Canada’s biggest snowboarding event kicks off this December in Edmonton.
Commonwealth Stadium will host the country’s first FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air “Stadium” from December 9-10.
The event is known as “The Style Experience” and Edmonton will be the first North American stop on the 2022/23 FIS World Tour – it is the only stadium snowboarding event in Canada.
In an announcement in the Commonwealth on Thursday morning, Canada Snowboard’s director of business operations outlined the setup.
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Brendan Matthews said the upper bowl and lower bowl seats in one corner of the stadium will be removed, and a scaffold jump will be built that will reach almost to the top.
“The athletes… will get into an elevator, walk across the concourse, walk up the stairs to the top and that’s where they’ll land. The ramp descends almost to the height of the goal posts of the football stadium,” explained Matthews.
“They do this massive jump, there’s a big gap that they fly over and then there’s a big landing that they land on that will go all the way down to field level.”
The goal is to create a family atmosphere throughout the afternoon and then at night, it will be more of a “party atmosphere” with music and concerts. The finals will be at night under the lights of the stadium after dark.
“We think there will be a big crowd here and we’re excited for Edmontonians to come see it,” Matthews said.
The goal for this year is 15,000 fans in the Commonwealth.
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“You have a huge football stadium here, so there’s really no limit to how many people we can have,” Matthews said.
“It would be a combination of the fans being in the seats and also going down the field.”
The event will showcase some of the world’s best snowboarders including three-time Olympic medalist Maxence Parrot, Olympic silver medalist Laurie Blouin and three-time Olympic medalist Mark McMorris.
“The stadium setup in Edmonton looks epic and it’s always amazing to compete in front of a huge Canadian crowd,” Blouin said in a press release.
“I am happy that there will be a Big Air event in Canada this year. I can’t wait to compete in front of all the fans and be a part of such an exciting new event.” said the parrot.
Parrot said it’s a huge leap for athletes. They get up to 30 feet of air and travel about 60 feet.
“We go high in the air, do flips on our snowboard…triple flips,” Parrot said. “It’s pretty impressive.”
In the press release, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said that Edmonton has a rich history of hosting major events and the FIS World Cup will be no exception.
“We look forward to showcasing Commonwealth Stadium, and our ability to think differently, by bringing snowboarding to an urban setting. Our city is a year-round hotspot, and events like this are important in showcasing Edmonton as a vibrant place to live and play. ”
The hope is that this will become an annual event in December.
Ticket sales, detailed schedules, and additional festival elements will be announced throughout the summer and fall.
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