2011 Red Bull Cold Rush Branding

After spending 4 years in the frigid north of Canada, Red Bull —the iconic international energy drink and lifestyle company—brought their annual Cold Rush skiing event to the extraordinary mountains of Silverton, Colorado. Cold Rush is a three-day backcountry skiing event spanning big mountain, slopestyle, and cliff skiing contests. When the athletes aren’t sending it or skiing the perfect line, they are down in town for interviews, late night video judging, and all around fun.

With this in mind, Red Bull tapped The Public Works to design and fabricate both on- and off-hill branding pieces for the entire event. Each piece required its own series of aesthetic and logistical solutions.

The off-hill pieces, which were placed inside Silverton’s Mining Museum, were designed by The Public Works to have the look and feel of signs that had seen their day in a mining operation. Each piece started with a raw piece of wood, which was completely transformed by The Public Works through CNC cutting, hand chiseling, chain and saw distressing, blowtorching, and multiple paint applications. The end result produced a variety of signs and trophies that looked completely at home inside the mining museum.

The second set of on-hill signs required the exact opposite style of aesthetics. Since the main event took place in the mountains and not at a groomed snow park, The Public Works designed the signs to be minimal in place, yet provide enough branding to be captured in every still and video shot during the event.  And, as for The Public Works logistical prowess?  We carried each on-hill sign up Silverton’s single chairlift by hand, hiked it to the top of the peak, and then skied the sign down to its location for the event. Hard to believe? Watch the video for proof.