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The home of the Braves is being transformed right now with a massive steel structure and enough snow to cancel schools across metro Atlanta.
A 15-story faux mountain, meant to rocket skiers and snowboarders into the air for death-defying acrobatics, is now complete where the Bravos typically field ground-balls and catch pop-flies at SunTrust Park.
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It’s part of a Visa Big Air competition this weekend at the MLB stadium, an FIS World Cup showdown between the world’s best freeski and snowboard big-air athletes.
More than 160 adrenalized competitors from 27 nations are expected to begin training at the site today.
Beginning from a point more than 150 feet above the outfield grass, some are expected to reach heights of 70 feet off the snow, according to event organizers and governing body U.S. Ski and Snowboard.
What’s it take to pull off this extreme stadium makeover?
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About 600,000 pounds of steel (almost 30,000 individual pieces) form the big-air scaffold ramp, which all but peeks out of the stadium. Beginning Tuesday, about 900,000 pounds of manmade snow (that’s 800 tons) has been blasted onto the slope.
It’s designed to send athletes toward the catch-air portion at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, with judges scoring them on “progression, amplitude, variety, execution, and difficulty,” per contest officials.
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Tickets range from $25 for a single-day pass to $370 for a Delta SKY360° Club two-day plan.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Friday, and the competition continues through Saturday night.
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