{"id":1946376,"date":"2026-05-21T01:14:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946376"},"modified":"2026-05-21T01:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:14:48","slug":"palisades-tahoe-ca-report-throwing-an-old-school-d-spin-720o-in-the-terrain-park-at-age-48","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1946376","title":{"rendered":"Palisades Tahoe, CA, Report: Throwing an Old School D-Spin 720\u00ba in the Terrain Park at Age 48"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Report from May 19, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

I drove to Palisades Tahoe, CA, from Mammoth Lakes, CA, on Sunday evening.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I dropped my wife off at the Reno airport on the way, but the real goal was to get the D-Spin 720\u00b0.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t like the one jump Mammoth had left and I knew the one at Palisades was money.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gold Coast. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve been doing this trick since 2004, when Matt Brogan forced me to do it in the Squaw park.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For some reason, it clung to my brain and I\u2019ve been able to do it every year since (barring two injury years: 2013 and 2015).<\/strong><\/p>\n

But I hadn\u2019t done one yet this year\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yosemite. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My goal with this trick was to copy legend Mike Douglas (whom the trick is named after) and keep landing it until I was 40.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then Mike did it at 52 and I\u2019m trying to keep up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see\u2026 To be clear, I was terrified to do this trick yesterday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Palisades. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Alex Ferreira told me on our podcast<\/a> that he does affirmations that helped him win the Olympic gold medal this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I tried it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 100 times that morning before the jump, I said, \u201cI, Miles Clark, will land a D-Spin 720\u00b0 today.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it worked\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mono Lake. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got into the park and went through my normal progression: 2 straight airs, 2 360\u00b0s, 2 backflips, then the D-Spin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An east wind made things dicey, and I almost walked away.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At my age, I try not to force anything anymore, but for some reason, I decided to force it that day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gold Coast park. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I knuckled the first straight air then greased the second one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then the park crew came out to refresh the jumps \u2013 four laps of waiting\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mojo gone\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tahoe. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I started again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Straight air to the knuckle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

360 to the knuckle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rescue boat on Gold Coast. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another 360 to the knuckle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That damn east wind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this point, I\u2019d knuckled 4 of 5 jump attempts \u2013 no bueno.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But I kept forcing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Miles post Lake Tahoe dip. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I started skating in and tucking the in-run.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I landed way too deep on the first backflip and barely pulled it off.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second backflip was right in the money spot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fingers. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was so nervous, but I knew it was time to go for the D-Spin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I usually take my time and visualize everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This time I didn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bloody. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I heard a kid giving advice to another kid: \u201cJust go for it and don\u2019t think about it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I did.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right then, I skated off and tucked.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flamingos. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I know that for the D-Spin, I need extra speed because the trick slows you down in the air, and you lose distance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I threw it slowly, knowing the jump was on the bigger side.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It felt weird but clean as I set it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

East shore Lake Tahoe. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next thing I knew, I was just clearing the knuckle and landing ever so smoothly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hooted and hooted and threw a spread eagle off the next knuckle and looked like a total kook.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So much is wrapped up in this trick for me and it scares me half to death.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rail. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I went back up for another, but the wind was even stronger and it was easy to say no and head home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I packed up quickly, jumped in the car, and headed south to Mammoth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I made a quick stop at Moondunes Beach on the north shore of Lake Tahoe and jumped in.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cows! Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The water was cold and lovely.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I felt alive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The drive to Mammoth down the \u201cIce Cream Highway\u201d was green, lush, and superb.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Backy. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Palisades Tahoe is open until May 24th, and when I was there, the skiing was great because of a cold wind on both Gold Coast and Shirley.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This one is for Bernie.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for the great late-season park, Palisades Tahoe, and thanks, California!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photos in Chronological Order<\/span><\/h2>\n
Funitel. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Chute 75 on KT-22 goes! Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Broken Arrow. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Olympic Valley. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Siberia. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Shirley Lake. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Roof. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
KT-22 West Face. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Backflip. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
KT-22. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Fingers. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Tram Rock. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Lake Tahoe. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Tahoe. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jobs Peak, Carson Valley, NV. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Topaz Lake, NV\/CA. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Dunderberg Peak. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bridgeport meadows. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Sawtooth Ridge. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bridgeport. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bridgeport. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bridgeport gas price highest on Earth? Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Dunderberg Peak. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Dunderberg. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mono Lake and Bloody Mountain. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bloody Mountain and friends. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mt Lewis. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mt. Wood. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
June Lake ski resort. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mt. Wood. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Volcano. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bloody Mountain. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Mammoth Mountain. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Report from May 19, 2026 I drove to Palisades Tahoe, CA, from Mammoth Lakes, CA, on Sunday evening. I dropped my wife off at the Reno airport on the way, but the real goal was to get the D-Spin 720\u00b0. I didn\u2019t like the one jump Mammoth had left and I knew the one at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,267],"class_list":["post-1946376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-snowbrains-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1946376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1946376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1946376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1946376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}