Teen snowboarder phenom thrilled to be paired with idol: Canada’s Mark McMorris

Mark McMorris will celebrate his 29th birthday this weekend. But, in snowboarding terms, he’s an old man.

Eli Bouchard is only 14 years old, and McMorris is one of his idols.

At this weekend’s FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air event at Commonwealth Stadium, dubbed “The Style Experience”, both the veteran and the phenom will be in the spotlight.

McMorris is a three-time Olympic medalist. He has more podium finishes than any other athlete in the history of the Winter X Games.

Bouchard was granted a special exemption, requested by Canada Snowboard, so he could ride for his country this weekend. The FIS does not usually allow competitors under the age of 15.

Bouchard will make his World Cup debut on the 15-storey ramp built right into the side of the Commonwealth Stadium. He will turn 15 two days after the event ends.

“I remember being that age, and competing against your heroes is pretty special,” McMorris said. “The first pro competition I did was about 15 years old, and what a feeling it was. It’s crazy how long I’ve been at this. It’s cool to see the excitement they have – and they keep getting younger. It’s amazing how good they can be at such a young age.”

Bouchard got on a snowboard before his second birthday and became a YouTube sensation at the age of eight, when he became the youngest rider ever to land a double backflip.

“I just want to have fun,” Bouchard said of his World Cup debut. “(The jump) is pretty big, so if I can get my tricks I’m going to be excited.”

And Bouchard is pinching himself now that he’s McMorris’ teammate.

“It’s pretty sick. When I was young, I watched videos of him, just tried some tricks, thought about him.”

While there have been previous World Cup events held on slopes held up by scaffolding, the one built in Edmonton is unique. The ramp is built into the side of the stadium. Riders climb to a temporary scaffold nine meters above the last row of the upper deck, then dive down to the jump. Jasmine Baird, who won bronze at the season-opening women’s event in Switzerland, said the structure was awe-inspiring, even for athletes used to being daredevils.

“It doesn’t look real, I’m actually in disbelief,” Baird said of the man-made slope. “The thing is big and to see it in a stadium like this, I couldn’t dream of anything like that. That’s crazy.

“It’s scary for sure. The biggest thing is just figuring out the speed. Usually, before I hit something like that for the first time, I’ve seen a few other people go away, because there are those first people who don’t really care, they just want to hit it and get after it.”

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Massive jump built at Commonwealth Stadium for Snowboard World Cup stop in Edmonton

McMorris said when riders are at a mountain resort, they have time to get used to the slope. They can take some easy runs just to adjust to the conditions. But at Commonwealth there is no relief in that. You go up the ramp, you go down.

“It’s quite a big difference, you can’t really do a warm-up run or take an easy run down,” McMorris said. “For many of the people, they fly around the world to Edmonton and the first run they do is off a scaffold. There really is no backing down.

“The run-in is now, there isn’t that much time to set up, it can’t be taken care of as well. So, scaffolding is definitely a bit scarier. If you can do your tricks on snow, you can usually do them on the scaffolding, but it tends to be a little more difficult. So, you’ve got to make sure your stuff is all dialed in if you want to make it jump like that.”

If the Canadian riders want to get on the podium this weekend, they know they have to knock off the top snowboarders from the announced Japanese team. At the season-opening Big Air event in Chur, Switzerland. Takeru Otsuka and Ruki Tobita finished 1-2 in the men’s event, while Reira Iwabuchi took first place in the women’s competition.

“The Japanese riders definitely killed it,” Baird said. “Men and women, in general, they are so good. I love watching them, their style, and they are so consistent.

“They are role models and they just drove the sport.”

“There’s one thing I can say about the Japanese team, and that’s that they have an incredible work ethic,” McMorris said. “Their acrobatic skills are through the roof. And they don’t really take off in summers. They spend the whole summer on the airbag. This is definitely one to watch out for. They push, and they can take some serious hits and get up. Some of my best friends are competing for Japan, and they are the ones to watch out for.”

Qualifying runs take place in Edmonton on Friday, with the finals in both women’s and men’s classes on Saturday.

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