Embracing Culture and Family Bonds in Snowboarding

Growing up in the Salt Lake Valley in the '80s, Jeremy Jones developed a knack for searching out urban skate and snowboard venues to feed his passion. Today, the sport legend has found it all under one roof as snow manager at Woodward Park City.

Founded as a gymnastics camp in the hills of Pennsylvania a half century ago, today the  Woodward brand is bringing progression in sport for kids of all ages to snow-covered mountains across America. This episode of Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast take you to the brand new  Woodward Park City  which features a mountain sports park with progressive features and a fun-packed, kid-friendly indoor action sports hub with skate ramps, trampolines and more.

My guide for the day and podcast guest was the legend himself, freestyle skater and snowboarder Jeremy Jones, whose persona and sport background is a magnet for young athletes. A Utah native, Jones grew up skating as a kid but quickly morphed into snowboarding when it got too cold in the winter. He was hooked. Jones can tell you pretty much any urban rail or feature down in the city. But now he oversees snow programs for Woodward Park City, creating the same environment he had to search out in the city as a kid - but all self contained in a fabulous new indoor and outdoor facility right on I-80 between Salt Lake City and Park City.

Since opening for the 2019-20 season, Woodward has been a hit for locals and Utah visitors alike. It offers a crazy mountain park with a well-conceived progression of features, an indoor action sports hub and a tubing park. You can buy monthly or daily passes, then just reserve a session of your choice.

What really struck me about Woodward Park City was its welcoming atmosphere. If you've never been to a Woodward facility, you'll feel comfortable from the start. A start park will greet you when you walk onto the mountain. And up top, there's a right to left progression across the hill with everything from simple rollers and snow-level rail boxes, to 50-foot jumps and big rails.

The day Jeremy and I rode at Woodward, rising star Brock Crouch was in the house. Olympic champion Red Gerard had been there two days earlier before leaving for a film shoot. "All the pros are hitting me up to ride Park City," said Jones. "And I love it - I'm just 'yes, please come, test it out, tell me what you think, how can we make it better?'"

Jones told the story of a few days earlier when Crouch high-fived a group of campers on the hill. "This one kid was just - he got juiced up and he's like, 'hey, Brock, come watch this.' And he had that moment in front of one of the best professional competitive snowboarders. There's nothing more powerful than that experience. And, you know, that's just Woodward!"

What is Woodward's approach to sport?
When you walk in, you have start parks and progression parks and you can level up before you even get on the chair. You're going over rollers and berms and getting a carpet experience up the mountain. And so you learn gravity without having to get on a chair. And whether you have a lesson or you're just showing up, you can walk in there and start snowboarding in a totally safe environment. Every single hill and pitch in that is low enough grade and mellow enough and feeding you into the hill. There's nowhere for you to go. It's not a catcher's mitt. You're actually working against gravity. And we build it so that that's in your favor.

How have you integrated the stars of the sport at Woodward?
Red Gerard and Danny Davis - they're great snowboarders, the best there is - they're different generations. Danny has Peace Park, which is a really cool product, and he's built that up himself. It was really authentic and he wanted to share that with Woodward. We also piggybacked off Red's Colorado house where he has a little rail park at the back of their family home - Red's BKYD. We brought that in because people want that element of accessible snowboarding, how you can go in the streets, you can go in your backyard, you can set things up and then come to Woodward and experience it at a really refined level.

Your kids are teens now - what do you do together for family fun?
We snowboard together and skateboard together. And play music together, they're just kind of becoming my little friends. My son has challenged me. He's been into things that I was never into - traditional sports like lacrosse, basketball, football. And so I've been so grateful for him because he's taught me to tolerate that more than I ever did. And he's taught me to actually love it because I watched him fall in love and I watched him progress and I became the student and he enjoyed that.

There's plenty more in this episode of Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast.

• Jeremy's sport heroes growing up in Utah.
• How the sounds of a shopping mall inspired him as a kid.
• Of the dozens of films in which he's appeared, which is his favorite?
• Most renegade place he's ever ridden!

Take a listen today. Tune in to Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast presented by High West Distillery on your favorite podcast platform. Subscribe to get first access to every episode.

WOODWARD 411

Woodward Park City is one of a network of Woodward sport parks on mountains across America. It offers an innovative approach to sport for a new generation of ski and snowboard enthusiasts - locals and Utah visitors alike. Lessons, rental gear, food - it's all there.

What's Outside?
Beginners can kick off their experience in the magic-carpet-served Start Park. Off the Hot Laps Chairlift you'll find a right to left progression with multiple terrain parks, box and rail features, Peace Park, Red's BKYD and more. Oh, and don't forget the tubing hill!

What's Inside?
The indoor Action Sports Hub features 66,000 sq. ft. of fun with action sports concrete park, pump track, mini ramps, parkour zone, spring floor, Olympic grade trampolines and foam pits.

How to access Woodward? Visitors and locals can buy a membership or a daily pass, then reserve your session time for any of the facilities.

Where is Woodward?
Woodward Park City is located right on I-80 between Salt Lake City and Park City.