Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, August 9, 2005: Thousands of fans are expected to watch Jonny Moseley and other snowboarders and skiers soar off a ski jump and fly over city streets later this month. Ice Air 2005, scheduled for August 27, will put 12,000 cubic feet of snow – 250 tons of the white stuff – in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood and feature Moseley and 20 other pros performing mid-air stunts for $100,000 in cash and prizes. Competitors will fly the length of a city block. But the daredevil event has run into a mini flurry of resistance from the monks at the Vedanta Society Hindu temple, who are particularly concerned about a refreshment tent that will be pitched right outside their monastery while worshippers try to meditate. The monks, along with other Pacific Heights residents concerned an errant snowboarder might come crashing through a window, have complained to local officials, but there’s not much they can do because organizers obtained all the necessary permits and paid numerous city fees. Dr. Jordan Schlain, president of the city’s Entertainment Commission, said while some residents will be inconvenienced by the event, the city needed to embrace such quirky ideas as urban ski jumping. “It’s crazy and I love the idea,” he said. “I am trying to put San Francisco back on the map as a destination for events and fun.”