Ski Ramp (Giant Snow Ramp v.2)

This is the Giant Snow Ramp version 2. Since last year where I live we got record snowfalls so we had tons of snow to work with and was able to build up a ramp purely out of snow (link here). So this year I'm not expecting to have that much snow so to continue to ski off my roof I decided that I would build most of the ramp out of wood and build a frame. Although this version of the Giant Snow Ramp isn't free it does take away lots of the labor involved with piling up two tons of snow.

Don't be dumb and use common sense your going to be skiing off a roof.

Step 1 Materials

This project requires quite a bit of lumber 112 feet of 2x4's to be exact and two sheets of 5/8 inch 4x8 foot ply wood and a box of 3 inch wood screws. Heres a list.
Materials:
7 - 2x4x16 (requires a big car)
2 - 5/8 inch 4x8 ply wood sheets
10 - 1x2x8
A few extra 2x4x8's for extra support
lots of - 3 inch wood screws
3/4 to a gallon of outdoor paint

Tools:
Chop saw / miter saw
Circular saw
Marker or pencil
Protractor
Tape measurer
Drill and Impact driver
Hammer
Paint brushes and rollers

Comments

[pie popper]

niiiice...I should try this... the only problem, is we don't have any snow. Oh, and the fact that I live in a domehome might make some complications....

Anyway, thanks for sharing! :D

[pyrogreasemonkey]

might be cheaper to go to a real ski hill than all those materials. and much longer runs!

[Evan2010]

It only cost about 20 bucks at most, the price of a ski ticket around here

[Owlgirl]

WOW!! THAT IS AWESOME!!!!

[Evan2010]

finally someone agrees with me, cough DallasDeckard cough cough

[duckef]

if he wants to ski off his roof let him it's his roof anyways

[justinlamoureux]

I have built one very similar to this but it was coming off of a large play structure. Instead of the horizontal slats, I stapled some cheap carpet onto the ramp to allow the snow to stick to it.
Salt!!!! Add salt to your snow to go faster. It helps compact and ice up the ramp. It may stunt or kill the grass at the base of the ramp though.

[DallasDeckard]

Not only is this highly dangerous, but it's also not good for the roof. A house roof is not made for skiing on or off of, and it's not designed to handle the weight of all that ice and snow and a SKIER! It doesn't take that much banging and clanging around up there to create tears in the tar paper, which will then lead to leaks in your roof. Not to mention the stress on the rafters and rafter tails from all that weight. YouTube is full of videos of people caving their roof in doing such things.

[Evan2010]

Im pretty sure I'm fine last year we had a five foot drift of snow across the whole roof... I don't think I'm that fat

[DallasDeckard]

Haha, well it's not about you being "fat", it's about stacking snow on your roof, with wood for the "gate" up there (or whatever you called it) and then people traipsing on the roof and skiing off of it. A house roof simply isn't made for people to ski off of. A roof is 2x material with 3/4" (or 1/2") plywood nailed on and a thin layer of tar paper and shingles. That is simply not the kind of thing you want to be stacking tons of snow, with multiple people climbing up there and skiing off of it. A house roof is designed to support the roof, and a moderate amount of snow - distributed evenly across the entire surface - for a short period of time. It is not designed for people to turn it into a ski ramp, and put that kind of pressure on one small area for an extended amount of time.

As I read this instructable, I imagined that you are probably the teenaged son of a single mother, because I can't imagine any father allowing this (considering he's the guy that has to fix it) and no grown man would do something like this to his own roof. How far off am I?

[Evan2010]

As I read your comment, I imagined that you are probably a middle aged man livening in his parents basement criticizing every "dangerous" or fun instructable or video (otherwise known as a troll), as you never went out and did anything dangerous and had fun doing it when you were a teenager. How far off am I?

Also when building this I am taking all the snow off the roof, so the only weight on the roof is me (130 lbs) and the starting gate (15 lbs).

[DallasDeckard]

Nope, you're way off. I'm 50-years-old, married for 25 years with two teenaged sons. My parents live in another state. Also, check my comment history, this is the first time I've ever said something was "dangerous" and my comment was less about the danger, and more about the damage to the roof (of which you obviously don't care).

Okay, I answered you, now, how close was I?

[Ace Frahm]

OMG, Please, please please do not use this thing, especially with an unstable "ski bike". There is NOTHING stopping you from falling off the sides of this ramp near the rooftop, which will be EVEN WORSE than simply falling off the roof. You'll be falling off a roof ONTO A SKI BIKE.

The groin damage alone could kill you in the most horrific fashion.
Even worse, YOU MIGHT LIVE.

Not to mention, there's nothing stopping you from simply falling off the roof itself.

[Evan2010]

I think ill be fine

[DallasDeckard]

Famous last words. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what Custer said when he went on Indian land looking for gold... "I think I'll be fine".

[Evan2010]

I try to think that ill "go out in style."

[fuhgawz500]

We used to make ramps off our roof... but that was in Alaska so we didn't need a structure, we just kept piling our snow from the driveway in one spot. Great idea for people who don't get much snowfall!

[cincymikeb]

Don't be dumb and use common sense your going to be skiing off a roof.

classic.

[Ricardo Furioso]

Can you do an instructable on your bike hanger/rack please? We have no snow here, but lots of bikes. Thanks. Ricardo

[mikeasaurus]

Love it!

Where's the video of you doing sweet jumps off the ramp I imagine you've built just out of picture frame?

[shootfilm]

No kidding! This is cool and all, but I want to see video!

[Evan2010]

soon