The anual Red Bull Playstreets has just wrapped up in Bad Gastein, Austria. With Øystein Bråten taking the crown followed by sixteen year old Andri Ragettli and Jesper Tjäder rounding off a packed field of international riders to claim the third spot. However, this isn't an event recap. It's not a turn to turn detail anylys as to why Øystein won. No, this is to why Red Bull Playstreets is the most progressive competition in the industry as of right now and to why we need more competitions like this.
Ahmet about to drop in to playstreets
Russ Henshaw with a cork 450 over the hip jump in 2009 playstreets
Oystein with a bio 630 over the hip.
The Crowd...
Often over looked is just how much a crowd can make the atmosphere of a competition. You can have the best riders in the world throwing down on a slope course, much like that of FIS courses and no one will be watching, because the atmosphere just isn't there. However, Playstreets embodies the apres ski lifestyle that Europe has been made famous for. With a lights, a dj and smoke machines all adding to the already some what drunk crowd of Bad Gastein, Austria. Throw in free Red Bull and a performance mid competition by an unkown rapper (shazam came up with nothing) and the people of Bad Gastein, Austria become one of the buck wildiest crowds to compete in front of. The energy they put off only motivates the riders to push hard and put on a better show for the drunks down the bottom and on the sides. Unlike a X games or Dew Tour, where everyone is at the bottom, Playstreets has spectators all along the course feeding into the atmosphere.
Red Bull Playstreets will never be on the same level as X-Games or Dew Tour, however in an industry that is divided in such a way of style vs technicality, Playstreets is proving to be the middle ground to where both can merge into one form and breathe life into an other wise choking industry deprived of originality.
Thankyou for reading, "what we can learn from Red Bull Playstreets"- An opinion piece by Eric Brunsdon
Ahmet about to drop in to playstreets
Russ Henshaw with a cork 450 over the hip jump in 2009 playstreets
Oystein with a bio 630 over the hip.
The Crowd...
Often over looked is just how much a crowd can make the atmosphere of a competition. You can have the best riders in the world throwing down on a slope course, much like that of FIS courses and no one will be watching, because the atmosphere just isn't there. However, Playstreets embodies the apres ski lifestyle that Europe has been made famous for. With a lights, a dj and smoke machines all adding to the already some what drunk crowd of Bad Gastein, Austria. Throw in free Red Bull and a performance mid competition by an unkown rapper (shazam came up with nothing) and the people of Bad Gastein, Austria become one of the buck wildiest crowds to compete in front of. The energy they put off only motivates the riders to push hard and put on a better show for the drunks down the bottom and on the sides. Unlike a X games or Dew Tour, where everyone is at the bottom, Playstreets has spectators all along the course feeding into the atmosphere.
Red Bull Playstreets will never be on the same level as X-Games or Dew Tour, however in an industry that is divided in such a way of style vs technicality, Playstreets is proving to be the middle ground to where both can merge into one form and breathe life into an other wise choking industry deprived of originality.
Thankyou for reading, "what we can learn from Red Bull Playstreets"- An opinion piece by Eric Brunsdon
