Central to the Canadian Winter Sport Institute, Canada Olympic Park stands as the hub-facility in the collection of high performance training and competition venues located in southern Alberta and British Columbia. As the premiere site of the XV Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, the venue is perhaps the most visible legacy of the 1988 Games to visitors and Calgarians alike - truly a one-of-a-kind attraction.
Situated 15 minutes from downtown Calgary, at the gateway to the magnificent Rocky Mountains, the Park is distinct from most Olympic venues in that it continues to function as a multi-purpose competition, training and recreation area designed for year-round use by both athletes and the public.
In the winter months, the Park is host to more than 292,000 ski and snowboard visitors each year. With the second largest ski school in Canada, and the only super halfpipe located within North American city limits, there are lessons and programs offered in all the sports available at COP for people of every age and ability.
More than one million visitors from around the globe make a special visit to the facilities at Canada Olympic Park every year. It has become one of the largest tourist attractions in Alberta outside the Rocky Mountains.
The 1,500-metre Olympic Track has an illustrious history from the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, serving as the site where German luge great Georg Hackl began his run of podium finishes and the underdog Jamaican Bobsleigh Team captured hearts worldwide. The Olympic Track continues to serve as a venue for events on the World Cup circuit for the sliding sports of bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.
The major competition facilities for ski jumping were completed and officially opened on November 28, 1986. The ski jumping complex, which consists of the K18, K38, K63, K89 and K114 jumps, is used year-round by athletes at all levels. Plastic on the K18, K38, K63 and K89 metre jumps provides an ideal alternative to snow for summer jumping. More than 100,000 jumps take place at Canada Olympic Park each summer and winter.
The K114 ski jumping tower is the highest vantage point in the city of Calgary. Though no longer used for ski jumping, it is a popular meeting and events site and home to North America's fastest zipline. Thanks to a $600,000 grant from the Government of Alberta in October 2005, the Ski Jump Training Centre was upgraded and refurbished to improve its infrastructure and safety standards.
This world-leading training and competition venue opened in March of 2007 to host the Canadian Freestyle and Snowboard Championships. It was constructed within the existing ski jump bowl at Canada Olympic Park and is the first facility to combine ski jumping, freestyle aerials and moguls, and alpine slalom, all built to international specifications. The facility is equipped with improved snowmaking, lighting, and access lift and the latest video technology for training.
The new standard for the sport of snowboarding, the expanded FIS snowboard halfpipe at Canada Olympic Park has been replicated in Cypress, British Columbia for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver. With a three-foot expansion in its radius, Canada Olympic Park's 22-foot halfpipe is among the largest in the world. Recognized as the next level in pipe riding progression, the super halfpipe is designed to answer all the needs of Canada's competitive, advanced and recreational riders.
