2012 Red Bull Cold Rush Construction

For the second year in a row, The Public Works was integrally involved in Red Bull Cold Rush. The 2012 Red Bull Cold Rush featured a three-day freeskiing contest that combined a big-mountain venue with a cliffs course and slopestyle jump. The event took place at Silverton Mountain in Colorado, and featured an elite invitation-only list of 18 male athletes and 5 female athletes.

Without exaggeration, we are confident in saying that there are very few other companies in the world that could bring the mix of skills and energy to the table that The Public Works put into this year’s Red Bull Cold Rush. The Public Works spent months designing and fabricating all of the on- and off-hill branding, on-hill custom features, and athlete trophies. The Public Works also created multimedia assets of the build and final event.

The Public Works’ designs for this event paid homage to Silverton, Colorado’s rich mining history.  On- and off-hill branding showcased old west-style signs, custom designed and fabricated by The Public Works.  The on-hill features we designed and fabricated gave the appearance that the athletes were traversing and jumping old mine shafts.  We even incorporated the mining theme into the trophies, creating three sizes of mini-mine carts, emblazoned with the Cold Rush logo.

Once we finished fabrication at our shop, The Public Works rolled into Silverton, hauling over 5,000 pounds of custom-built fabrications. From there, things only got more challenging (and we sure do like a good challenge). After going up on the mountain and accessing final build locations, we went into mad final construction in the parking lot. All branding and custom features were then divided into loads weighing less than 700 pounds each—for helicopter lifts and drops at designated locations on the mountain.

Finally, we spent two days hiking to the build locations, carrying our tools, including chainsaws and sledgehammers. On-mountain, we constructed three custom and very unique high alpine slopestyle features. The Mando Mine Jump, a large jump that sent riders down-valley, featured a faux mine shaft entrance, making it look as if the jump was built above it.  The Castle Jump—the event’s last and biggest jump—was constructed to look like a mine’s retaining wall, clad in wood on all three sides and standing over 14-feet tall, complete with Red Bull and Cold Rush branding.  And, the Mine Cart Jib, the event’s newest feature, was constructed to give the appearance of a broken mine cart rail leading to nothing but a big drop down the ridgeline.
Throughout this process we honed our videography skills, shooting the fabrication in our Denver shop, documenting the trip to Silverton, and highlighting the final construction of the features on the mountain.  And, during the Cold Rush event, The Public Works’ photographers shot photos for Red Bull Media House and Alli Sports/NBC.

In the end, this was an amazing experience of which to be a part. The Public Works’ crew is extremely proud of the effort and final products. Still, it was only possible through the solid collaboration of a team of folks, including: course supervisor, Dale Womack and his crew; the staff at Silverton Mountain; Highline Sports & Entertainment, which ran production of the event; as well as a slew of Silverton locals who busted their humps to ensure this year’s Red Bull Cold Rush was a huge success.

We also need to give a huge thank you to Red Bull for giving us the nod to design and fabricate our unconventional and unique branding and features for this awesome event, as well as inviting us to once again shoot photos of the event.  A big thank you also goes to Subaru, GoPro and DeWalt who all came through huge for us with product support. (The video footage from the new GoPro’s filming our shining new fleet of yellow DeWalt tools is looking awesome! Video edit coming soon.)