Zeb Powell is flipping everything you know about snowboarding and what it stands for on its head.
In 2020, the North Carolina native became the first Black snowboarder to ever win a Winter X Games gold medal.
“You can do whatever you want to do no matter where you come from,” he told Complex News’ Eutel Wallace. “We’ve genuinely seen more Black people get into the sport since that happened, which is a trip.”
Powell, who captured his gold medal in Knuckle Huck, is known for his big airs and style. That combination captured Jordan Brand’s attention, where he fit right into the company’s long history of victory through flight.
The partnership between Powell and the sportswear label has resulted in Jordan’s Coldest in the Game collection, a winterwear line containing cold-weather pieces that are effortlessly comfortable and defiantly drip-worthy. To celebrate the line’s release, Powell hosted an activation in London with pop-ups around the city.
To start, the 25-year-old pulled up to Black Prince Trust, a nonprofit organization that provides access to physical activity in the local community, in a Big Freez truck and gave away slushies, shoes, jackets, and more. He also spoke to Complex about putting on for his hometown, which he says has a dope culture, “that’s overlooked but not to be fucked with either,” as well as falling in love with the sport he’s revolutionizing.
“I wanted to try snowboarding because all my homies were doing it,” he reflected. “Once I was going, within the first few runs, I was like, ‘I wanna hit that.’ I was hitting boxes on the first night. It became second nature off the rip.
“From then on, it was like every weekend I’d be [on the slopes] as early as I could to as late as I could. It could be anywhere from 8:00 in the morning to 9:00 or 10:00 at night.”
To learn more about Powell’s journey and Jordan’s Coldest in the Game activation, check out the latest Complex News edition of Snapshot above and you YouTube.