Shred it up: Rail Jam to take over Hill on Thursday

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BOULDER, Colo. -

That there's going to be a party on the University Hill on a Thursday night shouldn't really be much of a surprise.

However, a party including 20 tons of snow and a host of area snowboarders and skiers trying to pull off their best tricks is definitely not something Boulder and University of Colorado students see every weekend.

The Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour is hitting Boulder on Thursday evening, and thousands are expected to pack the intersection of 13th Street and College Avenue, where a large ramp will be set up to allow riders to pull of their best aerial and rail-sliding tricks.

"It's a free event, whether for the participants or the people who happen to be walking by," Cricket Wireless spokesman Ryan Durnan said. "You can't really miss it."

It should be a spectacle.

"I hope we have a really good party feel up on the Hill," said Chimp T, Rail Jam Tour crew member and event MC. "The kids are stoked and the businesses around are stoked that they're able to have such a core group of the school take over that area."

The event features a $3,000 prize purse for the competitors and upwards of 100 snowboarders and skiers competing on the tour's 100-foot-long ramp in different divisions Thursday night.

There will be plenty of high-flying action for powder enthusiasts. Boulder Freeride, the ski and snowboard club at CU, is helping host the event.

"Just the energy everybody has -- this is the event of events for us," said CU senior Logan Soraci, Boulder Freeride's marketing director. "We have the most people come to this.

"This is definitely the banger for the club."

Last year, the CU campus played host to the first event of the inaugural Rail Jam tour, and the crew is looking forward to bringing it back to Boulder. Chimp T said the campus and community's love of snow sports made it an easy decision.

"The support for the culture is unmatched at any other school," he said.

Bringing the Cricket Wireless-sponsored, 12-stop tour in to merge along with Boulder Freeride's traditional spring rail jam is a natural fit, Soraci said.

"In years past, we've done rail jams based out of our office and what we can make happen, and it's been 10 times easier on our end of things having a company that specializes in this," Soraci said. "I think this year should be beyond epic."

Beyond bringing the snowy circus to town, the tour is a real grassroots effort. Instead of piling 20 or 30 big-name professionals into a couple of buses and traveling from campus to campus, the tour features local riders -- specifically college students.

"We're taking a pro rail jam down to the level where college kids have a chance to compete," Chimp T said, adding that though professional or semi-pro riders may join up, the bulk will be local athletes. "We leave it open for the entire school body and anyone that's around and has the ability to compete."

"We like the grassroots aspect of things," Durnan said. "For us in Colorado specifically, it's a perfect tie-in."

And for Boulder Freeride, this jam is going to be bigger than ever.

"Every single year this event is such a blast," said CU senior Alyssa Weber, Boulder Freeride's public-relations director. "It's going to be bigger than it's ever been.

"We're all really looking forward to it."