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Who needs a mountain or the forecast of snow when you can bring
the mountain to the CBD with trucks, handrails, snow and downhill
terrain? Competitors chose from two different rails; a rectangle
tube steel kinked flat bar, and a plywood curved ledge with steel
top, to show off their jibbing skills. Unlike traditional competitions,
the Red Bull Slide does not separate skiers from snowboarders, with
competitors being rewarded for style, technical skill and length
of ride.
Bring the mountain to the city
Hunted almost to extinction in their native mountain habitat, New
Zealand's most talented snowboarders and skiers are rarely seen.
Special measures were needed to successfully relocate some of the
finest specimens to the harsh urban realities of Auckland for a
rail-sliding jam session.
  
To help recreate the jibber's normal
environment (and alleviate the stress of captivity) ice was specially
trucked in from the city's finest tuna packing establishments. Auckland
managed to squeeze four seasons, two microclimates, 11 cloud variants
and an occluded front into the course of just one day. Those who
braved the odd downpour were treated to a world-class display of
jibbery. This was an awesome chance for people who may never have
seen snow before to check out snowboarding and skiing at its best.
Volvo supported - literally
Spectators were able to experience the thrill of sliding in an urban
setting. Chancery Lane with its steep pitch is a perfect venue and
the organizers built a course to match. Riders could easily get
enough speed to gap over the apex of the rainbow rail if they chose.
  
A classic Volvo 244 GL station wagon
was used as the main rail support. The Red Bull crew must have had
a cheeky giggle at the idea of 60 competitors grinding this car,
formally the bane of the road and the preferred transport of bridge
players everywhere. In keeping with its reputation, the metal on
the car was a little sticky. This didn't trouble the snowboarders
(the trend is for slow slides anyway) but some of the skiers washed
out and couldn't pop an ollie onto the rail that immediately followed
the car. The biggest cheers of the night were reserved for those
skiers who received the consequential "nutting".
Thorne takes the prize
There were so many rulers it's hard to pick highlights. Virtually
every rail combination imaginable was tried as competitors struggled
to splash a bucket of steez into the judge's faces. E2 Mayhem team
member Andy Radford did a lot of damage to his big-mountain jock
reputation by nailing both features.
Jeremy Thorne was pretty stoked with his $5000 first prize. After
battling his way to the final he threw a super smooth front side
270 onto the first rail and a switch frontside boardslide to fakie
on the Volvo rail.
Brad Prosser proved skiing is up there alongside snowboarding when
it comes to sliding rails - he ruled all day long. In the final
he threw a switch sex change (sounds kinky? - while you are sliding
the rail pop and spin 180 so you are sliding the same rail with
your opposite foot forward). On the second feature he did a rail
slide to 270 out for a very, very close second.
Last year Red Bull held the event in Beach St, Queenstown where
thousands of spectators crammed the streets to witness several of
New Zealand's best skiers and snowboarders ride the rails.
[Source: scoop.co.nz, snow.co.nz ]
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