Interview | How do you become a park shaper?

We have often wondered who makes sure that the park's four lines are always in top condition and asked the shapers Christian "Hitta" Accola, Sandro Sprecher and Martin Stänz what their daily routine looks like and how they got into shaping. An interview by Christiane Eggert.

PG: How do you become a shaper and how do you acquire the expertise?

Sandro: I actually come from a cross-country skiing background and even raced. But when I was 14, I discovered freestyle and switched disciplines. Since then, you can always find me in the park. That's where I met Hitta and one day he asked me if I fancied shaping. That's how it all started. There is no official training to become a shaper. Hitta passed on his expertise to me and of course it's also helpful if you ride in the park yourself and can test what you've shaped.

Martin: A good friend got me a job as a shaper in Davos 8 years ago. It was on my first day at work that I had to admit to Hitta that I wasn't that good at skiing! But thanks to my experience of building trails and jumps while biking, I was able to learn quickly. Everything I can do today I learnt from Hitta or acquired myself.

Hitta: I used to ride a lot in the park myself. 13 years ago, Davos didn't have its own shapers for the park. The piste service did that on the side. Clearly that's better than nothing, but the quality of the park left a lot to be desired. So I applied for a job as a shaper. At first, I had a difficult time with the cable car company. Nobody understood what I was doing and why it was taking so long. When the number of accidents dramatically fell, my work was recognised more and more and I now have their full support.

PG: How long have you been with us?

Sandro: It's already my fifth season this year.

Martin: This is the 8th winter for me.

Hitta: I've been with the company for 13 years.

PG: Do you also ride in the park yourself?

Sandro: Yes, I really enjoy riding in the park myself and testing everything. That's a great aspect of the job, of course. But for the big kicker, we'd rather get someone from the sports high school...

Martin: I'm still not the best skier, but I really enjoy skiing our rails now.

Hitta: Yes, that's where my interest in the park comes from. I used to build jumps with my mates in the garden. But now I ride less and less often. You don't get any younger and you don't want to hurt yourself. But every now and then I can’t miss out and go for a run on the medium line.

PG: How long does it take to build your park?

Hitta: We start making snow as early as possible. As the park is so high up, we can often produce snow as early as October. Shortly before the ski area opens, we then go full blast with our 6 snow cannons and then need around one to two weeks to build up the park.

PG: What work can only be done by machines and how much of it is still done by hand?

Hitta: That depends: I do more with the bully in preparation. What's perhaps unique to us is that I also do the kicker jumps with the machine, which isn't standard in all parks. Sandro and Martin take stock of the rail elements before they start on the mountain and sometimes even weld rails together themselves. So we are real all-rounders! But once the park is up and running, the division is "fifty-fifty" I would say. My Bully can do a lot, but the edges and the finishing touches, especially on the rail line, have to be done by hand.

PG: Is that a normal Pistenbully that you're using to shape the park?

Hitta: No, this is a special Park Bully. It has a much larger working area in the push arm. The Snow-Sat technology helps me to measure the snow depths via GPS when setting up the kickers in order to place the snow as efficiently as possible.

Continue on the next page --->

PG: Is only artificial snow used as a "base"? Is there a difference between artificial snow and "real" snow?

Hitta: We actually only work with artificial snow to build the park. We don't have a substructure made of earth, as is the case with the halfpipe, for example. All the elements are built using only snow - except for the rails and boxes, of course. We work with "real" snow when it's there. It also binds a little better than artificial snow. In heavy snowfall, we use the snow where we can. In snowstorms, we're usually more focused on clearing the snow away from the features rather than building with it.

PG: Can you build a park anywhere? How important is the terrain, landscape and gradient?

Sandro: Theoretically, you can build a park anywhere, flat terrain can be levelled out with appropriate structures. If the terrain is too steep, it becomes a little more difficult;

The terrain here at Jatzpark is just at the limit of steepness. The problem of too steep a gradient is particularly noticeable on the Rail-Line.  The riders then brake a little too much and that means more work for us.

Hitta: However, it is not necessarily the terrain that is relevant, but also the exposure and the height of the park. A hard take-off and soft landing would be best, so a south-facing park would be ideal. The Jatzpark is orientated more towards the south/west. Depending on the amount of sunlight, this may not be ideal. However, as the park is so high up, this usually only affects us in the last 2-3 weeks of the season

PG: How dependent are you on the weather  ?

Hitta: Of course, we are dependent on the weather. However, as our park is at 2500 metres above sea level, we can actually always make snow and set up the park. "Snow loss" is very rare 

PG: There are some successful riders who come from slopestyle, for example, and later take part in the Freeride World Tour. How often do you experience a development from freestyle to freeride? Do you see parallels here or do you even recommend going to the park first as training/preparation for freeriding?

Sandro: There are many good freeriders, such as Sammy Carlson, who come from freestyle. The advantage of the park is that the conditions are almost always the same. You can practise and internalise jumps and then apply them in the terrain;

PG: So this is an invitation to all freeriders to spend a session in the park. Thank you very much for your time and the nice chat!