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was about progression and giving people of all ages some- papers, including a 360-degree video segment produced by the
thing to do to push their limits,” said Human Movement’s Summit Daily News for an online feature.
founder, Jeff Suffolk. “We wanted to challenge spatial The partnership between Human Movement, Woodward
awareness, be in the ninja space, and do something cool in Copper, and Copper Mountain is an inspired bit of synergy
a way that’s never been done.” for parent company POWDR Adventure Lifestyle Co. The
Human Movement developed 21 different obstacle resort group acquired Copper Mountain in 2009, Camp
features for the WreckTangle and ultimately used 10 of them Woodward in 2011, and Human Movement in 2015. The
for the build at Copper Mountain. The rectangular structure, next Woodward WreckTangle course is being built for the
weighing about 7 tons, is 16 feet tall with a footprint of 110 newly opened Woodward Riviera Maya in Mexico, and
by 50 feet. the plan is to eventually bring the concept to the other
“We went with a modular design so that we can change Woodward locations and some or all of the POWDR-owned
up the obstacles any time we want to,” Suffolk said. “It was resorts, Suffolk said. He envisions international competitions
originally designed with the Woodward campers in mind, with ninja racers comparing times on identical courses at
but we quickly realized that we could make some small different locations, then meeting up for big championship
tweaks and make it pretty kid-friendly, and also plenty chal- events. That said, his team is also inspired by the more casual
lenging for adults—which meant it could also complement way that participants of all ages and ability levels are using
a program of family activities that keep people visiting the modern skateparks.
mountains in the summer.” “We knew we wanted to make it competitive—some-
Copper Mountain opened the WreckTangle course in thing people can race against each other on if they want
June, offering two-run passes for $15, full-day passes for to—but we also wanted it to foster something more akin to
$49, and season passes for $249. Participants of Woodward a skatepark session, where people can just hang out and try
Copper’s summer camps (which cater to skiers, snowboarders, new things and test themselves,” he said.
skateboarders, cheerleaders, and BMX and mountain bike and Different operational modes throughout the day are
scooter riders) also get to experience the WreckTangle during designed to provide those options. From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
their camp week. To close out its inaugural season, Woodward is Time Trials Mode, with one participant on the course
held the WreckTangle Championship race in mid-September at a time racing against the clock. (Suffolk said the fastest
with more than 50 participants. recorded course times are just over one minute, which is
According to Taylor Prather, public relations manager about three times faster than my kids and I were estimating.)
at Copper Mountain, the WreckTangle has helped diversify The 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. session, which we attended, is Practice
Copper’s summer activities. The course was at the center of Mode, with up to 10 participants allowed on the course,
the resort’s summer social media and marketing campaigns, the time-keeping system disabled, and a staff coach on duty
garnering coverage from TV stations, magazines, and news- to help people hone their techniques for each obstacle. The

42 | NSAA JOURNAL | EARLY WINTER 2017