 Poster: A snowHead
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[Note: This thread has been re-titled for the fifth time to update developments with this controversial event. Skip to 30 September for how the big day turned out]
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Plans to build a snow jump on one of San Francisco's steep streets this weekend are in doubt, after complaints from residents and local Hindu monks. The event - Icer Air 2005 - involves 200 tons of snow, a temporary structure, some of the world's top aerial skiers and boarders, and large numbers of spectators.
City officials have raised concerns over safety, insurance, traffic control and ... the melting of the snow. They have demanded clear answers from the organisers, leading to a 'knife-edge' prospect for the event.
This report from The San Francisco Chronicle.
Background to this story on this snowHeads thread.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 30-09-05 9:09; edited 11 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I know DG has got a sense of humour! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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PG is right. The city doesn't want the event junked, but no postponed date has been set, so does that technically count as a cancellation?
It does seem that the Hindu monks may have exorcised aerial skiing and boarding from their backyard, though!
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Rumour has it that it will be in a couple of weeks time, and that it was postponed because of someones wedding - someone who obviously has some power in the city!
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Postponed according to local radio and newspaper on Friday I can report having just returned from San Francisco.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Actually (if we're insisting on accuracy) the city authority's news conference was 2pm last Wednesday. The mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom followed this with a 3.30pm joint conference with the organisers of the event. Local radio would undoubtedly have reported this the same afternoon, since it had become such a hoo-hah.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the cancellation/indefinite postponement the following morning (Thursday), and snowHeads reported it on Thursday.
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Source: SFGate.com.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sun 28-08-05 16:36; edited 2 times in total
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David Goldsmith, Maybe ise, has some jet lag. I expect he lost a day coming back over 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Remember, the plug was pulled on this event about as late as it could possibly have been. The jump was to have been built last Friday. Even the Wednesday decision must have produced huge costs for the organisers, assuming that all the contractors involved had cancellation clauses built into their deals.
It'll be interesting to see how it is all salvaged and re-presented, and who's picking up all the bills for last week. I wonder if the city authorities are liable here - they originally issued a permit but apparently failed to undertake any consultative process with the local people before doing so. It does seem to be largely their fault, unless they were misled about the nature of the event, which seems unlikely.
Covent Garden in London had a great aerial ski/board event a few years back, between the Royal Opera House and the central market building, also involving snow ramps. Cities need this kind of stuff.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
Actually (if we're insisting on accuracy) the city authority's news conference was 2pm last Wednesday. The mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom followed this with a 3.30pm joint conference with the organisers of the event. Local radio would undoubtedly have reported this the same afternoon, since it had become such a hoo-hah.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the cancellation/indefinite postponement the following morning (Thursday), and snowHeads reported it on Thursday.
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Source: SFGate.com. |
Whatever. Nevertheless, the local papers and radio were reporting it as postponed on Friday.
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... one day after snowHeads and the San Francisco Chronicle? Two days after internet news sources? Seems a bit weird. Which San Francisco newspapers were reporting it on Friday?
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You know it makes sense.
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Who cares - this is developing into the same sort of argument as a previous upset over postponement/cancellation. Let's just give it a rest and look out for signs of the event happening without agonising over the minutiae of how it came to be altered from the original plans and who got the reports in first. It's nice when snowHeads comes up with a real news scoop (the Tignes cable car for example). It is not nice when we get into nit picking mode over something almost none of us are going to have the opportunity to visit whenever it does or does not happen.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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kuwait_ian, well said
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Poster: A snowHead
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I wholeheartedly agree with you, Ian. The open sourcing and factual accuracy of what we publish here are also important. We've all got to be open to challenge on that, haven't we? What's interesting about the story is the cultural interplay between a city authority - probably very keen for publicity - its residents - and a bunch of leading-edge skiers and boarders.
So hopefully the story and event itself will stay 'on the road'.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Another update on this saga: San Francisco Chronicle.
It seems that the organisers are determined to keep the snow/show on the road (literally). A new date of 29 September is proposed, discussions are ongoing, and the city is yet to approve revised plans.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
[one woman] spoke for many angry residents in the crowd: she asked rhetorically what the point of the event was, to cheers. She was particularly incensed after hearing the original event was supposed to be a birthday party for one of its organizers, Jonny Moseley, a former Olympic skier.
"For my 30th birthday, I went to Mexico, got drunk and learned how to surf," she said. "It didn't affect anyone."
Just then, Salim Madjd, an Iranian immigrant, interrupted her. He said the ski-jump contest was the type of quirky event that makes San Francisco what it is. He recalled watching "Bullit" as a child in Iran and falling in love with San Francisco's streets. The fascination eventually drew him to settle in The City.
"I can't help but wonder if there is a starving child in Africa or Taiwan, who will watch this event and be drawn to San Francisco to make it their home," said Madjd, whose voice rose to a horse shout.
The comment drew a thunderous round of applause. |
Following yesterday's demos for and against, according to the San Francisco Examiner...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The level of liability cover the organisers have taken out, as reported, seems very low.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I liked the "voice rose to a horse shout" and the idea that ski jumping on San Francisco's streets would make starving kids in Africa want to go and live there. As if the event will be beamed live to their mud huts and shanty towns. And as if Taiwan is some kind of impoverished third world nation.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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So why did the comment draw a reported "thunderous round of applause"?
It sounds like a very smart piece of rabble-rousing, but he probably wasn't an organisers' plant.
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It's a bit worrying if a sizeable proportion of San Francisco residents believe the impoverished inhabitants of Third World nations get cable TV. And they could do worse than read their own CIA World Fact Book on Taiwan.
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Maybe the ski jumping should be replaced with 'political football'. snowHeads could supply the (snow) ball.
I don't know San Francisco. Maybe the problem is that they lack a big public open space where events like this can take place without annoying the neighbours. In the old days big US sports arenas used to put up vast ski jumping structures above their grandstands, to provide a good angle.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I don't really think that it is the lack of open space that is the problem, but rather the normal pitch of the street they want to use is attractive as a ski slope!
Unfortunately, the area in question is a high income area, and poeple just don't want be disturbed. Conversly, the people that I know that live in the area are disappointed that it didn't go ahead as originally planned.
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... six days further down the line in this intriguing saga and San Francisco city authorities are reconsidering plans for the snow jump today. This report from NBC11.com
More news on the final decision to come ...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This is the thread that refuses to die!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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In the face of vocal opposition from residents of Pacific Heights, the city of San Francisco has now approved the ski jump. But there will be no amplified music, and the date has been switched from weekend to mid-week (next Thursday 29 September, with the jump to be built next Wednesday).
This report from San Francisco Chronicle.
The details of the report are interesting. Though the 'Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation' voted unanimously to give the event the green light, there seem to be continuing concerns about the level of insurance cover.
I wonder if the city was being (behind the scenes) threatened with legal action if they banned the jump? They had originally granted a permit for the event to happen on 27 August, and - it seems - tried to wing it, until the locals objected.
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Today's the big day. Short of civil war breaking out on Fillmore Street, where the jump's been constructed, the event goes ahead this afternon ... but now there's a row about the PA system, which local residents thought they'd silenced!
This latest report from San Francisco Chronicle.
The organisers have had to up their public liability cover from $2.5 million to $7 million, and pay for 52 police officers to control the crowds, according to this report from FoxReno.com.
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You know it makes sense.
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There's another wedding going on today, but this time the bride and groom have no complaints since they are going to ski the slope as part of their ceremony! They must be snowheads! 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Well, the event finally happened!
And here's the stunning photographic proof by Mike Kepka.
Lots more photos in this report from the San Francisco Chronicle.
The event was clearly a big draw, but not without some safety incidents and concerns. The jump and landing clearly weren't specified correctly, which is a big concern for professional skiers. It's worth reading the SFC report, which is well researched and quite lengthy.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| San Francisco Chronicle wrote: |
One of the people injured was an Icer volunteer who was hit by the errant snowboarder.
"I'm just banged up a bit. I didn't get out of the way in time. It's not a big deal," said the woman, who was bleeding from the head as she waited to be treated by paramedics. |
What a refreshing comment - and not one you hear often enough from the lawyers' heaven that is the US of A.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| GrahamN wrote: |
| San Francisco Chronicle wrote: |
One of the people injured was an Icer volunteer who was hit by the errant snowboarder.
"I'm just banged up a bit. I didn't get out of the way in time. It's not a big deal," said the woman, who was bleeding from the head as she waited to be treated by paramedics. |
What a refreshing comment - and not one you hear often enough from the lawyers' heaven that is the US of A. |
Were you thinking of a paternety suite or personal injury claim?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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marc gledhill, or false imprisonment? - although are you reading that more as "knocked up"? I once got some very strange looks from hotel reception staff when, on a business trip with a female colleague and heading off to our respective rooms, asked her if she wanted knocking up at any particular time in the morning. "Two nations divided by a common language" (Sir WSC - IIRC).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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It seems that one reason (a very good reason!) why the Fillmore Street location was chosen was that there were no overhead power lines:
This report from The San Francisco Examiner
| Quote: |
| Once organizers settled on a hill they called in engineer Kristian Akseth to design an appropriate jump. Akseth said he designed the jump so that skiers and snowboarders won't get so much air that they might hit the telephone polls or homes, which appear uncomfortably close on either side of the run. Organizers said contestants should reach a height of 12 to 15 feet and sail as far as 50 feet off the jump, which is nine feet tall. |
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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... the planning and organisation of the event comes in for a pretty heavy postscript from CW Nevius in today's San Francisco Chronicle.
| Quote: |
| Frankly, I was there for 4 1/2 hours Thursday, and what I saw was a slapdash, poorly run and downright dangerous event. Crowd control was poor, promises to clear the streets that evening proved impossible to keep, and the skiers struggled to clear the mound and land any kind of tricks. It was a miracle someone wasn't badly hurt. |
... but this newsier piece from the same paper predicts a follow-up event next year: click here.
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