Vans is proud to partner with the Dillon Ojo Lifeline Foundation and the Montreal Olympic Park to allow snowboarders to practice their sport at no cost in the center of the city with the creation of the Dillon Ojo Snowpark, within the Olympic Park, beside the Morgan trail, at the foot of the Tower.
Now open, the Dillon Ojo Snowpark allows snowboarders in the city easy, no-cost access to a location where they can express their creativity on state-of-the-art infrastructure. It includes eight obstacles, including rails of various levels of difficulty and a medium-sized jump, so that people at all levels and of all ages can make use of it.
Located close to the Viau subway station, steps away from the Vans skatepark, this new playground for community members and lovers of freestyle is open every day, from 9 am to 5 pm, until the end of March or as long as the weather permits. Access is free at all times for all visitors.
The idea of creating a snowpark in town came from the Dillon Ojo Lifeline Foundation. Dillon Ojo’s family made the foundation to honor the memory of their son Dillon-Charles Ojo, a well-known snowboarder and artist who lost his life in a tragic accident in 2018 at the age of 22. The Foundation wishes to increase accessibility to sports, particularly snowboarding and skateboarding, Dillon’s two favorite activities.
“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’s mother, co-founder of the Dillon Ojo Lifeline Foundation.
For several years, Vans has worked with the Foundation on numerous initiatives to honor the heritage of Dillon, who was an athlete on their Global team.
“We are delighted to be able to once again participate in the mission of the Dillon Ojo Lifeline Foundation through this new initiative. It is also important for us to make snowboarding accessible to all and allow Montrealers to immerse themselves in this culture. We hope the project will continue through the years.” — Alex Auchu, Marketing Manager, Vans Canada.
“The Olympic Park is proud to offer these sports facilities free of charge to the community, at the very place where Montreal youth gathered nearly a hundred years ago, on the Morgan slope, for sliding sports. This snow park adds to our growing offer of sports facilities accessible to all. A century later, we continue to support Montrealers in the practice of physical activity by revealing ourselves once again as a great urban park that is active, useful and a must in the city.” – Michel Labrecque, CEO, Montreal Olympic Park.
This Snowpark is a conception of the Quebec agency Dizzle Entertainment in collaboration with Today’s Park for the design, creation, and maintenance. Its production required more than 5,000 cubic meters of snow. Manual maintenance of the installations will be done every Thursday and mechanical maintenance every two weeks in order to ensure the quality of the modules. There is no chair lift, and wearing a helmet is mandatory.
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