Montreal snowboarding

Photo by J-F Savaria

Life, Sports

The Dillon Ojo Snowpark brings a free snowboarding destination to Montreal

by Lorraine Carpenter

Just ahead of the Beijing Olympics and with entertainment options in the city next to nil, there’s a new go-to for winter sports at the foot of the Big O.

Montreal has a timely new snowboarding destination in the form of the Dillon Ojo Snowpark, right next to the Olympic Stadium tower. Launched on Jan. 20 by Vans, the Dillon Ojo Lifeline Foundation and the Montreal Olympic Park, the infrastructure, said to be “state-of-the-art,” features eight obstacles, a medium-sized jump and rails of varying levels of difficulty.

Next-level snowboarding in Montreal, right next door to the Olympic Stadium.

Born in Montreal, Dillon-Charles Ojo was a well-known snowboarder and artist who died in an accident in 2018, at the age of 22. His mother, who co-founded the Dillon Ojo Lifeline Foundation, made a statement on the opening of the new Montreal snowpark.

“We want everyone to be able to discover and take part in this fine sport which our son loved so much. We know he would have wanted to pass on his passion to the greatest possible number of people, so we took on this mission in his honour.

“Dillon was born in Montreal, and he would have loved to have a park like this one to train in without having to plan for transportation to a ski station. He wholeheartedly enjoyed life. He liked to laugh, learn, play, share special moments with loved ones, and help others. The snowpark will be a place where these values will be shared and where young people can create lifelong memories.”

—Elaine Charles

Dillon Ojo Snowpark Montreal
5,000 cub metres of snow went into the production of the Dillon Ojo Snowpark.

The production of this new snowboarding spot required more than 5,000 cubic metres of snow. Manual maintenance will be carried out weekly, with mechanical maintenance every two weeks. There’s no chair lift on site, and wearing a helmet is mandatory.

The new Dillon Ojo Snowpark brings a free snowboarding spot to Montreal. Photo by Joseph Roby

The snowpark will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until sometime in March, and is accessible for free.

For more on snowboarding in Montreal at the Dillon Ojo Snowpark, please visit the Parc Olympique website.

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Posted in Life, Sports

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.