Big crowds turn out for first 6th Street Rail Jam during WinterFest opening weekend!
For immediate release – January 16, 2017
Big crowds turn out for first 6th Street Rail Jam during WinterFest opening weekend!
Courtenay, BC: Approximately 1500 people turned out to downtown Courtenay on Friday evening to watch the first 6th Street Rail Jam, one of the 14+ opening events for this year’s Comox Valley WinterFest celebrations.
The event was put on by the VI Riders Snowboard Club and the Mount Washington Freestyle Club, in collaboration with Comox Valley Economic Development (CVEDS) and the Downtown Courtenay BIA (DCBIA), in particular the Atlas Cafe and Ski Tak Hut, who is celebrating their 40th year in business. The City of Courtenay council and staff were also incredibly supportive by permitting the road closure and assisting with snow removal.
This event was a huge undertaking and would also not have been possible without the support of local businesses. At 4 PM on Friday, 6th Street was closed between Cliffe Ave. and Duncan Ave. so that preparations could be made for the 7 PM event, which included trucking in several loads of snow, setting up scaffolding, a ramp and a variety of rail jam features.
Due to the high skill level required, this was an invitational event. The skiers and snowboarders were divided up into two categories, U19 and 19+. Twenty-five athletes turned out for the event and did a fantastic job of entertaining the crowd with a variety of spins, jumps and flips.
In the U19 snowboard category, 3rd place went to Axel Noringseth, Josh Brooks won 2nd place and Thomas Bergvinson won 1st place. In the 19+ snowboard category, Nic Dicesare won 3rd place, Morgan Rogers took 2nd and 1st place went to Lewis (Bubba) Muldoe. For U19 skiers, Ben Tibbles won 2nd place and Brandon Playford won 1st place. In the female skier category, Sarah Rocque took 2nd place, and Paula Moore won 1st place. In the 19+ skier category, Jordan McDermid won 3rd place, Alphes Bourdeau won 2nd, and Avery Rankin won 1st place. Patrick Kitto took home the award for Best Overall Bail of the evening, which was presented at an official afterparty held at the Avalanche Bar and Grill.
The event organizers would like to thank Emcon Services, K&T Trucking, JR Edgett Excavating, Tayco Paving Co., Pilon Tool Rentals and Gary Marcus Trucking for helping with the snow. Thanks also to Happy’s Source for Sports for allowing their driveway to be used as a snow storage area. The rail jam features, ramp and scaffolding were provided by Jump Camp, CanWest Mechanical, Lifestyle Metal Ventures and Kindred Snowboards. Other volunteers deserving of mention are the Comox Valley Citizens on Patrol, St. John’s Ambulance, event MCs Mischa Christian and Kevin Flesher, and park crew Jesse and Adam for keeping the course safe throughout the event. The funky tunes were provided by John Mang and DJ Lady K, with equipment from Long and McQuade. All of the evening’s prizes were provided by Ski Tak Hut, sponsored by Armada Skis, Niche Snowboards, 686 and Salomon Snowboards.
Other events included the opening of the WinterFest Fun Zone, 5th St. and England Ave. which featured free skating, ice carving, a Movie Night and Mount Washington’s Mogul the Marmot this weekend, plus lots of après skiing live entertainment throughout pubs and restaurants in downtown.
FMI on 30+ other exciting events happening until January 29 visit CVWinterFest.com or call the Vancouver Island Visitor Centre, 250-400-2882.
Media Contact:
Mary-Ellen Bergvinson
VI Riders
250-702-5558
m-edb@hotmail.com
Lara Greasley
Comox Valley Economic Development and Tourism
250-702-1298
lgreasley@investcomoxvalley.com
