Sometimes in street snowboarding you come across spots where the environment is arguably more entertaining than the feature itself. That isn't to knock the technicality and consequence of this large elbow down-flat-down in Connecticut by any means. It more speaks to the bizarre happenings around the area.
Originally attempted in the 2014 King of the Road video by Alec Majerus, Connecticut local Joey Leon knew of the spot thanks to his seemingly endless mental spot book. Talk about a home field advantage. With the late season snow quickly melting and only two days left before we had to head back to Vermont, the crew was trying to get busy.
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Joey Leon with his street weapon of choice: the Artifact Pro |
The day started off by striking out on multiple spots. Lack of snow, cars parked in the landings, and nosey neighbors all hindered the crew and motivation was quickly dwindling. Joey suggested giving the KOTR rail a drive by claiming we were 'only 10 minutes away.' (Editor's note: we were 45 minutes away)
After rolling up and giving it a walkthrough Joey started getting hyped to try a boardslide. As Joey, Noah Coville, and Nate Haust got the spot dialed in it became apparent there may not be much time to try the boardslide. There were only a few hours until dark and no lights/generator to extend the session. Not only that but the drop in crept into the main road that led straight to the downtown area so surely there was bound to be unwanted attention.
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The battle for the trick wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Shockingly close attempts followed by 20+ tries of getting nowhere close. Frustration, homies trying to motivate Joey, surprisingly no interactions with the police (despite quite a few drive by's). About 2 hours in with the sun threatening to set on the horizon the locals started showing interest.
A woman who happened to be walking by exclaimed, "My son Mikey does this snowboard shit all the time! I gotta send him a video, he'd love this!"
Employees from the vape store across the street came to investigate, confused about what exactly snowboarding was. To top it off the owner of a local tattoo shop appeared in a full face helmet and off-road capable One Wheel. Trying to drive it in the snow of Joey's landing, while entertaining at first, started quickly eating into what little light we had left.
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The tattoo shop owner moonlighting as action sports athlete. |
 Dude had pretty sick tricks on the One Wheel.
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Some tries later Joey was exhausted, the light had run out, and he had no clip to show for it. After getting some food and beer in their stomachs the crew decided to head back to the KOTR rail on their way out of Connecticut to see if they couldn't get the make.
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Getting a much earlier start the following day, Joey immediately got to work. Less than half an hour in the fire marshal rolled up. "Great," we thought, "going home without the clip."
To everyone's surprise he just wanted to see what was going on as he left work. Confused but intrigued by the idea that filming snowboarding was something people do as a 'career', he stuck around to watch a few tries before wishing Joey well and heading on his way. This had to be a good omen for the spot, no?
Not long after the lady from the previous day happened to show up, even more excited this time. She told us that Mikey had his daughter today and they were right around the corner. After a hectic phone call she told us Mikey wanted to snowboard too and would be there in 10 minutes. The show was truly starting.
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True to her word a man with a snowboard appeared around the corner with a small girl in tow. As he got closer we were all drawn to his setup. Walking in some of the loosest most blown out boots maybe in existence, Mikey was rocking OG clicker bindings. He quickly asked if it would be cool if he could hit the rail with Joey. In a half attempt to not be rude, half curiosity to see how this man hitting the rail would go: Joey agreed.
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As expected, although enthusiastic, Mikey was not the best boarder. He would roll over the lip and try to ride down the stairs without falling. Maybe a bit easier on a rail/stairset that didn't curve. Surprisingly Mikey managed to avoid closing himself out on the rail but there were a few close calls. He then switched to trying to finger flip off the guard rail at the top of the hill and land clicked in. Dude was trying to land an NBD in front of his daughter and mother (unfortunately for him he couldn't stomp).
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Mikey getting the shot |
 Mikey going for the NBD
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The rest of the battle for Joey's trick wasn't too eventful and he managed to perfectly lace the boardslide without much effort. To everyone's surprise the neighbors came out from the next door apartment building to congratulate Joey. After some quick smalltalk we learned that their names were Big Sexy and Alley Cat and were self-proclaimed huge fans of snowboarding.
Joey gave them his deck from the spot and they offered a round of Bomb Pop flavored vodka shots as return. Turns out they didn't have enough shot glasses so they brought out a grip of their kid's medicine cups. After thanking Big Sexy and Alley Cat for their hospitality the crew started back to Vermont for a few days of rest before their next trip.
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Big Sexy pouring a celebratory shot for the crew
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 Cheers!
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After spending most of the year filming street in Quebec where the locals are significantly more aware of street snowboarding, this spot served as an entertaining reminder of how unaware most are of snowboarding (let alone street riding). Met with a truly bizarre cast of characters at the spot, the kid with bright red hair hurling himself down the stairset fit right into the obscurity in that pocket of Connecticut.
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Catch the clip in Particle by clicking here.
Story/photos by Max Lyons.
