The architectural opportunities for snowboarding at Detroit's legendary Hart Plaza were hard to fathom until standing in the concrete arrangement myself. Various tunnels burrowing into the ground, some blocked with fences, others complete with perfect sized metal tubes. On the south side of the park, on the backside of a large auditorium stands the large Wall that Scott Blum famously handplanted to get a Cover of SNOWBOARDER Mag circa 2015.
The lore of Hart Plaza goes back quite some years, and I believe it was Bryan Fox who first filmed a clip there. Since then, Spencer Schubert, Jake Kuzyk, Dillon Ojo and countless others have entered the concrete anatomy to make use of the lucky architecture that lends itself so well to street snowboarding.
It’s that fact that would of course lead Red Bull to host their latest event in Detroit, and if you feel like reading a little more after the video, here’s the skinny:
The one-day event would be judged on overall impression based on the riding in three separate zones. Zone 1 went off first at 2 pm and took place on the aforementioned Scott Blum Wall. Scott, who was there judging the contest alongside Seth Huot and Jess Kimura, still undeniably holds the best trick on that spot, as only Zeb Powell was able to really get to the top.
Zone 2 was a down-flat-down fabricated for a stair set that already has a creeper option, we ran a photo of Grace Warner on the original rail in the most recent volume, and interestingly I think she was the only rider in the ladies field to successfully lace the full down flat down without any question.
The final rail was where the show really heated up under the lights and setting sun. It was also the zone where the winners truly defined themselves, Egan Wint stifling even a question of it after doing a 5050 font 3 and Pat Fava putting the final stamp on his consistent performance throughout the day.
RESULTS:
WOMEN'S PODIUM:
- Egan Wint
- Jaylen Hanson
- Maggie Leon
- Pat Fava
- Ryan Paul
- Luke Winkelmann
SOME RANDOM PHOTOS:
