The next project for Olympian Shaun White will be converting the Rose Bowl into a world-class snowboarding venue. Shaun White Enterprises in January bought a majority stake in Air & Style, an action sports and lifestyle event. Now, as the property’s owner, White will bring the event to the U.S. next year for the first time in its 21-year history. The dates are Feb. 21-22 in Pasadena, at a time when, historically, the average temperature is 70 degrees in Southern California. The centerpiece of the event will be a 16-story ramp set up outside the Rose Bowl for the snowboarding and skiing competition. White said, “It’s such an iconic place. It took some convincing on our part to the city of Pasadena to explain what it’s going to look like. They were fearful that it was just going to be a music festival.” The 28-year-old White described Air & Style as a “grouping of youth culture” extending to the arts, fashion, food and tech, as well as sports and music. His vision is to expand the event in future years to other markets beyond current sites in Innsbruck, Austria, and Beijing. The action sports component is the main attraction. Consultant Jim Steeg, who was hired by the Rose Bowl to advise on the event, noted there will be 32 competitors split evenly among some of the top pros in snowboarding and skiing. Eight snowboarders will be invited to compete and the other eight will qualify from the two earlier Air & Style events. Steeg, who previously was the NFL's point man on production for the Super Bowl, said the Association of Free Skiing Professionals has designated Pasadena as a platinum event, ensuring top pros’ participation.
MUSIC ELEMENT: In addition to the competitions, there will be skateboarding and BMX exhibitions, plus a kids zone with an emphasis on snowboarding, and displays tied to fashion, technology, gaming and art. Steeg said the cost to produce Air & Style is in the mid-seven figures. Nightly concerts inside the stadium will showcase national acts, booked by Live Nation, WME and CAA. Ticket prices are $139 and $189 for the two-day event. Steeg noted the high-end cost includes access to the field for the two concerts. Separately, Legends Global Sales is selling the stadium’s suites and club seats. Sodexo and the Legends-Wolfgang Puck joint venture will run concessions inside and outside the Rose Bowl, supplemented by several food trucks.
SNOW MEN: To pull the whole thing off, Shaun White Enterprises hired Snow Park Technologies (SPT), the designer and builder of snowboard courses for ESPN’s Winter X Games and many other action sports venues, to construct a massive ski ramp on 19 acres of green space in front of the stadium. SPT President Chris Gunnarson said he has known White since the snowboard whiz was 6 years old and they were both hanging around Big Bear Mountain in California, where Gunnarson serves as the resort’s Dir of Snowboarding. The two have worked together on past events and traveled to Beijing two years ago to experience Air & Style. In the foothills of Pasadena, SPT will put its expertise to the test in warm-weather conditions to produce enough artificial snow to build and maintain a 24-inch base over the course of three days, including a Friday practice run before the weekend competition. To form snow, work crews will crush large blocks of ice into a fine, snowlike material, which is then fed into a giant snow blower and scattered onto the ramp. Gunnarson said a crane will be used to help distribute the snow on the structure’s higher elevations, and production crews will hand shape the base near the top of the ramp. SPT will spend two weeks building the 450-foot-long ramp. To put its dimensions in perspective, Steeg noted the ramp will rise 60 feet above the top of the stadium press box and will be visible to motorists traveling along nearby Interstate 210. Outdoor events designed for winter sports are not unprecedented at California venues. Air & Style follows this year’s Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game at Dodger Stadium in January. Seven years ago, the MLB Giants booked the Icer Air ski jumping event inside AT&T Park. Rose Bowl CEO & GM Darryl Dunn said, "It’s amazing how these winter events are getting people interested in warm-weather locations. I guess if they can play a hockey game at Dodger Stadium, we can do snowboarding at the Rose Bowl.”
