Freestyle skiers gifted ‘giant pillow’ for Christmas

The Yukon Freestyle Ski Team is reveling in the gift of a new $42,000 airbag, officially unveiled at the Mount Sima Alpine Adventure Park on Sunday.

The Yukon Freestyle Ski Team is reveling in the gift of a new $42,000 airbag, officially unveiled at the Mount Sima Alpine Adventure Park on Sunday.

Referred to as a “giant pillow,” the airbag measures 50 feet square and 12 feet deep when inflated.

The Yukon government and Lotteries Yukon picked up the tab on the bag – the government’s Community Development Fund put in $25,067, and Lotteries chipped in the remaining amount of close to $17,000. 

Mount Sima did $5,000 worth of work to prepare for the airbag, which was invoiced to the Yukon Freestyle Association.

The arrival of the new airbag is a coup for Whitehorse, said freestyle association president Lynda Harlow.

To date, airbags are very rare in Canada, and she estimated there are only six in use across the country.

“It will definitely give us an advantage, competitively,” she said. “Not a lot of resorts actually have these. It’s unbelievable to me that we have one. It’s so awesome.”

Harlow started lobbying for the bag last winter after the local freestyle team attended a competition at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alta., that included trying out their airbag.

Whistler also has two airbags, which the Yukon team will use during competition in B.C.

“I thought, ‘well, why don’t we have one?’” Harlow said. “I started looking into it and put an application in to the Yukon government and CDF.”

The airbag arrived in mid-December from Austria, and soon the young freestyle skiers had a jump built out of snow.

The airbag is located near the ski lift at Mount Sima.

“It’s kind of cool because it’s right under the chair lift,” Harlow said. “The kids actually cheer the kids on when they’re hitting the airbag.”

On Sunday, the freestyle team organized a thank-you ceremony, providing certificates to both Don White of the Yukon Lotteries Commission, and Economic Development Minister Currie Dixon. Dixon was unable to attend due to an illness, however.

Lotteries Yukon paid an extra $3,400 for their brand to be stamped on the bag. It serves as the target area for skiers completing a jump.

“It’s pretty soft,” Harlow said of the airbag. “It’s like a giant pillow. When they hit it, there’s an exit side. They kind of just roll off the bag.”

Safety measures prevent skiers from bottoming out on a landing, she explained.

Thirteen local residents have also received certification to operate the airbag, which requires a spotter near the jump to wave skiers off if certain elements of their ski don’t seem right prior to hitting the ramp.

“We do speed checks,” Harlow said. “They don’t hit the bag unless we’re 100 per cent sure. And the coach has to say it’s OK for them to go.”

The bag will enable freestyle skiers to feel more comfortable performing tricks, and will cut down on potential injuries that would occur without the soft landing.

“The sport is changing almost daily,” Harlow said. “These kids are just so good. This will really help us compete with the Outside athletes.”

The airbag comes at a time when interest in freestyle skiing has spiked. The local ski team has doubled its membership this year, from seven members to 15.

The bag is inflated for training purposes, and deflated and stored when not in use.

A generator powers three blowers that inflate the bag to capacity in approximately 15 minutes. It takes about double that time to deflate and place the bag back in storage.

“It actually doesn’t take that long to inflate or deflate,” Harlow said. “You’d be surprised.”

She expressed gratitude to Whitehorse resident Jason Adams, who has lent the freestyle association his 6,000-watt Honda generator to help the group fire up the bag on weekends.

Harlow also thanked the government and Lotteries Yukon for their support of sport.

“We’re very lucky,” she said.

The freestyle association is aiming to open the airbag to other groups in the future.