'Denver Big Air' Brings Big Business To Town
DENVER (CBS4/AP) - It's quite a sight in downtown Denver, and it's hard to miss. On Tuesday night some of the best ski jumpers in the country were taking off on a giant ramp in Civic Center Park.
The Denver Big Air competition began Tuesday night when skiers got a chance to launch off the 101-foot-tall ramp built across from the Denver City and County building. Snowboarders from around the world will compete Wednesday in an event sanctioned by the World Cup.
The event kicks off the SnowSports Industries America Snow Show in Denver, which will begin on Thursday. Organizers say it's the largest trade show of its kinds and will bring 19,000 international delegates to Colorado.
"This is fed to Europe, Asia, to Australia and New Zealand," said Calum Clark, US Ski & Snowboard Association Vice President.
Calum said Denver is the perfect spot for the first-ever World Cup Big Air event to be held in the U.S.
"It's an iconic venue and it's a juxtaposition of putting snow and snowboarders and skiers right against the city Capitol building, right downtown," Calum said.
"You have the opportunity to be broadcast around the world, you get to support a great conference that's here in Denver and support the city and the efforts they're are making to bring business here; it's the béarnaise sauce on the steak," Sue Baldwin with the Metro Denver Sports Commission said.
Baldwin said while some events bring lots of business to town, the Big Air events are more about branding Denver as the super-cool center of U.S. skiing and snowboarding.
"It says Denver is a great city, you know, we are entrepreneurial, we think about things a little bit outside the box," she said. "When you go to the top of the ramp and look out over the City and County Building and see the lights of the building and then you see the mountains and the beautiful sunset, you think, 'This is Denver.'"
Baldwin said it shows that Denver is capable hosting big events, and it's a nice feather in the cap when Colorado is in the running for events like World Cup skiing or even the Winter Olympics.
Slideshow: Denver Big Air
