Held outdoors for the first time in 37 years, the Jasper Heritage Rodeo pulled off another thrilling rodeo last week.
Initial numbers indicate about 800 people attended each night, which is about the same number that attended last year when the event was held at the Jasper Arena, said Dallas Klassen, chair of the rodeo association.
“It went really well. I don’t think I could ask for it to go any better, it pretty much went off without a hitch,” said Klassen, adding attendance numbers appear to be slightly up for Wednesday night, which was traditionally the event’s slowest night.
“We had a little bit of weather issues, but that’s to be expected being outside.”
The four-day professional rodeo event had athletes competing in everything from barrel racing to steer wrestling, calf roping and bull riding. Fans sat shoulder to shoulder to take in the action and at times were even on their feet.
“It’s way better outdoors—100 per cent,” said Cory Buck, a spectator from Radium Hot Springs.
Several others echoed those thoughts.
“The animals worked well, the athletes were on top of everything and it was great being outside even with the rain,” said Chance Burles, who was attending the rodeo with his wife and two-year-old son.
In addition to strong attendance numbers, Klassen said he expects to break even this year.
“The way the initial numbers are looking, we should be just breaking even this year.”
Less than a year ago, the future of the rodeo looked uncertain. In October 2014, council allowed the culture and recreation department to book the Jasper Arena for August 2015—marking the end of the rodeo unless the association could find another suitable venue.
In January, council earmarked $10,000 to help the rodeo association find a new location and by the spring, Parks Canada had approved the new location at the municipal snow dump, up the road from Whistlers Campground.
In addition to the new location, a contract was also signed between Parks and the rodeo association, guaranteeing the rodeo’s location for the next three years.
With a three-year contract in hand, Klassen said he hopes to leave most of the arena in place over the winter, cutting down on the set up time for next year.
“I think it went really well for the first year and being on the time crunch we were on, it feels pretty good for myself and Laura that we were able to have it this year,” said Klassen, referring to Laura Park, the vice-chair of the rodeo association.
Klassen said the only disappointment was the number of people who attended the community dance held at the Jasper Activity Centre on Saturday night.
“Numbers were down a little bit on that, but we still did fairly well. I think there was over 350 people there on Saturday.”
To get the event ready, organizers spent more than two months setting up the rodeo grounds, including building the arena, the holding pens, the chutes, and the bleachers.
Klassen said a lot of the athletes told him they were surprised to see the event continue after learning of its fate last year.
“They were all very impressed that we were even having a rodeo this year. They were all happy to be there and they all had their little bits of wisdom about how we can improve for next year.”
Paul Clarke
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