From the Mind of Bobby Brown, Red Bull Cascade Brought World’s Best Male and Female Freestyle Skiers to Ultimate Course in Winter Park, Colorado.
Red Bull Cascade, the new freeski competition from the mind of Bobby Brown, concluded on Saturday, April 22nd after two-days of epic skiing by world renowned athletes. The bracket-style contest saw 14 men and women freeskiers put down their best top-to-bottom run on a course designed to challenge every discipline of skier. In the end, Olympian Alex Hall and professional skier Grace Henderson were crowned the champions.
“These past few days of the contest have seen some of the most creative skiing of the season,” said event visionary Bobby Brown. “After years of planning this event, it’s amazing to see it finally come to life. Alex and Grace truly put down runs that complemented their styles and took advantage of the course design.”
After the event finished, Brown sat down with Action Sports Today to talk about the event and the evolution of skiing in this week’s “Behind The Action.”
AST: Why was it important to you to create a contest that pushes the sport?
BB: I think it’s important to keep things fresh. Continue to look at things from a new lens and keep pushing to see what’s possible. It’s also just fun to have a vision and see if you can accomplishment it. Once it’s built, it’s always exciting to see the riders drop in and see if we executed. There are always new opportunities to push the sport. Creatively, technically, aseptically- there is no one way to keep things progressing.
AST: What elements were most important to you to include?
BB: The most important part of this event was making the course the focus. We know what the riders are capable of, and we wanted to make sure we created something that could unlock their potential. When we looked at the map of the course, we wanted to ensure there would be movement from left to right from the start to the end of the line. Flow is the key word that we based the whole design off.
AST: What is the selection process like for the riders?
BB: We wanted to have a diverse group of skiers. From freeride backcountry riders, to Olympic champions, we really looked in every corner of the ski universe to identify the invitees. One of my favorite things was seeing how everyone meshed. Each rider can draw inspiration from the others and apply it to their own skill set. It really was a collective this week in Winter Park and something special to witness.
AST: How can this event grow and evolve?
BB: Steeper terrain. Plain and simple. We want to bring this vision to dynamic terrain that will continue to push the level of free ride skiing.
AST: What is it like having Red Bull in your corner helping to create this event?
BB: Without Red Bull none of this is possible. There are no other brands that support events like this. It’s been incredible to see the energy and resources Red Bull puts into things that push the sport forward. I’ve been with Red Bull for 14 years and there has been no waver in their support for free skiing and the future of the sport.
