The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association's Polartec Big Air at Fenway Park event "is not just another stop on the World Cup tour," as organizers are "counting on the ballpark-turned-snow jump to attract new fans" to the sport, according to Shira Springer of the BOSTON GLOBE. The two-day event, which begins today, is an "invaluable marketing opportunity for snowboarding and freeskiing," though it will "be dramatically different from most ski and snowboard competitions." USSA Senior Dir of Events Eric Webster expects attendance be roughly 10 times the "average crowd for freeskiing and snowboarding events at mountain resorts." Webster "figures most of them will be watching Big Air live for the first time." He said, "Any chance we have to expose these sports to a larger audience, and an audience that wouldn't normally see these sports, is very appealing." Snowboarder Eric Beauchemin said, "When people see it in person in Boston, they're going to be like, 'This is crazy.' It's going to grow from there. Having it in big cities makes more people aware of the sport, gets people interested in following the sport." Springer noted Snowboarding Big Air will "make its Olympic debut" at the '18 PyeongChang Games. The requirements for "hosting a competition are simple: build a suitable jump and make snow." Five to eight Big Airs events are "staged in urban venues around the world" annually, and there have been events in Pasadena, Beijing, Istanbul, London, and Innsbruck. Fenway organizers "want to promote an overall vibe that reflects freeskiing and snowboarding culture." That is why the band American Authors will "perform after the skiing finals" tomorrow night. The crowd also will "see the film, 'The Sammy C Project,' which looks at freeskiing and snowboarding away from the competitive circuit" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/10).
LET'S GET TRICKY; In Boston, Steve Buckley writes fans "will want to get out" to the event whether or not they are "into skiing and/or snowboarding." Fenway is "tricked out as never before" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/11). U.S. skier Gus Kenworthy said, "The thing that's so cool about this one is that you're literally going to be landing at home plate. And there's going to be people in all of the seats around the stadium. That's something new to us. ... This is the first time it will be a true stadium feel. It's really cool." Kenworthy guaranteed that spectators sitting behind the backstop "will be sprayed with snow as boarders and skiers finish their runs" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/11).
BIG CROWDS EXPECTED: Organizers have sold more than 25,000 tickets to the event, clearing their sales target for the two-day event. “Based on daily sales this week, we're conservatively anticipating at least one thousand in pre-event sales per day for today and tomorrow,” spokesperson Keith Gainsboro said. Co-produced by Fenway Sports Management and the USSA, Big Air is the first ticketed urban venue for a USSA Grand Prix stop (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer).
