luke led me over to the far right. I eyed the 12-foot-long, 24-inch-wide metal box set conveniently right at snow level.
Luke gave me some final tips while Gar was there for moral support. With GoPro running, I pointed my Rossignol Black Ops downhill, making a perfect track over the box and back down to mother nature’s snow, throwing a fist into the air.
I had done it!