Massive 483-foot snowboard jump built into side of Commonwealth Stadium

Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium has seen its share of world-class events.

From Grey Cups, FIFA World Cup matches, an NHL outdoor game and huge sold-out concerts, the football stadium has been at the heart of big moments in the city.

But it might not get much bigger than converting Commonwealth Stadium into a 147-foot-tall and 483-foot-long snowboard jump.

That’s what builders have been working on for the past three weeks.

It’s all for next month’s FIS Snowboard Big Air World Cup. Edmonton is the first stop on the tour – Dec. 9-10.

The snowboard ramp is being built into the southeast side of the bowl.

“We build these sort of jumps in the snow quite regularly, but you never get to build them in a stadium,” said Richard Hegarty, the major events specialist with Canada Snowboard.

“This, to my knowledge, is the largest scaffolding build ever in history.”

Hegarty says Edmonton was the “perfect fit” to host such an event.

“You have the largest outdoor stadium in Canada, it’s quite cold here this time of year, and it’s this time of year the Big Air happens,” he said. “So it’s quite the ideal location.”

It will be Canada’s first-ever stadium Big Air competition.

Thousands of hours of work

Project manager Scott Douglas, with Clark Builders, says it’s the most unique project he has ever worked on.

About 6,000 hours of work has gone into building the jump.

“We had to have the engineers involved from the beginning to look at the existing structure of the facility, to make sure it can handle the weight,” said Douglas. “And then specific engineers looking at the scaffold structure. Obviously it has weights, a lot of snow is going on it, so that’s been a bit of a challenge.

“We build buildings, and do interior renovations, but we are always up for the challenge for something unique like this.”

The building is nearly complete, though the safety netting still needs to be added.

Heather Seatter, the director at Commonwealth Stadium, says building a ski hill inside a stadium will allow more spectators to watch the event.

“At ski hills there can be anywhere from 5,000-8,000 people. We’re hoping between 10,000-15,000 people will be able to come to the stadium,” said Seatter. “There will be great opportunity, great spectator views that you might not necessarily get at a ski hill because of the seating that is available here at the stadium.

“This is something that you would have to travel to a ski hill in the mountains to see, and this is something in our own backyard, in our city in Edmonton, so we are really excited to be able to have spectators come out to watch these amazing athletes from all over the world.”

‘All of the best snowboarders will be here’

Canada is sending some of its biggest athletes to the event. Laurie Blouin, Mark McMorris, and Maxence Parrot will all be competing, showing off their best tricks.

Also there for Canada will be snowboarders Darcy Sharpe, Jasmine Baird, Nic Laframboise and Francis Jobin.

“All of the best snowboarders will be here,” said Hegarty. “Everyone you see in the Olympic games, everyone you see in the X-Games, all of the big names will be here.”

A 147-foot-tall and 483-foot-long snowboard jump built into the side of Commonwealth Stadium. (Credit: CityNews/Rod Maldaner)

Putting Edmonton on the map

Cindy Medynski, the director of sport and culture at Explore Edmonton, says the event has been four years in the making.

“We have not slowed down, even through the pandemic,” she said. “It just shows our perseverance and how we want to place Edmonton on a map.”

Medynski says it means a lot that Edmonton was chosen – of all places in the world.

“I think the more mentions we can get nationally and internationally, the better we position our city for more events like this, and for people to visit, not only for major sporting events, but as the everyday leisure travel,” said Medynski. “So it’s huge for us to get that exposure.

“It means Edmonton punches above its weight and we show up and think outside the box.”