Zeb Powell Talks Favorite Sneakers and Possible Jordan Collab Before Red Bull Heavy Metal
Published
Over the weekend, Red Bull took over the city of Boston for the grand finale of their fan-favorite Heavy Metal tour. The energy drink and action sports brand hauls truckloads of snow, to the tune of hundreds of tons, into downtown cityscapes and puts on insane street snowboarding competitions that consistently go viral.
One of the main attractions is rising star Zeb Powell, the North Carolina snowboarder changing the game with his unique style and immense skills. Zeb is a superstar in the snowboarding world and is even starting to crossover into the mainstream thanks to his ‘hey did you see this’ performances in events like Red Bull Heavy Metal and X-Games Knuckle Huck, where he’s won multiple medals including gold in 2020.
Did we mention he’s the first professional snowboarder on Jordan Brand? Yeah, pretty major. Jordan signed Powell last year, and he’s appeared at a number of events for them, including ComplexCon in Vegas last fall. It remains to be seen what Zeb and Jordan have up their sleeves, but we can’t wait to find out.
It’s uncharted territory for both sides, and the partnership has so much potential, especially after seeing how much the brand was able to accomplish with their only BMX rider, Nigel Sylvester. Anyone who has had a long day of snowboarding knows how good it feels to take off that boot and put regular shoes back on, so it makes total sense to tie a lifestyle shoe to Zeb’s personality and style, as well as gear for the lodge to match.
Red Bull and Powell’s other sponsor, Burton, threw a pre-party for Zeb and the other riders at Concepts in Boston the night before Heavy Metal, featuring some sick Celtics and Bruins-themed Zeb jerseys and lots of Red Bull cocktails. Before the night was over, I had a chance to chat with Zeb, who was rocking a pair of all-black Jordan Trunner O/S and some good CPFM x Nike, about his favorite sneakers, why he doesn’t care about the Olympics, and teaching Snoop Dogg how to shred.
Drew oversees content at Sole Retriever and hates writing in the 3rd person soooo I'm going to stop. I've written for countless blogs and magazines, from Complex to XXL and everywhere in between. Spent a long time in LA, running content and working on branded collabs at The Hundreds. Now, I'm back home on the East Coast freezing my ass off. Email me at drew@soleretriever.com with scoops, story ideas, and size 13 heat.
