Winter. It's an unavoidable part of life in Central New York. In this part of the country,
life doesn't stop for bitter wind or snow. And at some point or another, everyone has
to brave the great outdoors. But there's a certain breed of Central New Yorker for whom
being outside in the winter isn't a chore, but a pleasure.
In the last segment, Mike Owen introduced us to one part of this winter tribe, the skiers
and snowboarders. Now, let's focus in on a smaller and slightly off kilter faction of
this group. These riders brave not only cold and snow, but also metal and wood. They are
the rail riders.
Railriding has been around almost as long as snowboarding itself.
I think it was a slow evolution. I think that snowboarding came. I think there were a lot
of kids that were skateboarding that became snowboarders. And so they took what they knew
from skateboarding and brought it to the mountain.
As snowboarders have adapted skateboard grinds to their boards, freestyle skiers have also
adapted and innovated. But what is it about hurling themselves down a rail at high speeds
that these daredevils find appealing? I don't know. It's just dangerous, you know. This
thing's hurt and it's fun to just like spin on and off these things. I have no idea. I've
never done them. I don't know what's going through their minds, but they're having a
blast.
Boxes like this one are perfect for getting started on rail riding. And you can find them
in most ski areas these days. But this particular one isn't at a ski resort. It's in a public
park in downtown Syracuse, which brings us to our next section, the urban rail.
There are no chairlifts, no ski patrol to call for help. This is not a professionally
made obstacle in the ski area terrain park. It's just a regular handrail on the outskirts
of Syracuse. And when things go wrong, they go really wrong.
You all right?
Holy shit!
An urban rail session takes riders away from the relative safety of mountain terrain parks.
It's like a high wire rack without the net.
Like the biggest part of it is like the mental game. This rail we're in a park somewhere.
I mean, it would be no problem. But the fact that it's over wooden stairs, you're going
really fast. There's just flatness at the bottom. You know, just like to you out a lot
and you see other people going down around you. You can't let that get into your head
and can't just have to like rise above it.
It's just like what it is with urban rails, street rails and stuff like that. It definitely
takes a lot of time to get what you're looking for.
It's a challenging sport. It takes a while to learn stuff that you want to learn. You
can't just watch a video and do exactly what you see. It's intense.
I'm feeling it this time. This is a moment.
Many days of success that you're out here doing something. The day is a failure when
you sit on a couch and watch TV all day. You go home at night from doing something like
this and regardless of what happened, what went down on it, you can look back on your
day and think like I did something. It was legit. I had fun.
Whether they're on the mountain or out in town, these rail riders may seem like a strange
breed. They go through the highs and the lows just like any other athlete. And at the end
of the day, it's all just part of the ride.
Brett Cody, NCC News.
