Zeb Powell on Red Bull Slide In Tour: "You have to know the history"

I think we’re going on 6 years now. Red Bull Slide In Tour is a road-trip style tour where myself and some friends travel the U.S. stopping at different resorts, riding with different people along the way. It started mainly because most Red Bull snowboard athletes are competing or doing huge projects during the springtime, and I wasn’t really that guy. My athlete manager at the time came up with the idea to do a little tour around the North East where snowboarding started, because it doesn’t get too much love these days. They just told me to pick three friends I like snowboarding with and go around snowboarding with them.

It was crazy. It went from mellow and fun, to still fun but at a high caliber; just as far as who I was riding with, the terrain I was riding, and just all around the level of riding had gotten so much higher. It was also my first time having coaches and being coached, I had never been coached. I went from having fun snowboarding with friends and learning sh*t on my own to being coached, going to competitions as well as school, and snowboarding almost every day with a bunch of other people that were better than me [laughs].

I was doing a lot of events in the North East that were kind of general, but this was the first event that fully matched my style of riding. It was at a point in my snowboarding where I think I was kind of fully developed, or fully developing. It was an event that was just made for me basically, my style of riding. I knew something was up when I beat the local pros at that event by just doing what I do. Some of the Red Bull North East reps were there and that was the first time they had noticed me in general, so that put me on their radar as a new guy in the North East.

The original crew was me, Jesse Augustinas, Sean Neary, and Miles Fallon. Who it has evolved to now is me, Alex Caccamo, Jesse Augustinas still, and whichever friends I’m jiving with the most nowadays. Because everyone is so busy [laughs].

It’s very important to me who’s with me because Red Bull Slide In Tour isn’t something you can just jump on and act like you know. You have to know the history, where it came from, and how it operates. So, it’s important to have people who know why we’re there doing it. It’s formed out of people that are psyched that it started, know how it started, people that know what’s good, and people that can hang with kids.

We did a day at Saskadena Six a few years back, dude I want to go back now. That place is so much fun. We did a day there, I was hurt even, kind of in a bummed mood, don’t even remember why. I was there just chilling, looked up, and I hadn’t realized how many kids had just started flowing in. All the energy was so infectious and cool. It was such a small mountain, but there was still so much soul. I didn’t expect it and it definitely lifted my spirits the second I realized it was happening. I had the most fun riding down this super-duper small mountain hitting this one jump, one rail line. It’s definitely a day I won’t forget.

Another one was when Red Bull Slide In Tour went to Mountain Creek. We did a Hoods to Woods clinic and rode with all the kids around the mountain. Everyone had gone down for dinner and I wanted to stay out to ride because I had been busy all day. Then half the mountain came to ride with me basically. It wasn’t like I had called them to do that, they just kind of showed up. I think that’s the best part of Slide In Tour, is when the kids know they can come ride and hang out, whether it’s talking to me or just riding beside me. That’s the most important part of it.

I think the way it’s influenced my career is, well; I didn’t ask to be Black or I didn’t ask to be this person, but it has opened my eyes to how much work there needs to be done to make it our own, make it more inclusive. That’s a hard one honestly.

I feel like I don’t try to be Black, I just try to be me. But that being said, me being Black it’s just a given that I represent the community in snowboarding for Black people. I think it just pacts more of a punch in the fact that anyone can do it. People see me doing it and think, “Hey, I can do it.”

You know me, you’ve known me, I’ve never looked down at my skin and been like, “Oh, I’m Black, I can’t go there with you guys”, like, I’m just me. I’ve never dropped the line “Oh, I’m Black, I can’t…” anything, I never gave a f*ck.

There are so many people, dude. I think ASAP Ferg would be sick to have on, because he kind of helped catapult Culture Shifters and all that, and he’s also an actual genuine person I can call my friend actually. But then Travis Scott would be cool to have on too, because, you know, it’s Travis Scott.