SAM JANUARY 2026

[News & Views] 1

for category winners, plus a free registra- tion to Cutter’s Camp for a crewmember at the resort that garnered the most votes across all categories. More than 2,500 votes were cast online during a roughly 30-day voting period, with East Coast resorts making an impressive clean sweep of the catego- ries this year. The winners are: • Feature: Okemo Halfpipe, Okemo Mountain Resort, Vt. • Event: Zeb & Cacc’s Pop Out, Blue Mountain Resort, Pa. • Edit: Park After Dark, Big SNOW American Dream, N.J. • Crew: Sugarbush Parks Crew,

2025 TERRAIN PARK CONTEST WINNERS

THE OLYMPIC BUMP

By Dave Meeker

By Jordyn Ossanna

Here’s an easy question: Which sport enjoys the biggest boost in interest during and immediately following the Winter Olympics? Answer: Curling. An analysis by polling site FiveThir- tyEight found that curling’s Google search-index spiked nearly 81 points on a scale of 0-100 during the Olympic months (80.68) compared to non-Olym- pic months (4.57) from 2004-2018. Surprised? I’m not. I watch hours of curling every four years. It makes me want to try it, so I search online where to play—or curl—and realize it’s not that easy to find a curling rink nearby, so my interest in participating fades. The point is, curling is a perfect example of a sport that hugely benefits

The 20th year of the SAM Terrain Park Contest (TPC) brought a bigger field than ever, with 85 total entries in four catego- ries: features, events, edits, and the crews who make terrain parks happen. The spirit of the contest is to give terrain park builders a place to share their ideas and highlight the work they’re proud of. The public voting period exposes this great work to thousands of people. It’s a pow- erful platform. A recurring theme across this year’s submissions was commitment. Some ski areas that once had modest park programs invested heavily in them. Longstanding events marked major mile- stones, while newer gatherings rooted in inclusivity continued to grow. And many of the crew members we’ve heard from over the years showed up once again, pushing their parks, and their creativity, forward. This year’s entries showcased a wide range of ingenuity in execution. The 20 submissions to the features category included everything from a 10-foot-tall shipping container setup to an adven- ture tunnel and oversized Skullcandy headphones. Thirty-four events ranged from rail jams and spring gatherings to banked slaloms, fundraisers, women-on- ly sessions, and kids-only competitions. We also received 18 park edits and 13 crew submissions showing themes of inventiveness, ambition, progression, and community. We were once again fortunate to work with Jess Goucher, terrain park supervisor at Windham Mountain Club (N.Y.), who brought her editorial skills to preparing many of the submissions for publication. Prinoth provided the prize package

Sugarbush Resort, Vt. • Grand Prize Winner: Sugarbush Resort, Vt.

Congrats to our winners and to all who entered. We look forward to an even bigger showing in 2026. Check out all the 2025 entries online at saminfo.com/ terrain-park-contest.