Last Saturday we saw a Sled Wars, a Freestyle Snocross and Powersports Expo at Eastbound Park, featuring some of the top Snocrossers in the world!
On Saturday just before noon, we left St. John’s and headed out to Eastbound International Speedway in Avondale with our friends Piers and Rebecca. Forty minutes later we arrived at the venue, were ushered into a parking spot, and our fun afternoon began as we made our way through the gates.
We showed up just in time to catch the end of the Pit Party which started at 12 pm; the Pit Party was an opportunity to meet the athletes and check out some trade show booths. Elizabeth and Rebecca snagged four seats while Luke and Piers wandered to the centre of the track to pick up some food. We enjoyed some fries with dressing (turkey stuffing) and gravy, a Newfoundland specialty, before the start of the show.
…and then the Freestyle Snocross began! Snocross is a sport that involves racing and doing tricks on high performance snowmobiles. As Wikipedia points out, the name is a portmanteau of snowmobile and motorcross.
For this event, two ramps were set up facing each other with opposing mounds of snow for landing the tricks. They threw a few numbers around - “20 ft high mounds of snow”, “launched 40 ft in the air”, “over an 80 ft gap” - but the numbers didn’t seem to add up. Regardless, the show was impressive! Back flips, seat grabs, dead sailors, gator wranglers, and any other extreme trick you can imagine someone doing on a 500+ lb snowmobile.
…and then the Freestyle Snocross began! Snocross is a sport that involves racing and doing tricks on high performance snowmobiles. As Wikipedia points out, the name is a portmanteau of snowmobile and motorcross.
For this event, two ramps were set up facing each other with opposing mounds of snow for landing the tricks. They threw a few numbers around - “20 ft high mounds of snow”, “launched 40 ft in the air”, “over an 80 ft gap” - but the numbers didn’t seem to add up. Regardless, the show was impressive! Back flips, seat grabs, dead sailors, gator wranglers, and any other extreme trick you can imagine someone doing on a 500+ lb snowmobile.
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The event was divided into individual and team competitions, although we were wondering how competitive it really was or if the winners were predetermined. Again, it was impressive regardless. The show featured some of the top Snocrossers in the world including:
This was our first experience with the sport and although none of us are avid snowmobilers it wasn’t hard to imagine how complicated all of the tricks were. Near the end of the event, Luke and Piers went down to the centre of the track to get a different view. Their vantage point was amazing, and here is short clip so you can get a feel for what it was like to see these impressive tricks up close:
- Joe Parsons: 14 time ESPN Winter X Games Medalist,
- Heath Frisby: 10 time ESPN Winter X Games Medalist,
- Sam Rogers: Silver ESPN Winter X Games Medalist and World Record,
- Willie Elam: ESPN X Games Snocross and Freestyle Athlete,
- Fred Rasmussen, and
- Jesse Croteau.
This was our first experience with the sport and although none of us are avid snowmobilers it wasn’t hard to imagine how complicated all of the tricks were. Near the end of the event, Luke and Piers went down to the centre of the track to get a different view. Their vantage point was amazing, and here is short clip so you can get a feel for what it was like to see these impressive tricks up close:
We didn’t purchase any checkered flags to wave around during the show but most of us ended up with a sunburn as a souvenir. The temperature was around 0 C, but as you can see from the pictures, the sun was out in full force.
After we arrived back in St. John’s, we popped into Rocket Bakery downtown to grab a quick coffee. We couldn’t go home before picking up supper so we stopped by Sushi Island, the new all you can eat sushi restaurant in St. John’s. Then we wandered back to our apartment and onto the curling club to play our last Saturday Curling game of the season. At that point, we called it a day… and what an epic Saturday it was!
Here are some more photos:
After we arrived back in St. John’s, we popped into Rocket Bakery downtown to grab a quick coffee. We couldn’t go home before picking up supper so we stopped by Sushi Island, the new all you can eat sushi restaurant in St. John’s. Then we wandered back to our apartment and onto the curling club to play our last Saturday Curling game of the season. At that point, we called it a day… and what an epic Saturday it was!
Here are some more photos:
