Red Bull Snowscrapers at East River Park

Crowd

Frostbite wasn't the ideal image Red Bull wanted snowboard aficionados to leave with during its inaugural Snowscrapers event, held at East River Park. But guess what? It was frickin' cold out (btw, that four-word couplet constituted nine-tenths of the crowd conversation). When not contemplating the joys of toasty baths of lava, patrons witnessed an all-star line-up of ‘boarders, including Shaun White, competing in a sixteen-person, four-round tournament, turning tricks down a nine-story ramp. NJ resident Shayne Pospisil won the $50K grand prize, announced at 9:40 PM...or, forty minutes later than expected and after roughly 80% of the crowd had dissipated.

The horrendous cold had driven away what had been an impressive turn-out, and the lack of organization meant that the day's musical headliners Anthrax were given a whopping three-song set (four if you count the muffled, inaudible "Bring the Noise", performed with Chuck D...who still apparently gets no love from The Man). Good news: the park, and ramp, will re-open Feb. 16-22 as a public snowboarding and sledding course. Have fun! We're still trying to regain the use of our feet. —Kirk Miller