Few can claim to have shaped action sports more than Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson. Shaped in a literal sense, that is. Gunnarson and his company, Snow Park Technologies, have designed and built snow sport courses for nearly two decades. They’ve built the courses for every Winter X Games and Winter Dew Tour, and at countless resorts throughout the country. Nevada-based SPT recently expanded into event organizing and special projects, such as an event with snowboarder Shaun White that will bring snow sports to the Rose Bowl this month. Gunnarson stepped off the slopes for a conversation at this year’s X Games in Aspen with SportsBusiness Journal’s Mike Bebernes.
How long does it take to plan an event like the X Games?
GUNNARSON: Year in and year out, we literally start course design as early as the week after this X Games ends. It’s a really long planning process. It’s a mixing pot of physical realities, resources, the topography of the mountain, the space available and things like snow available, equipment, time and manpower. But all of that is really driven by the programming schedule.
How has course design changed over the years?
GUNNARSON: [The halfpipe] went from 12 foot to 15 foot to 17 foot to 18 foot to now 22 foot. … You don’t find that in traditional stick-and-ball sports. It’s not like basketball courts are getting bigger or NFL fields are getting larger or hockey rinks are getting bigger. We’re in a state of constant evolution with action sports. There’s a hand-in-glove relationship between the athletes driving the sport and crews like ours that build venues.
Do you ever get intimidated by having to build courses for athletes who keep going bigger and bigger in their
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Chris Gunnarson has built courses for nearly two decades.
Photo by: Snow Park Technologies |
tricks?
GUNNARSON: It’s massively inspiring to me. I’m the biggest fan of these sports and these athletes. They are driving these sports, and I just look at our job that we’re lucky to have as being responsible for creating the best fields of play for where these athletes are going.
Is there pressure to sacrifice the form of a course to make it look good on TV?
GUNNARSON: Aesthetics comes second to function. Slopestyle is a really good example of that. We put a lot of effort making sure it’s going to look awesome. You can see that in the shape of the jumps and in all of the signature features for rails and wall rides that are on the upper sections of the course. But that’s secondary to making sure it’s functional.
You’re an avid snowboarder yourself. Is it possible for someone from outside the action sports world to do what you do?
GUNNARSON: Everybody on our crew is a passionate snowboarder, skier, skateboarder, motocross racer, freestyler. We all have pretty deep knowledge and history in these sports. Could you train somebody to have an eye for some of this without any of that background? Possibly, but I don’t think that that type of person would have the relevance we have. Our connection to the athletes … is what I think is part of what makes the special sauce that our company has.
