Denver is full of surprises, but watching freestyle skiers launch from high above and fly through the air in front of city hall is definitely a new one. Crowds inside and outside the admission area were having a great time watching the action and getting into the experience, with a high-energy concert to follow. Tomorrow, snowboarders will take the ramp and shred powder and air into the night. It really is a very strange sight for downtown!
By daytime, the structure is unusual but awkward, standing in the middle of the city where flowers and statues are the norm. According to the Metro Denver Sports Commission's website, the ramp is 101 feet high, 300 feet long and 80 feet wide. It seems bigger. When the nighttime comes and the lights reflect brightly off the snow, the experience is transforming and the giant ramp is all there is.
Standing near the Denver Art Museum's plaza shared with the Denver Public Library, the skiers and officials are tiny dots up high, just as they would be on a natural mountain. This mountain was built just for the occasion, though, and around are all sorts of people hanging out and watching, listening to the energetic announcer and watching the jumbo screen relaying video of the event. Lights are bright on the slopes (still, "slopes" and "downtown" just don't go together!) and a video crew is apparently capturing the event for later broadcast when it won't seem quite as surreal.
Correction--when one sees the skiers flying spinning through the air, that's another mind-bending experience, also a bit surreal. Freestyle skiing is amazing, gravity-defying athletics, and the snowboarding tomorrow is likely to be just as much or even more so. One person asked, "how do they practice?" There doesn't seem any sane way to learn to break free and gyrate high above the snow like that.
Watching the crowds, the benefit of bringing the event downtown was clear-everybody gets to join in the fun. Even though the mountains are not far away, there were plenty of people downtown, families and young urban professionals and other city residents who rarely, if ever, head up into the Rockies got a taste of the thrill that even spectators get at the slopes. It's personal, and a natural addition to Denver culture. For those who do ski and are stuck in the city, it's a special treat as well.
While there's some controversy about using public parks for paid admission events, this one is well balanced between the "VIP" access with tickets and the ability to just sit around the periphery and enjoy some awesome skiing, then take the bus home and be ready for work the next day. Sharing the park and the experience seemed to be working out quite well.
"Denver Sports - Denver Big Air", Metro Denver Sports Commission
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