Gateway Parks Bring Snowboarding to the City
With years as a pro snowboarder, event planner and course builder under his belt, Ryan Neptune set out on his most lofty proposition yet: To own and operate a ski area. But with a little research, he quickly realized his plan had some flaws. “As I built a business plan around purchasing a ski resort, I found that it didn’t make economic sense in any world. If I wanted to purchase a ski resort, I would be one of the biggest fools, ever,” he said.
So instead, Ryan set out to create a neighborhood snowboarding experience. Inexpensive, accessible and with a little something for everyone. Gateway parks was born. The idea behind Gateway Parks is simple. Turn unassuming hills in city parks into legit, maintained and lift accessed snowboard parks that anyone can enjoy. To be an ideal location for a Gateway Park, a city just needs to have low enough winter temperatures, as the snow they use is mostly manmade.
“In any city, the largest land owner is generally Parks and Rec, so we work with the cities to find a location. It’s an opportunity to use land that would otherwise sit vacant in the winter months, so most cities are excited by the possibility.” With close proximity to population centers, these parks are not just for the established park rat. In fact, the facilities are also designed for learning. To make them even more so, Gateway partnered with Mervin Manufacturing and Windells to complete the experience. Mervin provides all the rental equipment – high quality snowboards and skis designed to make the learning experience a pleasant one, and Windells provides world class coaching. And if you’ve never skied or snowboarded before, the entire cost to get started is just $10 a day. In the frigid wasteland that is Lansing, Michigan, the first Gateway Park, Hawk Island Snow Park, has been bustling for two seasons now. Don’t be fooled by the 80′ of vertical, this place actually has a little something for everyone. 
Hawk Island awaits you. Photo: Michigan Boarder
“The crew there is really dedicated, and some real talented riders, so the builds tend to be more on the upper intermediate to advanced stuff,” Michigan boarder and blogger David Zemens said. “Sometimes it’s a bit intimidating, but damn if it doesn’t make you a better rider for it. I mean there’s always a few beginner features, but who wants to just keep lapping a ride-on rainbow?? Not this guy.” And it’s not always just the same park, either. “We can change the park overnight,” Neptune explained. “It only takes a few hours of cat time. Mountains don’t have that opportunity because they have so much space to maintain. Kids are mind blown when they come back day after day and it’s a whole new park.”
The second Gateway park opened this winter in Eagle, Idaho, right outside of Boise. Upon approval of the project, Gateway had set up the snowboard facility, including a magic carpet, within a matter of weeks. And they’re not done yet, the full facility will include a cable wake park, mountain bike trails and more. 
Eagle Island, open for fun! Photo: Idaho Statesman In addition to giving the locals something productive to do with their time, Gateway parks stand to help the snowboard industry as a whole, getting more people hooked on the sport. “If you give people the best gear and the best coaching and give them a place with an ideal set up, there’s no way they won’t be into it. ” Gateway Parks is currently at work on a third facility in Rockford, IL and is looking at other locations in cold cities such as Brooklyn. If a town is interested in getting its own facilities, all they have to do is contact Ryan at http://gatewayparks.com/.
legit, hope to see more of those in the future.
Bring one to Atlanta.. that’d be awesome.
That would make going to grad school there more bearable….
finally people giving back to the snowboard community and making a serious change in the game
it’s about damn time someone finally made this happen! so rad. i would snowboard 1000 times more if there was one of these in Burlington.
Brooklyn will be tough…NYC parks are dicks, and there’s only a couple decent hills like Fort Greene and Prospect Park. Which i doublt they’d let happen judging by how they treat snowboarders now. But godamn that’d be the shit if they did it!
We could seriously use one of these in the Black Hills of South Dakota! There are some small mountains here but the resorts never put any focus on terrain parks
Hawk Island is seriously so cool. I was there Saturday and everything is always set up properly. The people who work there are really cool too. They asked if they could add anything to the park and they set up a prime downrail ready to hit in under 30 min. Good set ups + good people = a great park with the great vibes.
Buffalo, NY would be prime
if you bring dat shit zone 6 you finna fucked nigga we out heya selling bricks and u cum to mah zone you get shot, stay da fuck from da trap ya here?
Will?
Couple more hawk island edits here if any of you guys are interested:
http://vimeo.com/m/62972895
http://vimeo.com/m/87468114
http://vimeo.com/m/63867953
Rapid City south Dakota would be the perfect place for a gateway park! theres plenty of shit rat snowboarders but theyve never understood the true enjoyment of a tow rope park
COME TO NYC PLEASE!
Dj is that you? HI Dj
rapid city south dakota can kiss my ass
Knoxville, Tennessee needs one of these badly. Plenty of riders and cold temps.
No, not that faggot ass kid Will. Im going to rape you DJ Shaw
And the nearest resort is an hour and a half away
wadethmoas69
your ass is grass pal!
wadethmoas69
we be fucking everything from cows to granite rocks out here in south dakota hurr durr and we need a new hobby
come over to edge sports for a nice happy ending!
So true… ????????????????????????
Knoxville Tennessee
Bring this shit to Chicago already
SALT LAKE CITY PLEASE.
this place also stays open until every single bit of snow is gone so thats great
that dude Jeff is a mark ass buster
san jose, california
Tampa, Fl.
was that a #rare kent leng opener or am i just faded as hell
Looks like elm creek. By those standards we already have a community snow park in mn. How bout all free, natural snow and set up and groom yourself? Dunn County style, you feel?
AND I’M THE MOWER
Is that what y’all doin out thur yung man?! Best be gettin home now, I finna cut a switch and tan that b’hind lil goo goo baby.
Yo let’s get one in Sugar House park, Salt Lake City!
Minneapolis already has 2, Hyland and Elm Creek.
Man MN is awesome
I SECOND THE SUGARHOUSE IDEA.
Too bad hawks getting shut down, worst day of my life figuring that out.