The installation of an airbag facility began at Horseshoe Resort this week — a key training tool strictly for members of Freestyle Ontario (FSO) and Snowboard Ontario (SBO).
The new downslope airbag and trampoline facility, which is owned by FSO and SBO, will help position Horseshoe Resort as a top-tier year-round destination for high-performance freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
The facility will feature a 50-by-22-metre BagJump airbag, a 14- and nine-metre jump designed by Park Degree, and a JF Dry Ski slope. It will be supported by two seven-by-14-foot and one Super Tramp Rebound Products trampolines.
The facility will be exclusively used for off-season training for FSO- and SBO-registered athletes.
Freed Hotels and Resorts chief operating officer Jonathan Reid says it's "pretty awesome" to have the facility at the local resort.
"It's sort of the latest thing in high-performance athlete training," he said. "It's basically a training tool for inverted manoeuvres that athletes can practise on before doing them on snow."
The only other downslope airbag in Canada is in Quebec. There are only a handful of them in the world.
"The one our national team goes to is in Austria," Reid explained. "This really changes the game for a lot of provincial and national team athletes to stay and train at home."
The airbag is being installed by a European crew and is expected to be open in September. Reid says it will bring the best skiers and snowboarders in the world to the Oro-Medonte resort.
"It's very exciting," Reid said. "For the resort, it brings a great spectator opportunity; it's great for our guests to be able to watch."
Oro-Medonte's Charlie Beatty, the youngest skier ever to be named to the Canadian national freestyle team at 15, is currently in Austria using an airbag facility. Soon, he'll have it in his own backyard.
"This will really help with expenses for our athletes," Reid said. "They won't have to go spend two weeks in Austria. Charlie can stay right here and train at Horseshoe."
Reid says several elite athletes at the provincial level will get a "leg up" by having the airbag facility at Horseshoe Resort. The downslope airbag comes "real close" to perfectly replicating snow.
"Instead of just landing flat, you are landing going down a hill," he explained. "You land on your feet and ski out on this airbag, it's very similar from the take-off to immediate landing."
For FSO and SBO athletes, training on the airbag is required before they can attempt any inverted manoeuvres in competition.
"The days of going out and throwing a backflip on snow in a contest don't exist anymore," Reid said. "They have to certify it on an airbag with a coach before they can practise it on snow and use it in a competition."
