Snowboarders hucked themselves down the deadly 68-foot-long kinked rail next to Boston City Hall Feb. 22 as announcers shouted their names, blinding strobe lights dazzled the shadowy obstacles, trap music blasted and the crowd cheered. Distractions were high, and danger was higher.
Congress Street and the surrounding area were flooded with thousands of people for Red Bull’s Heavy Metal Boston event. People stood upon every picnic table, barrier, ledge, curb and statue as they tried to get a view over the shoulders of those in front of them.
It was reminiscent of Thrasher Magazine’s Bust or Bail events, where professional skateboarders from around the world are invited to skate a massive, dangerous feature in front of a large crowd of people. They are typically characterized by the landing of prodigious tricks, the taking of painful slams and ample excitement from viewers and participants.
The event included three zones of obstacles. Zone 1 featured a roll-in from the main entrance of City Hall to a 40-foot downrail, followed by a large stair set. Zone 2 consisted of a large jump and jump-to-wallride from the wheelchair ramp on the side of the building.
A serious fall took place in Zone 2 due to an accident with a winch, the cord device the riders were using to gain speed. Fifteen-year-old amateur snowboarder Callen Hwang from Rye, New Hampshire, got caught up in the rope just before she went off the jump to wallride feature. She was sent into the air out of control and was knocked unconscious when she slammed hard into the ground. The event was stopped for around 10 minutes while emergency medical services helped her off the course. She was rushed to the hospital where she was later determined to have only a concussion.
Zone 3 was the most treacherous section of the event, taking place on the large stair set that led from City Hall Plaza down to Congress Street. It featured a large kinked handrail going down the entire stair set, a rail against a wall on the left side and a jump to wallride at the bottom.
The main challenge in this zone was to make it down the entire handrail without having to hop off. Many riders were only able to make it to the second kink before they were bounced off due to the amount of speed they had gained. When riders fell off the rail, they were sent sliding and bouncing down the rest of the stair set which had minimal snow coverage to pad their snowboard or their body.
Only a handful of riders were able to slide the entire rail, including the legendary East Coast snowboarder Lucas Magoon, 36, who landed a frontside 50-50. He was a crowd favorite recognized by the local snowboarding crowd and the announcers who screamed “Gooner” on every one of his attempts.
In a metropolis where daily life is largely detached from extreme sports like snowboarding, this was a unique opportunity to see riders attempt high-level tricks on the City of Boston’s front steps.
