All Photos: Chris Segal, Courtesy of Sugar Bowl Resort
On February 21, Sugar Bowl Resort held the official launch social gathering for his or her new set of terrain parks, and belief us once we let you know this debut was nicely definitely worth the hype. The brand new parks embrace a plethora of rails and jib options, in addition to three completely different leap traces with small, medium, massive and XL kickers starting from 25 – 65 toes.
Famend for its flowing freeride terrain, Sugar Bowl has by no means been broadly considered a resort with a vibrant freestyle scene. However all that’s quickly altering, as these new builds have thrown the ski space to the entrance of the pack for artistic {and professional} parks in North America.
For Sugar Bowl, it has been removed from a fast journey to get right here. Like all good issues, creating these new parks took time and meticulous planning. CEO Bridget Legnavsky was a driving power behind the brand new endeavor. After forging a freestyle mecca at New Zealand’s Cardrona Resort, Legnavsky turned her sights to North America the place she’s already making huge waves in simply her third 12 months with Sugar Bowl.
“We’re offering freestyle athletes with a extremely personalized coaching facility that provides them the flexibility to develop their expertise at each degree,” Legnavsky mentioned on the launch social gathering. “From high-level teaching to coaching amenities, these athletes have entry to what they should grasp their sport whether or not they’re a rookie simply beginning out, to a pro-level athlete competing on the worldwide stage.”
The challenge was assisted by a few of the greatest park shapers on the planet, together with Brandon Dodds, Mike Schipani, Charles Beckinsale and Steve Petrie. Every of them brings a long time of expertise constructing, designing and sustaining freestyle terrain and high-profile slopestyle programs for occasions just like the Olympics, X Video games and Dew Tour.
The brand new parks mark a stark flip for Sugar Bowl, and present that the resort is clearly listening to its athletes and group. Many massive resorts that was once identified for his or her freestyle prowess have now light into the background, placing their price range into different endeavors and shifting advertising funds to completely different crowds.
However because the outdated fades, the brand new inevitably takes its place, and maybe that’s what we at the moment are witnessing at Sugar Bowl; the daybreak of a brand new period in West Coast freestyle. The resort has additionally made it clear that that is simply step one of their bigger plan. Sugar Bowl intends to assemble bigger jumps with everlasting earthwork constructed up beneath them, thus requiring much less snow to securely keep the options all through the winter.
Sugar Bowl can also be welcoming two unbelievable occasions in April of 2025. With a climate window from April 2 -5, the Silver Belt freeride competitors is returning for its second 12 months, with extra particulars quickly to return on the finalized rider checklist, course lay out and extra.
Plus, the Jossi Wells Invitational (JWI) can be heading to Sugar Bowl Resort April 7 – 11. Historically held at Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand, the JWI makes its first Northern Hemisphere cease in 2025.
Identified for its open-format, athlete-judged strategy, the JWI is one in all FREESKIER’s favourite occasions within the large world of snowboarding, and we are able to’t wait to see what Wells and mates convey to the desk in just some weeks.
Keep tuned for updates on these occasions and extra!
Watch Beneath – David Smart and Xander Guldman give their ideas on the brand new Sugar Bowl parks
