The People’s Plaza lived up to its name Saturday, packed with thousands who gathered by Boston City Hall to watch some of the world’s best street snowboarders.
Over 300 tons of snow “fell” on the city as dump truck after dump truck brought the powder in to transform City Hall into a trick snowboarding arena for Red Bull’s Heavy Metal Street Snowboarding competition.
The single-day event saw competitors face off in three zones, using the city’s infrastructure — rails, stairs and brick walls — to freestyle and perform tricks.
Jake Wlochowski from Vermont was thrilled to watch the event — but was not expecting the massive crowds.
“I was like, ‘Alright, there’ll be some people showing up to, like, watch some snowboarding,’” he said. “But it was, like, mobbed everywhere from zone to zone. It was packed.”
A Red Bull staff member said they were expecting around 5,000 people to attend — but by their estimates, it was more than twice that.
To watch the third zone, the crowd stretched from the back of City Hall to beyond Faneuil Hall. Some spectators even watched from the top of the Docking Square parking garage.
Benny Milam, who won the men’s overall, responded to questions about any challenges that came with not having much snow on the course.
“When it comes to street snowboarding like this, there’s always something in the way where you’re going and you got to watch out for it,” Milam said. “Sometimes you don’t have the snow to fill it up, like, sometimes there’s a tree in the way. Chances are you’re probably gonna end up hitting that tree at least once.”
Along with Milam, 15-year-old Jessica Perlmutter took home the women’s all-around win yesterday after winning the individual awards for zone one and zone two.
