Experience The Mountain Parks Blog

The mitts are off and the battle is on! Jasper will host the Canadian Rockies Snow Battle on November 24-25, 2012 at Centennial Park, in Jasper. Get your friends or co-workers together, pick your most creative team name, and prepare for a snowball fight like you’ve never experienced before! Moonlight Madness is also taking place on Friday November 23^rd, so come prepared to shop till you drop before the tournament as Jasper stores will be open late and offering fantastic deals.
Yukigassen (Japanese for “snow battle”) has been popular in Japan for almost 25 years, but is just hitting Canada and is a perfect fit for our snow-filled winters. The game is a unique combination of dodgeball and capture the flag, using snowballs. The snow flies fast and furious - 180 snowballs per 3 minute period flying through the air!

“Yukigassen is an exciting new sport for Canadians and what better place to host a snow battle than the Canadian Rockies? We are thrilled to be the host venue of the Canadian National Championships for the next five years and to be supporting the MS Society of Canada with a portion of the registration fees,” says Maggie Davison, CEO of Tourism Jasper.

Want to be handing out red cards rather than hurling snowballs? Officiating is an essential part of a Yukigassen tournament, with a minimum of six referees per game. Anyone interested in becoming a ref can participate in a free training clinic during the week of November 20. The clinic finishes with a ‘Learnament’ where referees can practice their new skills and fire some snow balls themselves. Referees and volunteers will also get some great perks: a special hotel rate at Mountain Park Lodges, a 2-for-1 ski pass at Marmot Basin and entry to a Volunteer Appreciation Grey Cup Party on November 25^th.

Part geek, part chic, this contest will transform one lucky winner into a social media celebrity for Jasper’s second annual Dark Sky Festival. The reward: a five-day, all-expenses paid trip to Jasper from October 10 – 16, 2012 to cover the festival on social media and enjoy “star treatment” in a Rocky Mountain adventure paradise.

1) Visit www.JasperDarkSkyFest.com to learn more about the festival and find the Facebook contest link.

2) Upload a short video (under three minutes) on why you should be our Star Correspondent.

3) Share your entry and get your friends and family to vote for you.

4) Our celebrity jury will select the winner from among the top five most voted-on entries.

5) If you win, you'll spend five days in Jasper as the Dark Sky Festival’s Star Correspondent!

The contest runs August 1 – August 31, 2012, so get your entry in early and encourage your friends to vote!