Parks of seasons past: A 10/11 freestyle breakdown

The fall season is on the distant horizon and opening days are tailing in its wake.  Park managers only know what lies in store for us in this year's Vail Resorts terrain parks and our best guesses can only draw from the freestyle mastery of seasons past.  Here's a breakdown of last year's VR parks for those rats and adventurers wondering about their 11/12 freestyle options:

Keystone:  Keystone's huge segmented park was insanely fun and flowy with a constantly changing layout and bizarrely creative features.  Sectioned by feature size and full of sick lines, A51 was almost never crowded and the mini park was set aside for smooth, low pressure progression.  The Stone will be under new park management this year, so continuity of last year's insanity is not 100% guaranteed, but I've got high hopes.
9.5/10 Stars

Breckenridge:  Breck's 2011/12 Park Lane jumps were consistently smooth, poppy, and stacked for just the right amount of speed, and the massive Freeway kickers were just as precise, if not better.  A 22 foot pipe maintained from the Gatorade Free Flow tour was, quite simply, perfect.  The only drawback to Breck is the crowds; on the lifts, at the top of the park, and above features.  Props to the park crew, but not so much to the lift lines.
8/10 Stars

Vail:  There's no doubt that Golden Peak's pipes, three upper jump lines, and several other features were well built and maintained, but wide spacing and lack of fellow shredders most days dragged on the overall atmosphere. Bwana, beneath the gondola, had more of the flow we crave, but none of the length.  But with last year's record snowfall, no one can really be blamed for tumbleweeds rolling through the park.
8/10 Stars

Arapahoe Basin:  Treeline, Abay's upper park, had only three small jumps and four jib lines at the peak of the season, and High Divide was short and small, making Abay easy to forget.  But what made up for Abay's lack of options was the creativity and maintenance of the park crew, the lack of heavy crowds, and the fact that hitting both parks called for a long lap with trees, cliffs, and side hits to play on the whole way down.  Not to mention the whole open-on-the-fourth-of-July thing.
8.5/10 Stars

Beaver Creek: Starting at the top of Chair 8 Beaver Creek can take you on a 40 minute shred-venture with two parks, tons of hidden tree jibs, and secret pow stashes along the way.  During the 10/11 season, Zoom Room included features that were fun for most skill levels, and Rodeo stepped it up with some strange innovations and intimidating hits.  The Lumber Yard, formerly bridging the gap between Zoom Room and Rodeo, will be sorely missed, but BC's parks were well built and tons of fun.
9/10 Stars

Excitement for the coming winter is building, fueled by premier season and the startup of college clubs and teams.  A snowy release from a summer of sidewalk-rippling heat is exactly what we need.  So check your options, check your wallets, and bust out the funds for your sweet pass to snowy release.  The season will be here sooner than you think

~Sierra MP