Weeks of frigid temperatures across the prairies halted the opening of Optimist Hill’s terrain park, however, a warm February weekend presented the perfect weather for the masses to come and enjoy the hill’s newest feature.
“To have a formalized terrain park now that they can get on the rails, the boxes, the jumps, a lot of these kids come out every day,” Optimist Hill Co-chair Rob Lett said.
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The new terrain park and lift offer more than just another outdoor winter activity in Saskatoon, but also a place for young athletes to hone their skills on the slopes.
“Some of the kids that come out here are doing flips and spins, and the big rails that I don’t even want to do, it’s incredible,” snowboarder Wes Hiebert said. “We’re probably going to have the next Mark McMorris coming out of here, so it’s pretty cool.”
“It’s awesome seeing them being able to start so young and progress so fast,” fellow snowboarder Brooke Brazeau added. “They’re coming back here, you know, every day after school. With sports not happening, you know, they’re really getting into the snowboarding and skiing.”
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The hill also gives the young snowboarders and skiers a social experience that they’ve been denied throughout the pandemic.
“You get to know so many people with the tight-knit community (that we have),” Brazeau said. “Like, the small environment, you really get to make connections with people and you see them over and over again.”
“So many people can come out,” Hiebert added. “(They can) enjoy the slope, the weather, the environment and get to know other people.”
When one younger rider, Angus MacLeod, was asked what his favourite part was about being able to enjoy the hill, his answer was even simpler.
“Tricks,” MacLeod said.
Even barring the cold weather closure, the hill has been operating at capacity since re-opening.
“It just proves, you know that old saying, build it and they will come,” Lett explained. “People have always said they want more winter activities to do, and so we focused hard to make sure that we’re giving people the best experience possible.”