DAREDEVILS IN TRAINING SNOWBOARDERS AND SKIERS GET RADICAL IN MAMMOTH.

Byline: Bill Becher Correspondent

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN - If you haven't been to this Eastern Sierra ski area lately, you'll find it's not your momma's mountain anymore.

The lifts and groomed slopes are still there, as are the mogul fields. But with the explosive growth of snowboarding, Mammoth and other ski areas have built terrain parks and half pipes that daredevils can jump, spin, slide and sometimes crash in.

``Who would have thought 10 years ago you'd be sticking a metal rail in the snow and bashing your brains on it for hours until you learn to slide on it?'' said Finlay Torrance, Mammoth Mountain's sports-school manager.

Mammoth is working to accommodate the freestyle and freeride end of the business.

Freestyle means doing tricks like spins, jumps and grabs - stuff you might see at an urban skateboard park or on the X-Games on TV.

Freeriding means staying away from the groomed runs. ``It's about finding the big bumps and the kickers and jumping off cliffs and saying, 'Wow, can you ski through those rocks?' '' said Torrance. ``And going, 'Yup, you can.'

``It's tactical skiing, as opposed to just going, `La-di-da, don't I look nice?' ''

Mike Guy, 28, who grew up surfing at Newport Beach, has traded in his surfboard for a snowboard. He said he loves the thrill of the terrain park and the danger of getting knocked out. ``I've (had) a couple concussions - nothing worse so far,'' he said.

Guy added, ``Mammoth has built the terrain park suited for all levels. You can get into it from the beginning and work you way up to the huge pro jump. (Even if) you're a beginner and going off the smallest jump in the park, you get the same thrill as a pro does going off a gigantic kicker.

``Getting up into the air, you keep wanting to go higher and higher.''

To help you survive the experience, Mammoth's sports school (it was known as the ski school before boarding took hold) teaches private lessons in freeride and freestyle snowboarding and skiing. But have your insurance card with you - more injuries occur in the terrain parks than on a cruise along a groomed run.

``It's such an intense activity, private lessons are the best,'' Torrance said.

You can save money by taking one of the early-bird one-hour lessons ($65). That's also the time of day that the terrain park and pipe are freshly groomed and easier to ride.

Mammoth also plans on offering multiday freeride and freestyle clinics in the future. ``The clinics would be about how to jump off cliffs, how to ski through rocks, ski in the park and pipe, do the cool stuff that everyone sees in magazines and on TV,'' said Torrance.

As terrain parks and pipes got bigger and bigger, skiers wondered if they had to throw away their skis and become snowboarders. Most have just headed into the park on their skis.

``The skiers have started doing all the stuff the snowboarders do,'' said Torrance. ``People should know that terrain parks are for everyone.''

As a result, ski equipment has become very specialized. For skiing freestyle in the terrain parks, twin-tipped skis are the way to go. They enable a skier to ski backward (``fakie,'' as the boarders call it) as easily as forward. Bindings are set a bit farther forward on freestyle skis - more in the middle of the ski - to make it easier to spin and land.

Freeride skis are sporting twin tips, too, though this is more of a fashion statement, according to Torrance. ``You don't generally ski backward in powder - at least not on purpose,'' he said.

Freestyle ski lessons start with learning to ski backward, which is a fundamental skill. When you spin and don't land right and end up going backward, it's ho-hum if you have this ability.

Torrance stresses keeping students in their comfort zone. After you've had some practice with skiing backward, it's on to making small jumps, then combining a jump with a spin to land backward in a ``180.''

Torrance said even intermediate skiers can learn tricks if they have the right mental attitude. Mammoth's best instructors teach freestyle and freeriding.

Torrance is keeping the group small for now to give students the best help and to avoid decimating the instructor ranks. Freestyle can be hazardous to your health, even for instructors, he said: ``We're trying to train our guys to use the terrain without breaking themselves.''

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Mammoth Mountain is about a six-hour drive from Los Angeles. There are a variety of condo and hotel accommodations available. Call [phone] for on-mountain accommodations or call Central Reservations of Mammoth, [phone]; www.mammothlakes.com. Mammoth snow conditions: www.mammothmountain.com. Road conditions: [phone].

EXTREME LESSONS: An hour-long private ski or snowboard early-bird lesson at 8:45 a.m. costs $65; other times it's $120. Two-hour afternoon ($130) and half-day ($295) lessons are also available. An all-day seven-hour private lesson costs $425. Lesson cost is for one to five people. When you call to make a reservation, be sure to specify that you want to concentrate on freestyle or freeriding, and be specific as to what you want to undertake so the school can match you with the appropriate instructor.

INFORMATION: [phone]; www.mammothmountain.com.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) no caption (man on a snowboard0

Photo by Bill Becher

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)