A couple of local kids stopped and did a double take, but they weren't seeing things, there actually was a snow-slope in their town centre…...
Thursday 22^nd November, 17:00hrs, Queen Victoria Square, Hull City centre, strange things were definitely afoot. SNO!zone Castleford, Board Patrol of Hull and Hull City Council had banged heads in a most jib-tastic fashion, working together to bring over 30 tonnes of REAL snow to the centre of Hull and create the Street Session. The format was simple, build an amazing set-up and invite numerous UK pro-snowboarders and skiers to show up and throw down. Giving the good folk of Hull a taste of what the white stuff has to offer.

Damian Doyle of SNO!zone, headed up the massive project, drawing up a design that involved erecting a two storey scaffold slope right under the city's BBC Big Screen, shipping in all the snow from the slope at Castleford and installing a fine choice of jib obstacles. On the riders right was a simple but progressive down box, while on the left was a tasty looking C-box, with both options leading down to a wall ride at the bottom of the course. With live footage being fed to the Big Screen above them, a perfect set-up in front of them and a hyped up crowd below, the riders were ready to slay the course, pumped up even further by the sounds of 7DeadlySpinz and MC’s Keith and Ferg.

The event went off almost immediately, and it's no surprise when you consider the riders who had accepted the invite to ride at the first ever Street Session in Hull. Beginning with a relaxed jam format, pro's including Stu Edwards and Rick Barrow got to work straight away, getting creative on the down box with a succession of switch tricks. The “yoof” element was well represented too, with Will Smith launching straight into a 270 onto the box, and SNO!zone’s own Si Foster tail tapping his way into the crowds heart. Knox brothers Tom and Sparrow put sibling rivalries aside, hitting the box and c-box simultaneously before stalling out with style at the top of the wall ride.

After a quick spot of re-shaping it was time to reward the crowd for their constant noise making and let battle commence  – SNO!zone versus Board Patrol! With one rider dropping for each team, the left and right sides of the crowds could win a plethora of prizes from Vans, Odyssey, K2, Jagermeister, Gravis, Analog, Bataleon, Gumball3000, Land Rover and Independant Ski-Links, dependant on the tricks thrown down, and more importantly, how loud they cheered!  The riders began to step things up, the merest whiff of competition also resulting in the slam count rising rapidly, which pleased the crowd if not the riders concerned. The level was pushed even further by the likes of Wayne 'The Handplant' Taylor and Jon Russell, who was spinning every which way onto the box and riding with his trademark assured style. A big shout at this point goes to Chris Chatt, James Carr and MC Ferg, who finally showed up after a nightmare 10 hour journey in traffic from London!  The Chatt/Carr factor amped things up considerably, even Damian Doyle strapped in and went for it!

With the prize box contents rapidly disappearing, the judges began to take note of the standout riders of the day, assembling a who's who list of those going through to the 6-man super final in the first Street Session Invitational, where they would get just two runs each to impress the other riders who would be judging. After a brief pause to allow local news programme Look North to 'go live', it was time for the Super Final.  Making it through were Wayne Taylor, Stu Edwards, Jon Russell and Rick Barrow with Andy Collins and Jamie Lawson holding it down for the skiers.
Wayne Taylor opted to ignore the rails and headed at mach 10 towards the wall ride at the bottom, pulling a crowd pleasing handplant that nearly sliced a couple of the watching judges in two! The C-box received double treatment from Rick Barrow who pulled both a back lip and a switch front board round its curves, while Stu Edwards opted for a nollie backside tail Danish and a 270 onto the C-box with maximum Eddy steez. Skiers Andy Collins and Jamie Lawson were having their own mini battle, attempting to out rotate each other in a bid for glory. The final decision was unanimous from the other riders, the standout trick of the day came from Jon Russell, who nailed a fs3 the hard way onto the box, as well as a 270 on the C to claim top spot and provoke the biggest cheer of the night from the crowd and fellow riders alike. Second went to Rick Barrow with Jamie Lawson taking home the skiers title riding with tonnes of style.

Sadly for everyone, after the prize giving the course had to be dismantled (council rules!) bringing the Street Session event to an end. No matter, as the fun continued long into the night courtesy of a superb after party at The Lamp, ensuring plenty of riders and staff were definitely not going to work on time the next day!!  

SNO!zone and Board Patrol would like to thank Hull City Council for their support and look forward to bringing the Street Session to more locations around the UK!