Arizona Snow Bowl Flagstaff has three terrain parks for freestyle snowboarding, where riders can slide down rails, go through halfpipes and fly through the air on jumps of various sizes.
Sunset Terrain Park, the most forward-thinking of the three, held a contest in January in partnership with local clothing company Collective Supply Co. The season is expected to last until May.
The event brought together dozens of snowboard and ski enthusiasts to compete for prizes from local and international snowboard brands.
read more: 10 Spring Break Activities for Moms and Kids in Arizona
Gabriel Prado, 26, won first place in the competition. He moved to Flagstaff during his sophomore year and has been snowboarding ever since. Prado said it would be great to see the event held together.
“The amount of time and money spent on snowboarding is ridiculous,” Prado said. “I definitely got out there and gave it my all.”
Prado has enjoyed snowboarding all over the world, but says Flagstaff’s snowboarding community has its own characteristics.
“There aren’t many people here who want to become professional skiers or snowboarders,” Prado said. “It’s mostly a passionate thing and it shows.”
In 2011 Rich Phillips and David Hilton opened a snowboard shop called Oncore Skate & Snow. The main purpose of the shop was to reintroduce and revitalize snowboarding in Flagstaff. Phillips said there was no tight-knit snowboarding community at the time.
“After a solid eight years of operation, we’ve really grown the snowboarding community here in Flagstaff,” Phillips said, noting that Flagstaff has become a destination for snowboarding over time.
However, the store closed and Phillips started Collective Supply Co. shortly after.
“At one of the[snowboarding video]premieres, we decided to roll out apparel and have a pop-up shop,” Phillips said. “That was our introduction to the collective.”
Participation in local snowboard competitions has increased significantly over the past four years. According to Sunset Terrain Parks, the 2018-2019 season featured two competitions with approximately 30 participants each, and this season saw four events with over 65 participants each.
“Snowboarding is growing fast and obviously we’re excited about it,” Phillips said. “Snowboarding is definitely alive and well, especially in Arizona.”
