Courtesy of Fenway Park
A fisheye view from the top of the 140-foot big air ramp looking down over the city of Boston. Killington snowmakers operated high-powered snow guns inside Fenway Park this past weekend, coating the ramp with about one foot of snow and adding two feet of snow depth in the landing area.
Snow guns fire at Fenway
BOSTON—Killington Resort took its snow on the road to Boston for Polartec Big Air at Fenway, Feb. 11-12.
Terrain park staff from Killington were on hand helping to maintain snow surfaces throughout the two nights of big air snowboarding and freeskiing at the U.S. Grand Prix tour event hosted by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Fenway Sports Management (FSM).
As a snowmaking pioneer, Killington was a natural fit to assist with Polartec Big Air at Fenway, bringing decades of snowmaking and snow surface management experience to this one of a kind event.
“Polartec Big Air at Fenway is a truly unique and exciting event, and the Killington team is thrilled to contribute the core ingredient–snow—to what is sure to be a memorable competition,” said Michael Joseph, communications manager for Killington Resort, before the event. “It’s a huge undertaking for all involved, and the Killington team has spent significant time planning and coordinating logistics with USSA and Fenway Park over the past few months to make sure we’ll be successful.”
Killington snowmakers operated high-powered snow guns inside Fenway Park this past weekend, coating the 140-foot big air ramp with about one foot of snow and adding two feet of snow depth in the landing area. In “big air,” snowboarders and skiers do a single trick in the air after launching from a ramp similar to those seen on slopestyle courses.
The snowmakers worked for over a week to prepare the big air venue. USSA also arranged for up to 700 tons of crushed ice to be delivered as a backup for snowmaking, if the temperatures didn’t cooperate, but the Killington team lucked out, with cold nights making for prime snowmaking conditions.
As a U.S. Grand Prix and part of the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) World Cup tour, Big Air at Fenway brought in many of the top big air competitors, including 2014 Olympic gold medalists Jamie Anderson, Joss Christensen and Sage Kotsenburg; 2014 Olympic silver medalists Gus Kenworthy, Stale Sandbech and Devin Logan; Air + Style winner from Japan Yuki Kadono; and Vermont native Ty Walker.
