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Events News WSPL

AUSTRIAN & GERMAN MASTERS 2024 IS A WRAP

Isa Lötscher (SUI) and Geonhui Kim (KOR) Win Halfpipe at Austrian & German Masters 2024 at Kitzsteinhorn (Austria)

 

The third edition of the Austrian & German Masters took place at Kitzsteinhorn from April 17 – 21, 2024. For a week, Zell am See-Kaprun was the hotspot of the snowboard community: rookies, legends, World Cup riders, and kids from 23 countries and five continents were among the 150 snowboarders who have travelled to Kitzsteinhorn Snowpark for the last event of the season. Organized in cooperation with ASA (Austrian Snowboard Assocation), Snowboard Austria & Snowboard Germany, a tight pogram was planned: the last Europa Cup in Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Air as well as the question of who would take home titles of Austrian and German Master.

 

WEATHER CAPRICES – The motivation was immense, but the late onset of winter and wind thwarted the organizers‘ plans and prevented a safe execution of the Slopestyle and Big Air competitions. Tired of waiting, a fun „Cash for Tricks“ Rail Session was organized, allowing riders to earn a little bit of pocket money and to showcase their creativity on the rails.

 

1st place for Geonhui Kim

AUSTRIAN & GERMAN MASTERS – As best German riders Anne Hedrich and Benedikt Bockstaller are the new German Halfpipe Champions. The Austrian Masters 2024 are Kristina Holzfeind and Max Plötzeneder (Legends category).

 

Results 2024 Austrian & German Masters Women – HP:

  1. Isa Lötscher (SUI)
  2. Janett Soha (SUI)
  3. Lura Wick (SUI)

 

Results 2024 Austrian & German Masters Men – HP:

  1. Kim Geonhui (KOR)
  2. Benedikt Bockstaller (GER)
  3. Mischa Zürcher (SUI)

 

Austrian Masters HP Snowboard:

Kristina Holzfeind & Max Plötzeneder (Legends division)

 

German Masters HP Snowboard:

Anne Hedrich & Benedikt Bockstaller

 

 

More info on www.powdern.com.

 

Photo-Credit: (c) Andreas Amplatz

Categories
Events News

LEGENDS WORLD TOUR: LONGBOARD CLASSIC #25 WITH RECORD ATTENDANCE

The Longboard Classic in Stuben am Arlberg has been around longer than some of us have been snowboarding. For 25 years, this legendary gathering has brought together the community: legends and newcomers, grandparents and grandchildren, teens and kids, pros and bros (and of course, sis’) eagerly come to Stuben am Arlberg for the season finale. And fittingly for a quarter-century birthday celebration, the number of well-wishers was huge: 610 participants came on April 13th to ride the 1001 vertical meters of Albona “sideways.”

 

The idea for the LBC was born in 1999 by Paul Gruber and Harry Gunz, the founders of Crazy Banana and Rad Air, and the first event took place on April 15, 2000. For the 25th anniversary, organizer Paul Gruber put together a book that chronicles the history of this legendary event in countless pictures across over 140 pages. The first gift to the LBC. The second gift turned the gathering of the snowboard family into the tour finals of the newly established Legends World Tour. But the two greatest gifts were certainly the spring-like temperatures of +20 degrees Celsius and the over 600 visitors, among them US legends Laurie Asperas, Lori Gibbs, and Tom Burt. From Europe, Manuela Mandl, Harry Gunz, Serge Dupraz, Micky Früh, Andy Tanner, Max Plötzeneder, Gigi Rüf, and many more were spotted. – Jose Fernandez was even present five times, four friends of Jose had the fun and raced with Jose Fernandez face masks, and at 75 years old, Titus Dittmann is probably the oldest participant.

 

Lori Gibbs and Titus Dittmann

 

The race itself is the most important side event of the festival. It’s more about the reunion, shredding together, chatting, and celebrating. Nevertheless, a big shoutout and respect to the winners in the various categories! – See ranking list below.

 

In this spirit, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! from us as well, and here’s to at least another 25 years! Mark your calendars for the 26th birthday of the LBC on April 5, 2025!

 

Results Longboard Classic #25, April 13, 2024, Stuben am Arlberg

 

LBC Masters Women

  1. Manuela Mandl (Austria)

LBC Masters Men

  1. Ralph Castelberg (Switzerland)

 

LEGENDS WORLD TOUR WINNERS 2024/25:

Women

  1. Ruthie Goepel (Canada)
  2. Steffi Hartinger (Germany)
  3. Laurie Asperas (United States)

Men

  1. Tom Burt (United States)
  2. Max Plötzeneder (Austria)
  3. Marcel Müsel (Germany)

 

For full results head to www.longboardclassic.com.

 

 

Photo-Credit: (c) Sam Oetiker, Fredy Holenstein 

Categories
Events News

ZILLERTAL VÄLLEY RÄLLEY TOUR FINALS 2024: WHO WILL BECOME THE NEW KINGS AND QUEENS OF THE VÄLLEY?

The 4th and final tour stop of the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY hosted by Blue Tomato with crowning of the overall tour winners at Betterpark Hintertux on the Hintertux Glacier in Tux-Finkenberg is coming up shortly, taking place from 27-28 April 2024.

 

Betterpark Hintertux will already open its gates for training on the 20th of April 2024. With a unique combination of international snowboard slopestyle competition, coaching and side events, the VÄLLEY RÄLLEY has become one of the leading junior events for snowboarders from all over Europe. In addition to the day’s victory, the schedule at the Hintertux Glacier also includes the ceremonial crowning of the overall tour winners as the new Kings and Queens of the Zillertal VÄLLEY. The online registration is open until Thursday, 25 April 2024 at https://valleyralley.at/

 

Preparations for the spring season are in full swing at Betterpark Hintertux. From 20th April on,  the popular XXL setup on Hintertux Glacier will be ready for the first training sessions for the great Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY finals. The programme for the 4th Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY tour stop on 27 and 28 April 2024 includes a contest day and a training day with free freestyle coachings and the infamous Ästhetiker Style Session, for which also non-competitors can register free of charge. On the contest day, snowboarders of all age groups will compete in their respective categories.

 

The young talents will present their best freestyle tricks in slopestyle format on the medium line. As at the previous three tour stops, the day’s winners will once again receive plenty of medals, prize money and the last VÄLLEY RÄLLEY overall ranking points of the season. The best trick of the day will be rewarded with a prize from Horsefeathers. Depending on the weather conditions, the contest will take place on Saturday or Sunday. The organisers of the Ästhetiker crew will announce the current schedule no later than the Thursday before the event. During the contest, there might be restrictions on the medium line for non-participants.

 

 

With the last of four contest results in Hintertux, the VÄLLEY RÄLLEY overall tour winners will  finally be decided. The new Kings and Queens of the VÄLLEY will be crowned the new Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY royal family 2023/2024 after the regular prize giving. By participating on Hintertux Glacier, the snowboarders will also collect points for the international World Snowboard Point List (WSPL). The tour stop is a recognised ASA (Austrian Snowboard Association) Austria Cup and rookies (U18) are credited points in the World Rookie Ranking.

 

The partners of the 4th tour stop are:
Zillertal Tourism, Zillertaler Gletscherbahn with Betterpark Hintertux, the Tux-Finkenberg Tourist Board, Blue Tomato, Red Bull, Horsefeathers, the World Snowboard Federation (WSF), the Austrian Snowboard Federation (ASA) and World Rookie Tour (WRT) as well as Betterparks.at.

 

 

Haven’t saved your accommodation yet?
Then have a quick look at https://www.tux.at/ and https://www.zillertal.at/!
All information about the age groups and registration can be found at https://valleyralley.at/

 

Photo-Credits: (c) Gustav Hersmann, Matt McHattie

Categories
News ZERO

ZERO WORKSHOP: INSIGHTS FROM PARTICIPANTS

“I thought I was already quite concerned with the climate, but this workshop has made me realize even more that it is really high time to take action. Even small things can result in big things. I have decided to convince people more to participate in this, that will be my mission :-)”

This is a quote from a young female Belgian snowboarder after participating in the Erasmus+ ZERO Rides Climate Education workshop. Wow. It emulates the exact impact that we wanted to see from these workshops. We hoped that the future generations left feeling empowered to take action and to use snowboarding as a way to do so.

Let’s backtrack first and explain what workshops we are talking about. As part of the Erasmus+ ZERO Rides Project, over two winter seasons, the national federations and Protect Our Winters Europe are working together to put on climate education workshops. Since October, five workshops have been held across five different countries, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Hungary and Switzerland, for children from 12 to 19 years old. Throughout the workshops, young snowboarders (and some skiers too because why keep things so separated?) understand what is happening with the climate crisis and what is the science behind it. Then, crucially, we present what can be done to address it. We frame it as what can be done as a young snowboarder – what power do you and your snowboard have?

When we asked the kids, what they would share with the families when they went home, here is what they said (translated from native language to English):

“Climate change is dangerous and must be stopped not only for snowboarding but for the earth”

“Workshop was engaging”

“That it is high time to pay more attention to the environment and sustainability.”

“Cool presentation”

It can be a bit daunting to discover the impacts of human-induced climate change; it can be a bit daunting to have to teach it. That’s why we have activities. After the presentation (and a break), there are various activities to engage the kids. From a pedagogical perspective, we learn well when we are active both mentally and physically. The kids get up and run doing wheelbarrow races, seasonal food calendars, making decisions related to consumption and overall, letting them explore the climate topic.

From our post-workshop survey, the majority of the participants found the activities to be most enjoyable

Our favorite part was that everyone, from the Protect Our Winters facilitators to the federation people to the kids, can bring their own story and share something to one another, too. Education is a two-way street, here’s what the workshop facilitators and federations have to say about the workshops so far:

“They seemed to enjoy the activities, and overall getting their hands “dirty” with the assignments. They already seemed to be very informed about climate change, and the discussions we had using the questions in the presentation were also interesting.” – POW facilitator for the workshop in Finland

“The stations were really cool and helped a lot to understand the complex topic” – The coaches from the German Federation who watched the workshop

This is not to say that these workshops are perfect. Much has been uncovered about what is relevant for kids, what information works in which countries, and how snowboarders engage with the climate crisis. And we believe we can dig deeper. We, Protect Our Winters, are going to build this feedback into the creation of an e-learning platform and a board game. So stay tuned for the release of that. Also, next winter, we will be hosting these workshops again! We are excited.

To round off, and motivate us all, here are some quotes from these young snowboarders on taking climate action:

“The importance of a small action”

“Climate change needs to be taken seriously”

“Not to waste with the equipment (by buying new stuff too often)”

Words: Gillian Rosh, POW

Photo-Credits: (c) Sneeuwsport Vlaanderen, POW

Categories
Events News World Rookie Tour WSPL

SNOWBOARDING’S FUTURE STARS AT THE 2024 WORLD ROOKIE SNOWBOARD FINALS

Slopestyle – Hertzberg and Xiong Rookie Champions
Halfpipe – Jio and Wick Rookie Champions

The best snowboard stars of tomorrow from around the world gathered at  Kitzsteinhorn in Zell am See-Kaprun from 17th to 22nd March 2024 for the World Rookie Snowboard Finals to determine the 2024 Snowboard Champions. 106 riders from 23 nations cavorted in the Kitzsteinhorn Snowpark and showed that the future of the sport is in good hands. These riders are the stars of tomorrow and we will hear and see a lot more from the 2024 World Rookie Champions.

Slopestyle – With the best weather and park conditions, the decision in Slopestyle was on Wednesday. In the rookies (U19) category, 15-year-old Norwegian Fabian Hertzberg impressed with a frontside and backside 1080 on the kicker and confidently won the World Rookie Champion Slopestyle title. In the girls’ category, the Chinese Shirui Xiong prevailed and thus brought the first World Rookie Champion title to China. In the Grom category (U15), the Japanese Hakuto Kitayama and the Belgian Sky Remans were crowned winners.

Halfpipe – On Thursday the focus was on the halfpipe. Despite a bad weather front, the youngsters performed well! Success across the board for Team Korea, as Lee Jio (Rookie Boys) and his compatriot Lee Suo (Grom Boys) beamed from the top spot on the podium. Among the girls, the Swiss Lura Wick (SUI) triumphed in the Rookie Girls category and won the World Rookie Tour title for the second time in a row, although in the U15 category in 2023. The American Boday Gabriella (USA) is the new Grom Champion.

Head judge Iztok Sumatic was enthusiastic: “My highlight of the 2024 edition was the halfpipe competition. For both the girls and the boys, the top four places in particular showed technical riding at a very high level. It’s best to memorize the names now because we’ll be hearing a lot more about these talents.”

Aside from the sporting competitions, the World Rookie Finals offered a variety of supporting events, from a tattoo workshop to a climate change workshop by the WSF (World Snowboard Federation) and POW (Protect Our Winters), to promote awareness of environmental protection and sustainability among kids and teenagers.

Watch the highlight at the following LINK

 

Photo-Credits: World Rookie Tour, Amplatz, Grzelka

Categories
News World Rookie Tour

2024 WORLD ROOKIE TOUR FINALS: WHO WILL BE THE NEXT STARS?

The World Rookie Snowboard Finals are an iconic event in the world of youth snowboarding, where emerging athletes have the chance to test themselves and compete against the best in their category becoming a star!

Finals are back in style at the historic location of Kitzsteinhorn Zell am See-Kaprun  this week (March 17 – 22), for a six-day contest and non-stop activities, providing an exceptional setting and unparalleled snow conditions for this high-level competition.

This prestigious event will determine the new 2024 World Rookie Champions for Snowboard Halfpipe and Slopestyle, who will earn the opportunity to participate in renowned international competitions and training camps in 2024: 2024 Absolute Spring Battle, Prime Park Session in Stubai, Kitzsteinhorn HP Trainings Camp and Surprise Ticket to World Class Event 24.

World Rookie Snowboard Finals, featuring both slopestyle and halfpipe events, alongside numerous recreational activities: social dinners, workshops with Gummi Love, World Snowboard Federation, Blue Tomato, and much more. The World Rookie Tour is not just about competition; it’s a celebration of snowboarding culture and community spirit!

Follow the Black Yeti to keep up to date:

www.worldrookietour.com
@worldrookietour #worldrookietour
Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/channels/worldrookietour

Photo-Credits: (c) World Rookie Tour

Categories
Events News

THERE IS A NEW TOUR IN TOWN: THE LEGENDS WORLD TOUR 2024

Individual Legends Snowboard events have been popping up worldwide for at least 25 years! As the first string of grassroots and international world cup riders continue to shred into their 40’s, 50’s 60’s, 70’s, maybe even their 80’s, we find a need to accommodate these diehard riders in providing a space for them to continue to enjoy sharing themselves, international comradery, and competition.

 

The Legends World Tour “LWT” celebrates the true international history of snowboarding by selectively integrating its races into already iconic Legends events, such as the Legends of Tahoe, Soda Springs, Ca, USA and the Long Board Classic Stuben/Arlberg, Austria.  Riders and spectators will experience local snowboard history when they participate in these events as they were created by some of the founding fathers of the sport at their home mountains.  Following the tour provides a unique opportunity to discover international snowboard history firsthand from the people who lived it.

 

The LWT ignites a true global movement and welcomes legends past, present and future. We are doing this because we believe that “Legends are Forever”. As we lose our Legends riders, those of us who remember them will share their stories. This is where current legends honor their founding fathers and inspire future generations, who in turn, become legends themselves and so on.

 

Event dates 2024

March 29 – March 31, 2024: Legends of Tahoe, OG Halfpipe, Donner Ski Ranch Ca, USA

April 13, 2024: Long Board Classic, Chinese Downhill, Stuben, AUT

Mystery Poach Event GS/Downhill/Banked Slalom? – You must guess the location and the date.

 

For tour details please visit: https://legendsworldtour.com/

 

Photo-Credits: (c) Tom Hseigh, Keith Kimmel

Categories
Events News WSPL

IT’S A WRAP: SPRING BATTLE 2024 AT ABSOLUTPARK, FLACHAUWINKL (AUT)

The 2024 edition of the legendary Spring Battle in Flachauwinkl is in the books! This is one of the most exciting WSF events of the season going down every year mid-March with AbsolutPark in the spotlight. For 2024, the Slopestyle competition was back with a course in full size and despite challenging weather conditions the shape crew did a fantastic job preparing a fun and challenging slopestyle for the riders.

 

An international field of riders showed up for one of their favorite weeks of the season. Flachauwinkl and AbsolutPark offer it all, from great and familiar accommodation to the Chill House at the bottom of AbsolutPark to hang out during riding breaks. So it’s no surprise that AbsolutPark is like home for many of the world’s best riders, who share quite some time there during the season.

 

SLOPESTYLE

 

In the end, Australia’s Tess Coady took home the Slopestyle win with Austria’s own Anna Gasser and Reira Iwabuchi from Japan completing the podium on 2nd and third.

 

The men’s Slopestyle podium was dominated by the Japanese riders with Hiroto Ogiware crowning himself to the 2024 Spring Battle Champion and his fellow countryman Ryoma Kimata on third. Niek Van Der Velden (NED) stepped up for the Europeans and claimed 2nd place.

 

 

Results 2024 Spring Battle – Slopestyle Snowboard Women

  1. Tess Coady, AUS
  2. Anna Gasser, AUT
  3. Reira Iwabuchi, JAP

 

Results 2024 Spring Battle – Slopestyle Snowboard Men

  1. Hiroto Ogiwara, JAP
  2. Niek Van Der Velden, NED
  3. Ryoma Kimata, JAP

 

Mark the 2025 Spring Battle date already in your calendar: March 8 – 15, 2025.

More information.

 

 

Photo-Credits: © Markus Fischer

Categories
Events News WSPL

SPRING BATTLE 2024 AT ABSOLUTPARK FLACHAUWINKL (AUT) – SLOPESTYLE IS BACK!

Since its inaugural edition back in 2002, AbsolutPark’s SpringBattle has always used creative and constantly changing event formats. An ever evolving, up-to-date contest mode in full tune with the zeitgeist. For this year’s SpringBattle, the AbsolutPark crew went all the way back to their roots, finally bringing back Slopestyle as the main event category! A full top-to bottom run, embedded in the very heart of AbsolutPark’s Pro Kicker Line. The Slopestyle is fully WSF sanctioned, counting as an WSPL Elite Level event.

 

Besides the Slopestyle, organizers will continue to hold two extra categories: ‘Best Trick Rail’ with its very own rail setup right next to the Pro Kicker Line and the ‘Best 540’ category that can also be joined from anywhere in the world through their online event platform.

 

The total Prize Purse for this year’s event will be insane 110.000 US$!

 

Unlike any other contest, SpringBattle offers plenty of time for the competitors to film their very best riding possible throughout the full duration of the event. The best clips of the submitted slopestyle runs and individual tricks will be judged by a board of international and WSF judges by the end of the week.

 

Everyone who can’t make it to Flachauwink this week, you can also join from everywhere around the world!

 

Register at https://my.spring-battle.com

Registered riders can participate in the BEST540 CATEGORY from anywhere in the world. All entries for ‘Best 540’ have to be posted to your instagram channel AND uploaded to AbsolutParks’s event platform at https://my.spring-battle.com by March 6th, 7pm CET. The instagram posts HAVE to contain the category’s hashtags (otherwise we can’t find them!):

#springbattle24 #springbattle24best540

 

More of the course features:

 

 

Foto-Credit: (c) AbsolutPark Flachauwinkl

Categories
Banked Slalom Events News

COMING UP: BANKED SLALOM PRESENTED BY JONES SNOWBOARDS AT AXAMER LIZUM (AUT)

The snake run is back in Innsbruck! It’s that time again: Banked Slalom, this year presented by Jones Snowboards for the first time, invites you to ride together at Axamer Lizum on Saturday, March 16, 2024. After the successful event last winter, the popular format for young and old is returning and will focus on the passion for shredding together in the banks. Although there are age categories, the focus is on the shared experience for snowboard enthusiasts.

 

The most original discipline combines the roots of snowboarding, surfing and skateboarding in one “ride”. The popularity of this spirit was already proven at last year’s Banked Slalom in the Axamer Lizum with over 120 starters. Snowboarders from young to old, male and female, with snowskates or regular snowboards, took part in the popular “snake run”.

 

An adrenaline-charged ride through the steep bends.

 

The challenge in banked slalom is to negotiate the manually “shaped” banked turns as quickly as possible. Even though the tracks become deeper and deeper as the race progresses due to the frequent use of the banked turns, it is important to find the optimal line. In various age categories, participants have the opportunity to compete with like-minded people and put their skills to the test. The Banked Slalom presented by Jones Snowboards offers a platform for everyone, from the youngest to the most experienced, in some cases former professional riders. In addition to the individual categories, there will once again be the unique and popular family classification, which allows parents and their children to compete side by side and take on the challenge of the Banked Slalom together. This special classification underlines the family character of the event and promotes togetherness across generations.

 

 

Axamer Lizum provides stage for Banked Slalom presented by Jones Snowboards

 

Only a few kilometers away from Innsbruck and perfectly accessible by public transport, the Axamer Lizum offers the ideal terrain for the Banked Slalom presented by Jones Snowboards. Not far from the slopes, there are perfect terrain structures as the basis for the “snake run”. The contest is framed at the start and finish area by great DJ sounds, moderation and casual “chill-out flair”.

 

With a mixture of competitive spirit and shared enthusiasm, the Banked Slalom presented by Jones Snowboards promises to be an unforgettable experience for participants and spectators alike. However, if you want to be there, you should hurry, as the coveted tickets usually sell out quickly.

 

All information about the Banked Slalom presented by Jones Snowboards and registration can be found at www.bankedslalom.tirol! Save the date and share the stoke!

 

 

Foto-Credit: (c) GOTiT