Edmonton to host biggest snowboarding event in Canada
Commonwealth Stadium will be getting much more snow than the rest of the city this week as it prepares to welcome the world's best snowboarders.
Edmonton will host the first ever FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup to be held in a stadium. And to do it, the venue is building the biggest stadium snowboard jump in history using more than 1,200 cubic meters of snow.
"[It's a] pretty unique thing to do," said Richard Hegarty, major event specialist for Canada Snowboard. "We build these kinds of jumps on snow quite regularly, but you never get to build them in a stadium."
"This, to my knowledge, is the largest scaffolding build ever built in history."
The Big Air World Cup event, titled The Style Experience, will take place Dec. 9 and 10. It's a qualifier for the Olympics and the first North American stop of the 2022-2023 FIS World Cup season.
Hegarty said Canada Snowboard scouted locations across the country, choosing Edmonton because it's home to the largest outdoor stadium in Canada and it's cold enough in December for a winter sport event.
"It's probably easier here than it would be anywhere else in the world, so it's ideal," Hegarty said, adding that Commonwealth Stadium's layout made it the perfect spot to build the 147-foot-tall and 483-foot-long jump.
Construction of the ramp began Nov. 7 and will take around 6,000 hours in total. The snow to cover the ramp is being made at Rabbit Hill and trucked in.
Construction of the ramp for the FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup began Nov. 7 and will take around 6,000 hours in total. (John Hanson/CTV News Edmonton)Unlike other snowboarding venues, the stadium seating offers multiple viewpoints that snowboarding spectators don't usually get, said Commonwealth Stadium director Heather Seutter.
"You don't have to travel to the ski hill, and you'll probably get one of the best spectator experiences to be able to see the athletes competing live," Seutter said.
The qualifiers on Dec. 9 won't be open to the public, but Suetter said the stadium is hoping to sell 10,000 to 15,000 tickets for the finals on the afternoon of Dec. 10.
"I think Edmontonians and visitors are really going to respond well to just how unique this event is and how we've repurposed the stadium into a mountain essentially," said Cindy Medynski, director of sport and culture at Explore Edmonton.
Medynski hopes the competition will become a regular event at the Commonwealth Stadium and said the international coverage will bring in visitors and show the world what Edmonton has to offer as a host city.
"It's huge for us to get that exposure," she said. "I think [being chosen] means that Edmonton punches above its weight, and we show up and we think outside the box."
Tickets start at $31.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Joe Scarpelli
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.