Snowoboarding takes over Kansas City’s Power and Light district!

Snowboarding takes over Power & Light District
BY COLE YOUNG | THE KANSAS CITY STAR

Nick Goodman slides down the skinny rail during Saturday afternoon’s competition at the Scion Snowboarding Open 2009 at the Kansas City Power & Light District.

It was a rare day for Marc Bazzano.

Bazzano, a former Liberty resident, became one of the first people to snowboard in the Power & Light District — and he wore a T-shirt while doing it.

Snowboarding made its debut Saturday in downtown Kansas City. A 22-foot-tall ramp was built in the KC Live block and was covered with snow, making the area look more like Aspen or Lake Tahoe than an unseasonably warm Saturday in the Midwest.

Snowboarders from throughout the area converged for the finale of the 2009 Scion Triple Crown, which has already been contested this year at Snow Creek in Weston and in St. Louis.

Bazzano, who now lives in Steamboat Springs, Colo., was one of 125 participants in Saturday’s rail jam event, which consisted of a jump followed by the boarder choosing one of two rails to ride down.

After preliminaries, the group was whittled to 16 riders who were paired with professional riders from across the country.

Those teams competed in a bracket-style format, with the eventual champions being determined by the crowd.

As for rail jams, it’s a dangerous enough event that they’re required to wear helmets. Throwing the event inside tight confines made for some wild rides down the slope, with some unintentionally going down head-first or backward.

“Yeah, we could do something at a mountain, but where is it really going to shock everyone?” said Fritz Heffinger, the event producer.

“We thought, ‘Where is everyone going to be able to come and see something they will probably never get to see again? Where is someplace that the kids could ride where they may never get to again?’ ”

What came from the brainstorming sessions between Heffinger’s marketing company, Department Zero, and Scion resulted in a 100-foot long structure that ended at the base of the stage inside the Power & Light District.

A crew from Minnesota constructed the ramp on Thursday and paired with local volunteers on Friday to cover it with snow.

In all, 68 tons of snow was hauled in from Snow Creek to cover the ramps.

To keep the snow from melting, 375 bags of ice were put at the top and bottom of the structure, then salt was applied before the snow was put on. By layering the snow and ice, it created what Heffinger called “the homemade ice cream effect,” which kept the 70-degree air from getting to the base of the snow.

The snow held up well in places that the ice was underneath. The corners turned more to slush, but Bazzano and the rest of the competitors were content just to be taking part in the event.

“Yeah, it was junk snow,” Bazzano said. “But the way I look at it, any snow is good snow.”

The weather still made for anxiety this week when event coordinators kept seeing forecast temperatures rising.

“It gave us some nervous moments early in the week,” said John Stolz, a field manager for Scion.

“We were looking from a different perspective, though, that this event would draw more of a crowd out than it might have if the weather wasn’t as good.”

Throughout the day, the crowd circulated in and out before again packing the walkways and area near the landing surface at nightfall.

That’s when the event began to take on a more serious tone. Lights illuminated the structure and spotlights were on the contestants.

While the faithful crowd lasted late into the night, much of the snow wasn’t as fortunate. By the time the competition reached the bracket portion, the only snow on the slope was at the top, acting as a jump for the snowboarders and at the bottom of the rails, to provide an area to land.

And though the snow may have caused problems and delays throughout the evening, Bazzano felt that no matter what issues came up, it was good for the crowd to see there was a group of people passionate about the sport.

“That’s the main thing,” Bazzano said. “What I think this event really was meant to do was show the fans there are a lot of people serious about snowboarding.”

The crowd varied from those who showed up early for a monster truck event at the Sprint Center to serious snowboarding enthusiasts who came equipped with lawn chairs.

Jeremiah Lewis, his girlfriend and her son made a day of the event.

“I think it’s pretty good,” Lewis said. “I thought maybe there would be a little bit more variety, but I think it’s good for kids from this area that maybe don’t get to travel much to have an opportunity like this.”