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Your guide to soil shaping by The Groundsman An intoduction to the joys of building your own dirt park...
Now if you are lucky enough to have decent sized garden, which your parents don't mind you adding your own additions to or if have managed to get permission to build on someone else's land then you are more than half the way to getting your own dirt park to session with mates and practice as much shizzle as you want. Before we get too involved in all how-to's and what-for's there's something I have got to do which goes against my yeti heritage but unfortunately there are some blame-monger's out there, so sorry for wasting 30 seconds of your life. This article is not a complete guide or instruction book on how to build dirt jumps. It is just some advice from what me and my friends have learnt over the time we spend building jumps. Always ask permission from whoever owns the land. Dirt jumping is dangerous activity. So it is your responsibly to ensure you are wearing the right padding, have enough experience and have not built a jump which is dangerous. Always make sure you take a phone with you and try not to ride alone. Right now that bit's out the way we can get on with what I was going to write about in the first place, starting with the tools you are going to need. If you aren't lucky to have enough cash to hire a digger then you are going to have to plan to do everything by hand which is going to take a little longer. Actually thinking about it, even if you have a digger you are still going to need some hand tools for digging and shaping.
Right, now, if you have got a patch of ground sorted to build things and the tools to do it with all that's left is to start building! Well it's always best to do a bit of planning before you start. It doesn't matter whether you have enough space to build a few features or just one tabletop. You are still going to need make sure you have enough speed from the run-in for the jumps to work properly, if you haven't then you are going to have build roll in. Its also go idea to lay your park out so everything flows together nicely and if you've got the space and are feeling particularly creative a couple of lines is a definite bonus. With at least a good idea in your mind of how it's going to look it's time to get your crew together and start digging! One last piece of advice is if you are digging holes and pits to get soil then it is good idea to make sure they aren't around the area you plan on riding. There's nothing worse the than having to fill in holes you have dug when you building a new line, plus they make the place unsightly. It's much better to try and get the soil from a bank, pit or bomb hole which might already exist. If you haven't got a good place to get soil from then it's a good idea to try and dig the all the tracks and transitions into the ground. After all, you need make sure nothing is off camber anyway so you are going to have reshape the ground to fit the features. That's plenty to ponder for now, have fun planning your own mini fun-park! And remember, if you don't get permission, don't be surprised if it gets smashed to pieces and you're banned from mountainboarding forever!
words by Smilie, Nov 07
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