“Just like the story of how this skatepark came to be, it takes a lot of resiliency and sticking with it and I imagine that’s what a lot of folks in Jasper are feeling right now.“
Excitement was in the air and vibes were sky high at the long-awaited grand opening of Jasper’s brand new skatepark on September 21.
It’s been a 10-year grind for members of the Jasper Skatepark Committee but all the fundraising, grant-writing and construction delays were in the rearview mirror on Sunday as the community got its first look at the new facility, designed and built by New Line Skateparks.
Jasperite Darrell Savage, who has been at the tip of the spear when it comes to fundraising for the skatepark, had to laugh when the event’s 2 p.m. start time was sabotaged by gale winds and slanting rain.
“It wouldn’t be the Jasper skatepark if we didn’t have some adversity,” he said over the thumping beats of event emcee and DJ, Tim Poaps.
Brandishing squeegies and later, a leaf blower, Savage and his fellow skaters soon had the park’s two-toned cement surface dried off and shred-ready. When the sun finally came out from behind the clouds, the raincoats came off and the session was on.
“I just love seeing the kids sending it,” Savage said, as half a dozen elementary-aged scooter riders ripped by.
Ten years ago, when he began meeting on Wednesdays to raise funds for a future skate and BMX park, Jasperite Ezra Jenkins was just a kid, too.
Fast forward to 2025 and the 23-year-old red seal plumber said it was fun to be surrounded by young people who are the same age as he was when he and his friends first went door to door collecting bottles.
“I was in Grade 6 when this all started coming together building a new park,” Jenkins recalled.
“This is so sick to see everyone coming out, having fun.”
Growing up on the Jasper Freeride freestyle skiing team, Jenkins had the opportunity to visit other cities with skateparks. He spent a lot of time on his bike at Red Deer’s facility and felt strongly that the designers of that park, New Line, should be at the helm in Jasper.
“I was adamant we use New Line,” Jenkins said.
It’s turned out to be a fantastic partnership. New Line’s experience building hundreds of parks across North America was critical as the Jasper Skatepark Committee considered the size, scope and ridership of their future park. Eventually they landed on a design that would include a suite of progressive features, the flagship of which is the park’s modern concrete flow bowl, with a nine-foot high vert extension.
New Line’s Director of Design, Kanten Russell, who came all the way from San Diego to help celebrate Jasper’s grand opening, said that the difference in creating skate parks today compared with 20 years ago is that in the past, designers considered functionality before aesthetics.
“Now it’s like, how do we integrate this into a landscape and make it feel like it belongs here? How do we make it feel natural?”
Key also, Russell said, is listening to what the community wants.
“Jasper said they wanted to make sure that this had some good flow and variety, good sight lines so people can see each other coming and going.”
Russell pointed to the bowl with beginner, intermediate and advanced elevations, where riders can generate speed progressively and step-up their skills accordingly. On the other side of the park, he noted the slanted “hubba” ledge, Euro step and adjacent flat rails—technical features that skaters slide, grind or use to perform aerial maneuvers.
“Ultimately we want to provide the progression opportunities so as everyone gets better they can grow with the park,” he said.
Last year, New Line was nearing the final stages of construction when the July 22 wildfire evacuation order came through. Russell remembers the heartbreak at having to demobilize, and then being devastated as news broke of the wildfire’s destruction.
Fourteen months later, however, as he witnessed hundreds of community members come together to celebrate the park’s grand opening, Russell said it was all worth it.
“It’s been really rewarding to be able to finish this out, knowing how important it is to everybody, including our crew,” he said.
Everett Tetz, Director of Community Outreach and Park Programming with New Line, said every community skatepark has a special story, but in the context of the Jasper wildfire, it felt particularly good to be celebrating the park’s opening.
“Just like the story of how this skatepark came to be, it takes a lot of resiliency and sticking with it and I imagine that’s what a lot of folks in Jasper are feeling right now.
“So finding some moments to celebrate, coming back to the community, seeing all the people out today…it’s pretty wonderful,” he said.
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
