Montreal Is Getting A Huge Ski Hill In The Middle Of A Downtown Street For An Alpine Festival

This February, Montrealers will be able to get their adrenaline pumping in downtown Montreal’s Quartier Latin with the return of APIK, a free urban winter festival for skiing, snowboarding, and more.

Montreal and its surroundings have no shortage of winter activities on offer but haven’t seen anything this extreme on the streets of the city since Cassandre Thomas was car surfing during the pandemic.

This year’s edition of the alpine-style festival is going to fill the corner of rue Saint-Denis and rue Ontario with a mini snowpark, obstacle course, and boulder climbing wall that can be publicly accessed from February 24 to March 5. You can bring your own equipment or get some on-site when using the hill.

The restaurants and bars that line the surrounding streets are going to be open during the event, from tacos and margaritas from 3 Amigos to bars like Turbo Haüs and the video game bar Arcade MTL.

There are going to be big events to kick everything off: high-impact ski and snowboard competitions where 100 athletes will compete to win a load of prizes that together equal as much as $20,000. A dozen pop-up shops for streetwear, sports equipment and accessories will be lining the streets at the same time.

Riding over a unique course designed and designed by Today's Parks, a consulting group that’s done work on all kinds of ski hills including the Eastern Townships’ Mont-Orford and the Laurentians’ Mont Blanc, skiers and snowboarders will be judged by the tricks they do during their runs.

Skiing will take place on February 25, followed by a White Claw afterparty at Abreuvoir, and a snowboarding competition on February 26. Anyone can enter, provided that they sign a waiver.

Get shredding, or go watch Montrealers competing for the grand prizes.