Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2023 i The Red Bulletin

Winning is great, but it’s not the only thing—even at the highest level of sport. This issue highlights a few pro athletes who have pursued passion projects or catalyzed social impact. Like cyclist Payson McElveen, who sought (and found) an emotional test crossing Tasmania in 32 hours. Or skater Jake Wooten, who helped uplift skate shops in the South during the pandemic through a one-of-a-kind event at an empty airport terminal. Our cover profile of Zeb Powell examines one athlete making an impact beyond championship wins. As you’ll learn, the groundbreaking pro snowboarder shines as an ambassador of awesomeness, finding broad cultural relevance by inspiring millions with his credo of inclusion on the slopes and spreading joy wherever he goes. That, perhaps, is the biggest reward in sports—not to win,…

Six years ago this June, Justin Lennon broke his neck. It was summer in Columbus, and the then-20-year-old Ohio State University undergrad took what he calls a “dumb flip” on a backyard trampoline. He landed badly on his C5 and C6 vertebrae and sustained a life-changing spinal cord injury that led to quadriplegia. Adjusting to his new normal—no movement or feeling from his upper chest downward—was a challenge that took time, effort and determination. “I had to put my life on hold while I healed,” he says. He dropped his classes and moved back home to Cincinnati, traveling to Columbus twice a week for rehab, where he relearned old skills and learned new ones, including how to take advantage of accessible housing and paratransit services so that he could get…

IT’S TWO HOURS BEFORE his afternoon competition at the 2023 X Games, and Zeb Powell wants to eat. Though the pro snowboarder is buzzing with energy, he’s in need of some lunch. The tweezered small bites in the luxe VIP station in Aspen are not going to cut it. A member of his team makes a mad dash to the media tent to retrieve some bananas and protein bars. But by the time she returns, Powell has decided he needs to burn off some steam and take a couple of runs on the mountain, so his manager stuffs the food in his coat pockets. It’s just another day in the life of a megatalented 23-year-old athlete in perpetual motion. Three years ago, Powell burst onto the scene when he won X…

Perched on his father’s longboard, 3-year-old Griffin Colapinto rode his first wave at San Onofre. It was a quintessential SoCal introduction to surfing life. But he didn’t immediately take to it, and during his early childhood, he played soccer and baseball instead. His younger brother, Crosby, changed that. “I saw my brother getting really into it,” he says. “‘Crosby is out there? I gotta get out there, too.’” As he improved, Colapinto thought maybe he could be good at contests. He was right. Now 24, Colapinto is competing in his fifth year on the World Championship Tour, surfing’s highest level of competition. And 2022 marked his best year so far—he won two stops on the WCT. At the Surf City El Salvador Pro, he took down two world champions on his…

Working with a friend has its merits: There’s the companionship, the camaraderie, the suffocating familiarity … (jk!) Wisconsin-born photographer Noah Wetzel and pro snow-sports athlete Conor Pelton have skied together for more than a decade, and from this friendship great things have sprouted. Like this image—a “RAW by Leica” semifinalist in Red Bull Illume. “Aspen trees are my favorite,” Wetzel says, “and utilizing wireless flashes allows one to create compelling and unique imagery. On point as always, Conor aired through the tight gap in darkness—and fogged goggles—and skied cleanly out of the frame.” noahdavidwetzel.com; redbullillume.com…

Jake Wooten is deconstructing the origins of the fantasy. “Skating an airport without getting yelled at is every skater’s dream,” says the 22-year-old pro skater. He is not stating an opinion here; it’s just a fact. Way back in 2001, Tony Hawk’s landmark game Pro Skater 3 introduced an airport level, allowing the glorious vision of that forbidden fruit to bloom in skate culture’s communal cerebral cortex—spawning dreams of gliding across flawless concourse floors, launching off baggage-claim carousels and otherwise taking flight in a feature-rich playground. And then, in 2021, that pixelated daydream was transformed into reality. That’s when Red Bull Terminal Takeover was born, and Wooten and five regional crews of skaters, each bringing a filmer and representing a shop from the South, descended upon a recently vacated terminal…

Ice diver Johanna Nordblad sits on a frozen lake in her swimwear. The ice hole in front of her reveals dark, threatening-looking water beneath a 24-inch-thick rim of solid ice. The air is 19°F, the water about 35°F. It’s not easy to even imagine slipping slowly beneath the ice into this unknown environment, to dive the full length of a soccer field with just the oxygen that’s in your lungs. But this is what the Finn did on this day in March 2021, setting a new world record in the process. No man or woman has ever dived farther beneath the ice without an oxygen tank: 103 meters, or about 338 feet, on a single breath. No flippers. No wetsuit. Nordblad knew that diving into this hostile world for almost…

7 May MIAMI GRAND PRIX After a smashing race debut in 2022, the Grand Prix returns to Miami for another round. Indeed, last year’s sold-out weekend was so successful that organizers are adding 3,000 grandstand seats as well as 61 new hospitality suites and upgrading the three-day general admission passes to give fans more access. After two days of practice rounds and a qualifying round, the main event will go down on May 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Will reigning world champion, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, cast his spell in Magic City again, or will another racer, like local fan favorite Sergio Perez, come out on top? f1miamigp.com 18 March CRANKWORX ROTORUA In the Mãori language, Rotorua means “second lake,” named by the early Indigenous explorer Ihenga, who discovered…

Forget Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic—the wonders of the cosmos can be seen without ever leaving Earth. Priscilla Mewborne proved this during downtime from her day job inside Yosemite, where she works to support her true calling as an aerialist and photographer: “I was following the movements of the visible comet Neowise. It was expected to peak in the middle of my work week, but luckily a motivated group of fellow employees was keen to experience it, too.” Before work they caught the sunrise, and she caught this shot—selected as a Red Bull Illume “Lifestyle by COOPH” finalist. Instagram: @adventurous.aerialist; redbullillume.com…

Last year saw the first women’s boxing match to ever headline Madison Square Garden. Billed as “the biggest women’s fight of all time,” it was the most-watched female bout in history … for just six months. Another fight was already set to take its crown. It’s a Friday afternoon in Bethnal Green, a neighborhood in London’s East End. It’s the middle of October, but the mercury remains stuck in the mid-60s; there’s no hint of a winter chill. At least not outside. By contrast, the atmosphere inside the Genesis Cinema is distinctly frosty. Due on stage for the weigh-in are Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall—the former unbeaten in professional boxing, the latter the only fighter to ever taste victory over her (during their amateur days). For boxing fans, it’s like…

WEARABLE TECH APPLE WATCH ULTRA Introduced last fall, this is Apple’s most durable and adventure-capable smartwatch to date. The titanium case is lightweight, rugged (water resistant to 100 meters), scratch resistant and dope-looking. The huge retina screen is great for tracking a workout or adventure, and the dual-frequency GPS is extremely accurate. The battery offers 36 hours of intense use or up to 60 hours in a low-power setting. Available with a number of specialized bands for different sporty activities. $799; apple.com Evie, the first smart ring designed for women, offers a suite of fitness and health-tracking functionality. EVIE The wearable-tech category is hardly new, but this is the first medical-grade smart ring designed for women. Available to consumers sometime midyear (at a price under $300), the ring tracks health…