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Tonight, Friday, February 12, 2016, skiing is a major league sport. At least, it sure feels that way as I type away in the 5th story Press Box at the famed Fenway Park. Since 1912, the ballpark has served as the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city’s Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise; the team has clinched seven World Series titles inside these walls. Fenway is the oldest ballpark in MLB and for the first time in its 103-year history the venue just hosted a skiing contest. With an estimated 15,000 fans on-site, a world-class roster of skiers performing on a 140-foot-tall ski jump, a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner serving as a kick-off the big show and food vendors strolling about the stadium serving up “Hut dugs!” and “clam chow-dah!” one can’t help but regard skiing in a new light.
Heck, the athletes suited up for competition in the home team’s locker room. I had the opportunity to venture inside of the clubhouse myself, and I imagined Vincent Gagnier might have spilled Go-Gurt all over himself (yes, that happened at approximately 8:30 a.m. this morning) in the exact same spot where Red Sox heavy-hitter David Ortiz poured champagne on his head after helping the team earn titles in 2004, 2007 and 2013. The skiers strolled down the same tunnel that Sox players do on game days, emerging in the dug out and ascending the steps to field level; the hallway is painted with inspirational messages, including “We play for championships.” Walking down that dark tunnel towards the light is an experience that induced chills for more than a few of the skiers who competed today. It’s the ultimate walk of fame. And it’s just the type of thing that makes a skiing competition inside of Fenway Park that much more appealing to the athletes, the media, the fans… everyone.
Following a day’s worth of qualifying rounds, which saw 40 men and 20 women cut to 10 and six finalists per sex, respectively, darkness set in, the lights came on and a throng of Bostonians—many of them avid skiers—streamed into Fenway Park to witness skiing like they’d never seen it before. Consider this: The scaffolding-style jump—constructed by Snow Park Technologies in conjunction with the Fenway ground screw—rises nearly 15 stories above center field; skiers dropped into a 38-degree ramp and soared 50+ feet to landing that funnels to home plate; and a total of $150,000 was on the line, split between the skiers and the snowboarders (the latter competed on Thursday night). Collectively, it’s a recipe for top-notch competition and that’s exactly what the skiers served up. This place was loud tonight.
On the men’s side, Quebec’s own Vincent Gagnier took top honors. Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli and Jonas Hunziker rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively. On the ladies’ side, Germany’s Lisa Zimmerman earned first place honors; Swede Emma Dahlström earned second and Norwegian Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen finished third. (Find interviews & videos showcasing the action, below.)
‘Twas a nice payday for the winners. In addition to prize money, valuable points were on the line for the athletes; the Polartec Big Air at Fenway Park is a sanctioned U.S. Grand Prix, FIS World Cup and AFP World Tour Platinum Level event. It’s that prestige, in part, which helped propel this contest from an idea to reality.
“This is three and a half years in the making,” said Mike Jaquet, Chief Marketing Officer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. “Sam Kennedy, who’s President and CEO of the Red Sox, is a fraternity brother of one of my best friends from growing up. So, I had this connection with [him] and I actually knew Sam having worked at CBS Sports, too—so when I took this job [in 2012], I knew we wanted to do a stadium big air and I wanted to do it in a good market. [Boston] was the one place I wanted to be. Fenway Sports Management as a team are the people you want to be in business with, and I’ve had that experience through CBS, and so I asked them [about this contest], they said ‘No,’ and I asked again and they said ‘No,’ and then finally they started getting warm to it, probably about a year ago. After they started thinking more and more about it, the deal came together in about a month. I think they realized exactly what you see here—they realized this could be a really seminal moment for Fenway and that this can be something that they can brag about. They’re throwing the biggest and best stadium big air in the history of the sport, and they want to be attached to something like that. That’s the type of guys they are.”
And so it was that #BigAirFenway came to fruition, and an audience of 15,000—and by extension, tens of millions of viewers when you consider global broadcast distribution—was exposed to something spectacular.
“We’re introducing the sport in a great way, with a great experience, to brand new people” Jaquet told us. “[These people] will be motivated to participate in these sports, which is great for the whole industry. We’re treating these sports like America treats football, baseball, basketball… and that’s going to be great for the perception of these sports. [Viewers will] see skiing on a pedestal and they’ll see it through a lens that is the best expression of the sport to date. I’m totally convinced that it will create more skiers and snowboarders and create more interest in the sport and get people excited about it. Those are the things we’re supposed to be doing.”
Interviews
Video Highlights
Results — Polartec Big Air at Fenway Park
Women’s Top 6 @ Fenway
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Men’s Top 10 @ Fenway
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Related: Here’s everything you need to know about #BigAirFenway
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