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Reflection shots are hard to come by in the snowboard photography world because standing water usually means the temperatures are warming up and the snow is going away. Lucky for us, we found his location right after the temperatures climbed a solid 20-degrees over night, and just before the rain kicked in and melted all of the snow out within a few hours. Ethan took a liking to this straight bar, so he was happy to execute a few ‘lip slide 270’s’ for me, knowing good and well how hyped I was on some reflection value in this photo! 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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