Months of preparation and hours of setup seemed destined for disappointment when snowboarders could not even build up enough speed to get over the first rail.

Then the four-wheeler arrived.

The ISU Ski and Snowboard Club held its first Rail Jam on Saturday night on Welch Avenue. For two hours, participants slid down a thin line of snow and rails in the middle of the street while onlookers applauded, cheered and sometimes even laughed.

Eric Small, sponsorship chairman for the ISU Ski and Snowboard Club, said it took seven or eight dump truck loads of snow, carted in from the Towers Residence Hall parking lot, to layer what was needed to be covered.

The event began slowly, with snowboarders and skiers barely gaining enough speed to make it all the way down the hill, let alone over any rails. The method of sling-shotting, where participants hold two ropes while two others launch them, didn’t give the participants enough speed, so the club called in its backup plan.

A four-wheeler was used to pull participants about a quarter of the way down the hill, where they let go of the rope to do some freestyling. Some built up enough speed to attempt flips and 360s, much to the delight of the hundreds of fans that lined the closed street.

In fact, it got so crowded spectators congregated on the roof of Dairy Queen.

The crowd surprised and delighted the participants.

“It’s crazy. I didn’t know there would be this many people out here,” said Ryan Davis, senior in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who was snowboarding in front of people for the first time. “It makes me kind of nervous.”

Davis was not the only out-of-towner participating, as many people from all around the state showed up. Ben Anderson made the trip from Muscatine, where he attends Muscatine High School.

“It’s fun, I like all the people watching us,” he said.

Aside from the crowd, those in the event expressed frustration with the overall planning of the event. Some said Welch Avenue was not a steep enough incline, while others simply said the setup was all wrong.

“I think they need more area in between the rails,” Anderson said.

He said he understood it was the first year for the event and that the glitches should eventually get worked out.

Rail Jam received mostly positive feedback from its spectators. Zach Snobelle, junior in landscape architecture, said he enjoyed the event and would come back next year if the event is planned a little better.

“I think it is pretty cool,” he said.

Snobelle also expressed his disappointment with the speed of the participants. He said he hopes the issues at the top of the hill are ironed out.

Reid Morris, a coordinator for the ISU Ski and Snowboard Club, said he was elated with the event and its turnout. He said the club will begin to evaluate what can be changed and how it can improve the event for next year.

Overall, though, he said it was a huge success.

“We wanted to have some fun, and that’s what happened,” Morris said.