Community ride days are highlights throughout the season. The welcoming and more accessible environment encourages the weaving and strengthening of the fabric that connects our culture in a personal way. To close out summer in anticipation of the upcoming winter, the Block Party is what we're humbly calling a super community ride day—an event that brings together a collective of community powerhouse non-profit orgs, groups, and crews that spend their seasons making a difference in snowboarding for a day of boarding all together. It's community collaboration in a truly special way at the center of year-round snowboarding on the East Coast, Big SNOW.
The Block Party is free to attend. You just need a valid Big SNOW access ticket, and you can get special event pricing by RSVPing here .
So, who will be at the Block Party? Here's the run-down.
SHRED Foundation - @shredfndn website: www.shredfoundation.org Instagram: @shredfndn SHRED is an Albany-based non-profit organization that encourages long-term learning and growth through snowboarding, with a multi-faceted approach that is rooted in snowboarding and also includes off-hill educational and professional opportunities for young people. Founded by Danny Hairston, read more about SHRED here .
Chill Foundation - @chillfoundation website: www.chill.org Instagram: @chillfoundation Chill was founded in 1995 by Jake and Donna Carpenter. The non-profit operates in cities around the world, introducing local youth to boardsports to facilitate growth and self-confidence through learning new skills. Each year, Chill serves more than 2,000 young people, helping them to fall in love with snowboarding and other boardsports.
Beyond the Boundaries - @btbounds website: www.btbounds.com Instagram: @btbounds Beyond the Boundaries began in 2017, founded by Christine Savage and Mary Walsh. It holds women's snowboard camps, ride days, and trips. BTBounds origins were at Loon Mountain, New Hampshire and since 2017, the group has grown through the support of a dedicated community of participants, staff, resort partners, and brand partners, with weekend park camps all over the US and Canada, international trips to Japan and Chile, and annual ride days at Dew Tour and The Uninvited Invitational.
Soy Sauce Nation - @soysaucenation website: www.soysaucenation.com Instagram: @soysaucenation Soy Sauce Nation began as a personal connection between Andrew "AK" Kelly and Nirvana Ortanez when they worked together at High Cascade Snowboard Camp. The solidarity they felt as AAPI snowboarders in their friendship has resonated widely and now, lead by Nirvana, AK, and Max Tokunaga, SSN has grown into a community that creates space for underrepresented people and groups by highlighting them at events and in the media. Soy Sauce Nation's annual Stir-Fry is a beloved gathering that celebrates community, culture, and friendship.
Park Affair - @parkaffair website: www.parkaffair.com Instagram: @parkaffair Founded by Hailey Ronconi and Mercedes Ortega in Vermont in order to help women feel more comfortable in the terrain park, Park Affair has grown into an inclusive community with events throughout the US that includes not only snowboarding, but also skateboarding and surfing. Through park camps, snowboard/skate/surf ride days (with Big SNOW), and the new addition of A Grand in Your Hand rail contest, Park Affair teaches, inspires, and creates opportunity in snowboarding.
The Rose Club - @_theroseclub website: www.the-rose-club.com Instagram: @_theroseclub The Rose Club is a women-focused snowboarding and skateboarding collective started by Michelle Tierney, a Utah-based snowboarder, skateboarder, and artist. Through snow and skate meet-ups, annual events, and partnerships with groups like Beyond the Boundaries, The Rose Club seeks to provide an inclusive space for women, trans, non-binary, and gender expansive folks to come together and share their love of snowboarding and skateboarding. Read more about The Rose Club in this interview with Michelle.
Anthology 42 - @a42fdn website: www.anthology42.org Instagram: @a42fdn Founded in 2024 by former SNOWBOARDER Magazine senior editor Mary T. Walsh, Anthology 42: The Michael H. Walsh Foundation is a non-profit organization that seeks to provide education, mentorship, and opportunity to young people pursuing the study of writing and the arts, and early career writers (with more to come in photography and videography in the future). Founded to continue the legacy of Mary's father, Michael, who was a writer, editor, poet, and educator, supporting opportunities in the creative side of snowboarding are paramount to Anthology 42, as his support was integral to Mary's career growth.
We're Are Mental - @_were_all_mental website: www.wereallmental.org Instagram: @_were_all_mental We're All Mental is a non-profit organization founded by Laura Rogoski that seeks to provide free mental health support throughout snowboarding and beyond. Through weekly, online, international support groups; in-person meet-ups in the US, Canada, and Austria; mental health wellness courses, and an annual magazine, We're All Mental is dedicated to creating community, support, awareness, and helping anyone in need. We're All Mental partners with Snowboy Productions and holds in-person meet-ups at each Snowboy event.
Black Boarders CT - @blackboardersct website: www.blackboardersct.org Instagram: @blackboardersct A Connecticut-based non-profit created by Vince Stimpson and his daughter Sislyn that gives Black and Brown youth access to snowboarding, encouraging skill development and bolstering inclusion and diversity in the mountains.
In addition to the community groups and non-profit organizations involved in the SNOWBOARDER x Big SNOW Block Party, Nitro Snowboards, Burton Snowboards, and Arc'Teryx are providing brand support.
Nitro and Burton will offer demos during the event to try out their new 2025 collections. Nitro team rider, Lex Roland, will also be on hand to meet, greet, hang out, and talk snowboarding!
Burton NYC, the flagship store located at 69 Greene St. in New York City will also be offering complimentary quick waxes on Wednesday, September 11, to anyone attending the Block Party! All you have to do is stop by the Burton NYC store the day before the Block Party and show your RSVP confirmation.
Arc'Teryx will also be at the Block Party, sharing in the stoke of the event as a brand dedicated to community.
The Block Party is presented by 5 Hour Energy and we couldn't make this happen without them, so big thanks to 5 Hour for providing the foundation to bring the East Coast (and beyond) snowboarding community together.
So, from 3-8pm on Thursday, September 12th, everyone is welcome at Big SNOW. ( All you have to do is RSVP here to get the special event ticket pricing. ) All ages, all abilities, all everyone is welcome to take laps, participate in on-hill activities, support the non-profits through a giant raffle (with hourly giveaways), and learn more about the work these amazing community groups are doing in the Block Party community village.
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