In the spring of 2013, professional skier Bobby Brown saw his dream slopestyle course come to life as Snow Park Technologies (SPT) built a massive line featuring six oversized, custom features that he was able to ski in a single run. The exclusive filming project, known as Red Bull Megaslope, included four other skiers that sessioned the course with Brown, and were able to push the envelope and change the mindset of what’s possible in slopestyle skiing. Red Bull Megaslope will return to Kirkwood Mountain Resort in 2014, but this time as a full-blown competition.
The Red Bull Megaslope course, which weaves across three black diamond runs, features a vertical change in elevation that is approximately two and a half times that of a traditional slopestyle course, at 1,200 feet. The length of the course will remain the same as it was in 2013, at 2,750 feet and will incorporate six massive features, some three to four times the size of a traditional contest feature, each of which would normally be built for a big air competition, not a slopestyle competition.
The event is open to athletes by invitation-only and will later be finalized when two wildcards are added to the roster during a voting period for Athlete’s Choice and People’s Choice. Initial invites have gone out, and invited athletes include Bobby Brown, Gus Kenworthy, Russ Henshaw, and PK Hunder, all of whom skied the 2013 course, plus newcomers Sammy Carlson, James Woods, Nick Goepper, Torin Yater-Wallace, and Jossi Wells. The judges, competition format, and judging criteria will be announced at a later date.
The Red Bull Megaslope course will be built on the backside of Kirkwood Mountain Resort, and the one-day competition will take place during a weather window from March 15-18, 2014. When asked why Kirkwood was the best choice for Red Bull Megaslope, Brown explained, “The backside has a bunch of gullies and rollers which allows us to organically build the massive features into the mountain, rather than just placing them on it.” He continued, “It’s really cool to see these huge jumps and rails meshing so well with all the natural terrain. The snow base is also really important, and that area of the mountain stores it really well.”
Casey Blann, Vice President General Manager of Kirkwood Mountain Resort, echoed Brown’s excitement for the 2014 event, “We’re so thrilled to have Red Bull Megaslope back in 2014 and this time as a competition! Whenever you combine the world’s best athletes and the most unbelievable terrain in the world, great things are bound to happen.”
Kirkwood Mountain Resort’s ticket and season pass holders will be able to watch the live competition, and the event will be produced for the Red Bull Signature Series on NBC (broadcast time and date to be announced at a later date). Airing on NBC all year long, the Red Bull Signature Series features jaw dropping action sports events like Dreamline, Joyride and Rampage. For more information, please visit www.redbullsignatureseries.com.
To see the footage and find more information on Red Bull Megaslope, please visit: www.redbull.com/megaslope.
