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Who actually builds top-level events like the Olympic Games – or even “just” regular snowparks?
Today is about the experts behind the scenes!
Snowparks exist today in many different forms:
from public products like kids slopestyle, funlines and freeride cross,
to freestyle parks with rails and jumps,
all the way up to top-level events and media productions.
This diversity has developed over the last 30 years.
And with it, a wide range of specialized skills and professions.
Do you have detailed questions on this topic? |
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Parkbuilders & Shapers – one job, many levels
Today, these professionals are generally referred to as parkbuilders or shapers.
As in any profession, there are very different qualification levels.
What unites all of them is a deep passion for freestyle sports.
In 25 years, I have never met a shaper or parkbuilder
who wasn’t actively riding snowparks themselves.
The love for the sport, for snow and for nature is the common foundation.
From there, however, the paths diverge significantly –
much like the different snowpark categories themselves.
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Three clusters of work
To better understand the different expert roles, we can roughly divide the work into three clusters:
- Planning
- Construction
- Maintaining
Very similar to building a house:
you have an architect, a construction company,
and finally a facility manager.
The more complex the project,
the higher the level of expertise required.
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What defines a top-level parkbuilder
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Good snowpark experts usually have many years of hands-on experience,
often combined with training as planners, engineers, craftsmen or machine operators.
The truly outstanding parkbuilders master both disciplines: - building with snow groomers
- fine shaping by hand
They also understand: - modern snowmaking systems
- digital measuring tools
- technical equipment and workflows
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Less complex tasks, such as the daily maintaining of public products,
can be handled by less qualified staff.
These tasks usually take only a few hours per day
and are therefore ideal for seasonal workers
who want to work in the mountains and enjoy skiing or snowboarding themselves.
Their motivation is different
from that of experts who live and breathe
the development and execution of snowparks and top-level events.
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The cube matrix: making qualification visible
To illustrate qualification differences more clearly,
I’ve used a simple matrix for many years.
Imagine building a cube of snow –
representing a snowpark or a single jump.
→ The more criteria must be fulfilled,
the fewer people there are who can do it.
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Skilled labor shortage – a real challenge
Snowpark construction is an extremely small niche.
Worldwide, there are only 10 to 20 people
capable of building top-level events such as the Olympic Games.
In individual disciplines, such as the halfpipe,
there are fewer than 10 experts worldwide.
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Decentralized teams & a job on the road
Building local teams is nearly impossible for us as a snowpark company.
Highly qualified parkbuilders are spread across different countries. This results in: - high travel costs
- long periods away from home
- snowpark building being a true assembly-style job
Most shapers and parkbuilders are on the road for several months each year
and see their families only rarely.
From my experience: - Parkbuilders: 5–10 years average career length
- Shapers: usually shorter
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Training as the key to the future
This is why education and training are essential.
We are partners of the ProAcademy,
where we regularly train new shapers and parkbuilders.
In addition, we help ski resorts develop their own internal teams
and increasingly focus ourselves on planning and initial park setup.
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Thank you
Finally, I want to thank my team.
Over the past 25 years, we have written snowpark history together.
None of this would have been possible without you.
And thank you to all partners, children and friends
who give you the space to follow your passion –
even when that means not being at home.
You are all part of the team!
Yours, Dirk
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What international winter sports events teach ski resorts: trends, standards and best practices
You can find all newsletters in the series at:
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Imprint
Schneestern GmbH & Co. KG · Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 47 · 87471 Durach Phone: +49 831 960 886 10 · E-Mail: info@schneestern.com |
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.jpg "©Lasha Kuprashvili")
