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Over the past few winter’s snowboarders have become extremely creative in hitting one obstacle, landing on another and riding away in the opposite direction they started in, which is commonly referred to as a ‘redirect.’ The image you see here is one of these features, as Ethan Deiss snowboarded into the handrail he’s pictured on, slid between his bindings until the end of the rail, and then hopped off and landed on the vertical wall where you see the snow piled up. He completed the maneuver by riding down the wall and making his way into the flat bottom with the aid of the transition. The trick name would be known as a ‘boardslide pop-over wallride redirect,’ snowboarding that’s as technical as saying the trick name aloud. Photo: Blotto
When an architect sets out in designing a building, city park, overpass, or any other structure that includes public safety devices, never did it cross their minds that these long metal bars called handrails — sometimes square, sometimes round — would fuel an entire niche within snowboarding while influencing terrain parks worldwide. The handrail, in its simplest form, is the classic down-bar, a piece of metal running straight down a set of stairs used for pedestrian stability, and perfect for enthusiastic snowboarders. It was the early street-riding pioneers taking what they knew from skateboarding and applying it to the snowboarding process during the winter months that fueled a revolution. It’s absolutely incredible where it’s gone from there and hopefully this gallery shows you a little bit of that.
As a bonus, I included the trick names with each image, because you’ll get a kick out of saying them aloud, whether you’re the seasoned snowboarding veteran or an innocent bystander taking note of these freestyle fanatics risky life and limb in the name of fun and filling up video parts. Enjoy.
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