‘A gravity-defying event’: Snow Rodeo runs Thursday to Saturday at WinSport Canada Olympic Park

Some of the world’s best extreme snowboarders and skiers will compete in Calgary this week at a free event.

The halfpipe at WinSport Canada Olympic Park is hosting the annual Snow Rodeo from Thursday to Saturday.

It’ll be three days of halfpipe competitions hosted by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, and it could help qualify some athletes for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

“We have some of the best riders in the world here,” Canada Snowboard’s Julia Thrift said.

“These guys are honestly just some pretty big adrenaline junkies.

“It’s a gravity-defying event—kind of legendary in the snow sport world.”

Freeskiers and snowboarders from across the world will enter the events, but in Calgary, some locals are getting the most attention.

Brooke D’Hondt, who represented Canada in Beijing in 2022, says she marks the Snow Rodeo on her calendar.

“It’s so nice when a big crowd of Calgarians shows up in support,” she told CTV News.

“That’s huge. I think it’s such a fun event and so cool for people to come out and be able to watch this, because it’s not often you have a bunch of World Cup athletes training in this space.”

National newcomer Felicity Geremia agrees.

She grew up snowboarding at WinSport.

“You should rally behind us because we compete for the fans, (and) we like to put on a show,” she said.

“It’s unreal.”

The sixth annual Snow Rodeo kicks off with freeski and snowboard qualifications on Jan. 1 and 2.

On Saturday, the freeski finals run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The snowboard finals happen under the lights, starting at 6 p.m.