Red Bull Heavy Metal Goes International – “Magnifique” in Montreal

Red Bull Heavy Metal has gone international! Just a week after 20,000 showed up in Boston to watch some of the best rail riders in the world snowboard on the steps of City Hall, the event migrated up to Quebec to do the same thing at the iconic Olympic Park in Montreal. This past weekend was all-time. What is not to love? Good weather, a packed house, and riders getting to put their skill on display for thousands. The course is something that most of us only dreamt of while we were riding home from our local hill in the back of our parents’ car, pristinely maintained for a few hours of absolute mayhem. Red Bull has cracked the code.

Bringing snowboarding to cities where you can hop on a subway for ten minutes to see some of the biggest names in the sport (FOR FREE) alongside up-and-comers trying to stake their claim feels like you are cheating the system. You don’t have to wait for a video part to drop to see what your favorite riders are up to. They are right in front of you. You don’t have to scroll through the constant feed of stressful shit on your phone to get to an unbelievable clip. The snow is literally melting under your feet. The chances of an autograph is pretty solid with only a small barrier separating the fans from the athletes. You just show up and there are 30+ riders going for it all day. It keeps you on your toes. Sure, the events are tightly packed, and the viewing experience can be improved upon (which it has been getting better with every stop), but at the heart of this event… there is something incredible happening. Everyone is psyched on snowboarding. No matter the level of understanding of what is going on, there is something for every person in the crowd. Many riders laugh at the idea of doing a flip at a rail jam, but you know who doesn’t? Thousands of fans who cheer like you just saved a cat from a burning building. And for those that want to keep it more tech and refined… there are plenty in the crowd that understand a back one into huge kink not only takes guts, but years of studying on the board. Watching riders battle a trick and eventually land during a heat turns into a collective emotional moment that everyone remembers.

And for those that don’t like judged events in snowboarding, the judging doesn’t even really seem to matter that much. Yes, two people are going to walk home with the overall prizes and stack of cash, with a top three for every zone as well… but none of the fans really care. They are just there for the riding. Most of them leave after the last drop is called, before the winners are announced (which probably also needs to improve in the future so the snowboarders get a little more shine). But it really is unlike any other contest currently going and we back it.

Montreal had three zones all in the shadow of the iconic leaning tower that has stood since the city hosted the Olympics back in 1976. Zone one consisted of two rails that launched over a massive gap as well as a down ledge that is part of the original park structure. Fresh off the Olympics, Mela Stalker and Laurie Blouin put on a show in zone one alongside Lane Weaver, Maddox Matte, and Pat Fava. Zone two switched out the rails for a jersey barrier to gap and a hip that was more partial to exploding riders on the landing than a clean rideout. Caleb Chomlack, LJ Henriquez, and Kuba Hroneš looked like they all flew in just to give the people what they wanted on that hip. Both zones were backed up by a quarterpipe with screaming fans on the deck but the speed kept most of the riders under the lip. Eli Bouchard would launch off the top rope in the drop-in section (THAT WAS BASICALLY A WALL WITH ITS 60-DEGREE PITCH FOR SPEED) for head high airs that got the crowd going. Zone three was a down-flat-down rail that was probably the most challenging on the day. The long flat separated most of the field from lacing the whole thing, but Mees Oostdijk closed down the session after successfully boardsliding the entirety alongside Paula Benito getting tech on the end. The course took a few riders out during practice, but Montreal might have happily gotten away with the least amount of serious injuries this year.

In the end, besides us realizing that we need to brush up on our French, the biggest takeaway was Maddox Matte might be the next one up in snowboarding and Mela Stalker is here to stay. The local Quebec kid took the overall title on the day for the men’s field in an absolutely stacked group of riders. Olympians, ATVs, rail specialists… all took a backseat whenever Maddox dropped in. Mela, who was the overall champion for the women, has been making a name for herself out of Australia for quite some time, but has really been taking the international stage by storm the past two seasons. Stoked for both of them. Can’t wait to see more. Sounds like there is another Heavy Metal going down in Finland this upcoming weekend. If you can’t tell from everything we said above, you DON’T WANT TO MISS IT!