Snowboarding and Skiing at SunTrust Park

[boredtoo]

The article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle reads:

"The Atlanta Braves announced Thursday night that SunTrust Park will be the first host site of U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s new ‘Visa Big Air’ series, set to debut on Dec. 20-21.

Longtime Olympic sponsor Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced an eight-year partnership extension earlier this year — an agreement that included naming rights to this new series, which will bring big air competition to major stadiums every December.

This two-day winter sports event, which is sanctioned by FIS Snowboard World Cup, will feature some of the top international talent in big air competition and will be aired live on NBC Sports, a broadcast network owned by parent company Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA).

“This is going to be one of the coolest events ever to come to Atlanta,” Braves president and CEO Derek Schiller said.

During the event, competitors will shoot down a 15-story tall scaffold ramp. The participating athletes will drop into a 40-degree in-run before launching themselves up to 70 feet in the air and landing near home plate. The competition is judged on difficulty, variety and execution.

“These events are (also) giant parties,” Schiller added. “There’s a DJ, music is a part of it. It’s just a lot of fun. It’s that time of year where college kids and others are back in town. It’s right before Christmas, so everybody is going to be in that holiday spirit. They’re going to be thinking about snow. It may not be snowing in Atlanta, but it will be at SunTrust Park.”

Five to seven inches of snow will be created using nitrogen and the technology necessary to support this big air event. Schiller said this kind of event first caught his eye in 2016 when the Red Sox hosted the "Polartec Big Air at Fenway," which was a part of the U.S. Grand Prix Tour.

“The opportunity for [U.S. Ski and Snowboard] to expose their sport to a community and region in the Southeast, and you put that in a destination like SunTrust Park and The Battery, we think it’s a home run on skies," Schiller said. "… We hope this event makes money, but at the end of the day this event is going to drive a lot of unique eyeballs and people here. People who might have never been to SunTrust Park or The Battery will be exposed to this.”

Tickets can be purchased on the Braves’ website."

[theKENDOG]

I guess if they can have a big air event in Los Angeles it's feasible to have one in Atlanta.

[marzski]

When Big Air was in Fenway, it was February and plenty cold.



Sounds like they will be using a Snow Factory. The snow is made inside a container so outdoor temperatures are less of an issue.

[marzski]

Stone Mountain has had a snow tubing and play area for a while. Opens mid-November. If professional ice hockey can be transplanted to Raleigh, might as well look for new fans in Atlanta for big air snowboard tricks.

https://www.stonemountainpark.com/Events/Snow-Mountain