BOSTON — If you’re wondering why there’s a massive ski jump in the middle of Fenway Park, we’re here to help.
Some of the world’s best skiers and snowboarders are in town this week for Big Air at Fenway Park, which kicked off Wednesday with a four-hour practice run. The main event begins Thursday with the snowboard qualifiers and finals, and it will continue Friday with the freeskiers.
As for the massive jump, it is manmade out of scaffolding and stands 140 feet tall. To put that into perspective, it would take just under four Green Monsters to match it, and it’s even higher than the light fixtures in the stadium.
Translation: It’s wicked tall. And human beings will go down it at almost 40 mph and launch high into the Boston skyline. So what’s not to like?
Don’t just take our word for it, though. Here’s 2014 Olympic slopestyle gold medalist Joss Christensen explaining the basics Wednesday at Big Air at Fenway media day.
“There are a few different approaches, especially hitting a scaffolding jump,” he said. “The snow’s a little bit different. Since we’re not in a mountainous environment, there’s a lot of manmade or mostly all manmade snow. … It’s a little icier and a little firmer. They can’t bring a snow cat up there, so packing it in, it’s just a bunch of hard workers side-stepping with their skis. So sometimes the snow can be soft in places and hard in places.
“So you have to be aware of that, especially with the landing. But the good part about jumps like these is the angles match up really well. … It’s pretty wild not to see trees and a lot of snow around you slopeside and see a 150-foot drop. But I went up to the top of the ramp yesterday, and I got a great 360-(degree) view of Boston, and it was pretty amazing.”
Christensen will be one of many Olympic medalists at the event. Joining him are Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy and bronze medalist Nick Goepper in the men’s ski competition, and silver medalist Devin Logan in women’s freeskiing. Snowboarders Jamie Anderson (Olympic gold medalist), Sage Kotsenburg (Olympic gold medalist) and Ty Walker (winner of the first-ever women’s Big Air event) also are scheduled to compete at Fenway.
How well they do depends on their jump height, tricks and their landing, which will be decided on a scale of 100 by the judges.
The practice and qualifying rounds will start around 8 a.m. ET Thursday and Friday, but if you’re going to the event, the gates will open at 6 p.m. That will give you plenty of time to find your seat and marvel at Fenway dressed as a winter wonderland before the finals practice begins at 7 p.m. You still can buy tickets here.
The main event is split into men’s and women’s competitions, and it will start around 8 p.m. The finals will be picked up on NBC Sports Network at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday and 9 p.m. on Friday, so you can see the spectacle for yourself on TV. It also will air Saturday at 5 p.m. on NBC.
Everything you need to know about the event can be found below:
Snowboard Big Air Finals
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
When: Thursday, 8 p.m. ET
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
Freeskiing Big Air Finals
Where: Fenway Park, Boston
When: Friday, 8 p.m. ET
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@fenwaypark
