I can tell you that the most dedicated riders aren’t the ones waiting for resorts to open. They’re the ones showing up to rope tows in October, hiking for turns, and shoveling snow to keep DIY parks alive.
Pre-season parks have become essential infrastructure for serious shreds. These scrappy operations prioritize getting people on snow weeks or months even before really firing up their lifts, and they’ve created some of the most authentic snowboard culture you’ll find anywhere.
Trollhaugen: Setting the Standard
Trollhaugen in Dresser, Wisconsin has been leading the pre-season charge for years now, and they’ve perfected the art of snow farming. At their 20th anniversary Open ’Haugen event in early October, they used tarped snow from the previous season to build-out an actual park with enough coverage to run the rope tow. This isn’t some gimmick. It’s legitimate riding in the first week of October, and the progression that happens in these early sessions directly impacts how those snowboarders perform all season long.
Brighton’s Bone Zone: Community-Driven Excellence
Brighton’s Bone Zone represents everything I’ve always believed snowboarding should be about. This DIY hike park opens when natural snow hits Big Cottonwood Canyon in October, featuring creative wooden and metal features built and maintained by the community itself. It’s free to ride, but everyone brings a shovel and puts in work.
What started as an underground operation got shut down by authorities, but when Brighton officially adopted it in 2015, they understood something crucial: the best terrain parks aren’t just shaped by resorts, they’re built by riders. The Bone Zone has become a proving ground where pros and groms, alike, push each other without the commercial pressures of a full resort operation.
Big Snow: The Year-Round Option
Big Snow in East Rutherford, New Jersey changed the game by offering year-round indoor riding. At 16 stories with real snow and legitimate park features, it serves a specific purpose: keeping skills sharp when nature isn’t yet online. It’s not trying to be something it ain’t, and that honesty makes it valuable.
The Bigger Picture
Pre-season parks matter because they remind us what snowboarding culture is actually built on: community, creativity, and the willingness to put in work for the reward. After riding for many years, I’ve seen how these early-season sessions translate directly to progression and innovation throughout the industry.
When that first pre-season park opening announcement drops — LFG! Your technical skill set, your community connections, and your entire season will be better for it.
For a complete list of USA snowboard resorts, check out our Resort Directory. To get school’d on the 2025 opening days for a majority of the USA resorts, go peep our post First Tracks 2025. Start stretching and wax that board.
