Raheim Andrews was DJing at his third ski area in four days.
The North Carolina native is a staple at community ride events and après parties in the western part of the Tar Heel State, and at this point in time, when the pros were throwing down during a jam session for the fans in attendance, one grom in particular had something very important to tell him.
“What song did you ask me to play?” Andrews shouted over the music.
“FEIN!,” the kid shouted back. “You’ve got to play Travis Scott to get Zeb hyped up. That’s his favorite. He’s going to go crazy”
It was January 16, 2026, and Zeb Powell and Alex Caccamo were at Appalachian Ski Mountain in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
It was the fourth and final day of Zeb and Cac’s Pop Out, a Red Bull-sponsored community ride event. Whether it be the Pop Out or the Slide-In Tour, Powell’s community events have proven to be a party worth traveling to.
This year’s iteration had four stops: Hatley Pointe, Cataloochee, Beech, and finally, App Ski. It drew in hundreds of people at each stop. Fans of all ages popped out to ride alongside the best snowboarders to come out of their state.
And it all wrapped up at App Ski.
Luke Winkelmann grew up riding all 365 feet of vertical drop of the ski hill in his hometown, so it was only fitting that he flew back out for App’s biggest day of the season.
As much as the locals loved having him back in the terrain park, you could sense that Winkelmann enjoyed it just as much as they did. After battling an ACL injury, he finally returned to his board this fall. A push to make the Olympic team fell short, thanks largely to the injury. He already keeps tabs on the App Ski terrain park build from his current home base in California.
It was the perfect reason to fly back, and not worry about landing the perfect slopestyle run, but just ride the park that raised him to be the rider that now is on the U.S. team.
“I’ve needed it to say the least,” he said.
For Powell, he’d soon take off to Aspen to get ready for the X Games. He competed in the knuckle huck contest and was just named one of the founding members of the upcoming X Games League.
Luke Berger/Recess
There’s something particularly special about the North Carolina riding community. It’s tightknit, for sure, but so many zones are. What sets it apart perhaps lies in this simple fact: if you are going to become a snowboarder in North Carolina, you’ve got to want it.
Don’t just take my words for it; that comes straight from the mouth of Kaden Rusinko. The conditions are rarely ideal, the season is short, and the mountains are far away from most of the major metro areas. Those who decide to make this part of their lives do so with all their heart. There are only so many of us out there, and no matter whether you’re riding close to Boone or Asheville, you see the same faces pop up.
Just ask Sarah Lee Mullins, the mother of Brantley and JK Mullins. When the two kids were young, she gave them a choice: they could take a family vacation every year out west, or they could come back to Beech Mountain week after week.
Brantley joined the boardercross team, and when she wasn’t training with them, JK would lap the tow rope and coach Brantley up on rail tricks.
Luke Berger/Recess
And so on January 14, at the Beech Mountain stop of the tour, it was only right that the Mullins family was where the fun started and ended. The crew met at their slopeside house before breakfast, and after all the fun was over, southern-style BBQ was served for dinner.
Brantley was once a little kid, watching the Recess team ride, thinking they were the coolest. Now, on the Recess team herself, she has girls coming up to her in between laps, telling her how much she inspires them.
“I can never take this for granted,” she said. “None of the stops, but especially not here.”
It’s a rare event in snowboarding these days: take some of the best pros around, drop them back on these small ski areas, and let them throw 540s while children, adults, and beginners alike get to hit their first features right behind them, or alongside them.
There aren’t many places in which a 10-year-old has ridden so many times with a pro that he knows his favorite musician. North Carolina is one of those places.
And what does that mean to the crew?
“What does it mean?” Rusinko said. “It means everything.”
Related: Zeb Powell on His Unprecedented Jordan Brand Partnership: “I Want To Do More My Way”