Most drivers whizzing down 6200 South on their way to or from one of Utah’s four Cottonwood Canyon ski resorts wouldn’t even notice the stairs. They’re the same sandy shade as the retaining wall they climb, the one separating the busy road from the Holladay Park and Ride. In the winter, they’re buried under snow, white tufts of which balance precariously on the railings.
Yet for a boy from Cedar City named Pat Fava, those stairs were far from nondescript. They were an inspiration.
“I remember we saw some clips of some riders hitting that rail,” said Fava, who glimpsed them while squished in among five siblings in the back of his dad’s truck. “And every time we’d drive by, we’d just kind of lose our minds. Like, ‘Oh my god, that was the rail Scott Stevens hit or Dylan Thompson hit!’”
In the 20 or so years since, Fava has made stylishly sloughing the snow off staircase railings with his snowboard something of his specialty. So much so, the 27-year-old will be the favorite when men’s Snowboard Street Style makes its debut at X Games Aspen this weekend.
The event is the winter equivalent of street style skateboarding. Competitors are judged on their ability to ride through a course that mimics an urban setting, usually one dotted with walls, raised boxes resembling picnic tables and, of course, elevated railings. It differs from slopestyle, an Olympic event, in that it is held on a more compact course and puts less emphasis on big jumps.
The X Games brought in street style as an event from 2011-13, when it was dubbed “Real Street.” Both Stevens and Thompson competed in those early editions, which eventually were morphed into video-only contests called “Real Snow.” Last year, X Games returned the street event to its lineup as a demonstration sport. Thanks in part to Fava, who won gold while competing in a red bike helmet, it proved popular enough to be included as a “pilot” event this year.
Street style snowboarding seems tailor-made for Fava, who was obsessed with skateboarding until his dad, Vinnie “Papa” Fava, gave him a snowboard and some videos to watch around age 5.
“Once the snowboard videos came into my hands, I was just watching them on repeat,” Fava told The Salt Lake Tribune in a phone interview from Aspen. “And that’s pretty much all I wanted to do. And it’s kind of crazy, but, like, right then and there I was just like: ‘This is what I want to do.’ And it just felt right.”
Trevor Brown, Jr. | X Games Pat Fava during men's Snowboard Street Style Finals at 2024 X Games Aspen in Aspen, CO.
Nearly the entire Fava family — his dad, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters — would ride at Brian Head most winter weekends. Occasionally they’d make the four-hour trip north to Brighton Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Sometimes they’d make the trip up and back in a day. When the kids started getting into contests, they’d cram into a hotel room.
“They were just a pretty cool little driven snowboard family,” said Brighton spokesperson Jared Winkler, who worked for years as the resort’s terrain park manager. “Not a rich snowboard family by all means. … (But) it was the true snowboarder vibe, you know? Just get there and figure it out when you get there.”
During one of those trips, young Pat spotted the staircase.
More than a decade later, he moved to Salt Lake City and found work as part of Brighton’s terrain park crew. He caught the eye of snowboard boot maker ThirtyTwo, and he started getting paid to make videos. Only then did he finally get to drop in on it. The moment was captured in the 2022 flick “Aboom: The Fava Family Video,” which also starred his younger brother, Joey, and Papa Fava.
For some, that staircase is just a nondescript pile of metal leading down to the shoulder of a busy road. For Fava, it’s been something more uplifting.
“I really like hitting rails, is basically what it comes down to,” Fava said. “So, yeah, and it all boils down to what I grew up watching and was relatable as well as (what) just stood out to me the most.”
This weekend, Fava is focused on competing in the X Games, just as his childhood heroes from those oft-watched DVDs did. But he sees a bright future for the up-and-coming sport. Fava said he’s heard talk that the spectator-friendly Street Style could be added as an event to the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympic Games
Speaking of Olympics, five Park City skiers, including two who have medaled both in the X Games and at the 2022 Olympics in slopestyle and big air, will also compete this weekend. Alex Hall and Colby Stevenson will be joined by up-and-coming big air skier Troy Podmilsak in the men’s X Games events. Taylor Lindquist and Zoe Atkin will represent the Park City women. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City skier Marin Hamill plans to compete in women’s “Knuckle Huck,” while snowboarder Rell Harwood expects to compete in the women’s big air and “Knuckle Huck” events.
Trevor Brown, Jr. | X Games Pat Fava after winning the men's Snowboard Street Style Finals at 2024 X Games Aspen in Aspen, CO.
Tune In
X Games Aspen 2025
• Friday, 8-11 p.m., ESPN
• Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., ABC
• Saturday, 8-11 p.m., ESPN
• Sunday, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., ABC
• Action will be shown daily on the Roku Channel and at XGames.com from Thursday through Saturday with a highlights show Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
