Last week, yours truly Onboard Magazine travelled to the Austrian valley of Montafon for an all-new event concept called Nike Snake & Hammers. Nike and the Montafon had conjured up a banked slalom cum slopestyle course that was open to everyone who felt like a few fast turns, slow spins, and slushy transitions. The aim was to snake down course as fast as possible while dropping their best „hammers“ along the way. The course was a combination of numerous turns and banks, the park included a stairset, side by side kicker setup, big bowl, a gap through a snow tunnel to a straight rail, a creative halfpipe and a small hip. In our humble opinion, it was the laid-back park design that made the event stand out, as punters, media, and pros alike were eager to get their edges dug into the banked turns and snake pipe walls.

Stephan Maurer on course! Photo: Cyril Müller

Despite the challenging weather on the first three days (snowfalls and high fog) the vibe was outstanding, as the course was as inviting and fun to ride as it gets. On the day of the finals the sun came out, many pros and legends alike turned up and made for an unforgettable day on the mountain. Nike pros like Peetu Piiroinen, Jamie Nicholls, Kevin Backström and Spencer O’Brien were joined by an illustre crew of riders like David Bertschinger Karg, Enzo Nilo, Stephan Maurer, Nico Droz, David Benedek and Steve Gruber.

Peetu Piiroinen is attracted to big kickers. Phto: Cyril Müller

When the judging was complete on the day of the finals, Christian Haller (SUI) showed he had the best mix of balance, speed and tricks winning him a share of the $10,000 prize purse. With a race time of 01:25,10, frontside lipslide on the gap downrail, frontside 720 tailgrab off the kicker and many other tricks he claimed a deserved win. Spencer O’Brien won the women’s contest by snaking down the course with her well documented power and style with the best hammer award going to Jamie Nicholls who threw a perfectly stomped backside 1080 off the kicker.

Snake & Hammers winner Christian Haller coming out of the tunnel of doom. Photo: Cyril Müller

MEN
1. Christian Haller / SUI 2. Stephan Maurer / SUI 3. Peetu Piiroinen / FIN

WOMEN
1. Spencer O’Brien / CAN 2. Nicola Thost / GER 3. Aline Bock / GER

BEST HAMMER: Jamie Nicholls / ENG

Further information about the contest and the complete ranking are published on www.snakeandhammers.com.

A bird’s eye view of the park. Photo: Cyril Müller

Winter is here! With the opening of the Glacier Park on Saturday, October 20, 2012, Kitzsteinhorn kicks off the 2012/13 freestyle season. Shortly afterwards, the first of many event highlights of this winter will follow: on November 11, 2012, the Nitro & Volcom Season Warm-up Session will be held. A fortnight later, the Cappuccino Club exhibition and “Sprungbrett“ talent session with Nicola Thost will provide the next action-packed weekend.

At the opening, the Glacier Park (2,900 metres) presents 2 jib lines with flat-down industry, flat rail, flat-down rail, single bar down rail and banana rail as well as a kicker line with 6-metre down riffle, 7-metre kicker and 9-metre wave box. The Easy Line offers flat box, rainbow box and mini kicker. In the course of the next weeks, the Glacier Park will be extended; you can find the current set-up at www.snowpark.kitzsteinhorn.at.

Shortly after the opening of the park, Snowpark Kitzsteinhorn kicks off with the first events. It all starts with the Nitro & Volcom Season Warm-up Session in the Glacier Park on November 11, 2012. At this open session for anyone, snowboarders can ride with Nitro and Volcom pros and take some tips for shredding the rails and boxes. At the Test & Chill Area, you can test the latest hardware by Nitro Snowboards.

The next event is Sprungbrett on November 25, 2012, a talent contest for snowboard kids from age 6 to 15, with Olympic Snowboarding Champion Nicola Thost (GER) and other pro snowboarders as well as photographers and cameramen. The Kitzsteinhorn event is the kick-off to a five-stop tour. Participation is limited to 20 riders.

At the same weekend, Kitzsteinhorn provides another highlight: the exhibition of the Cappuccino Club at the Alpincenter. Each year, the snowboarding crew produces a charity calendar – a unique blend of sport aesthetics and art. At the exhibition from November 24 to the middle of December 2012, the 12 pages of the calendar are shown in art prints. These are, just like the calendar, up for sale. All proceeds benefit charity projects.

Further events at Snowpark Kitzsteinhorn wait in December: Elooa Snowboardcamp (December 07–09, 2012), Marc Swoboda Ride With Me! (December 08, 2012) and Youngblood Freeski Camp (December 14–16, 2012). As soon as there is enough snow, the freestyle action on the Kitzsteinhorn will then relocate some 400 metres further down to Easy Park, Central Park and super-pipe. They will be gradually opened from December on and are all located near the Sonnenkarbahn. The parks are characterized by long, creative lines and high kickers. For this season, the beginners’ areas will be once again expanded. The highlight of Snowpark Kitzsteinhorn is Austria’s biggest super-pipe (160 m long, 6.30 m high), which is again taken care by “Pipe master” Ali Zehentner.

Saturdays only 10 euros for children and adolescents: The Power of Zehn!

This winter, children and youths (born 1994 to 2006) only pay 10 euros for the day ski pass every Saturday from November 24, 2012, to April 27, 2013. For further information, please visit www.kitzsteinhorn.at and www.snowpark.kitzsteinhorn.at

Snowpark Kitzsteinhorn

• NEW: Nitro Snowboards and Volcom Snowboarding as main partners
• 3 world class snow parks located between 2,500 and 2,900 m altitude
• Glacier Park on the glacier open from autumn
• During winter: Easy Park for beginners and Central Park for advanced learners & pros
• Austria’s biggest super-pipe
• Railgarden Lechnerberg in the centre of Kaprun

Glacier Park (Setup as of October 20, 2012, subject to alterations)
Easy Line
Flat Box 6 m, Rainbow Box 4 m, Mini Kicker 2 m
Jib Line A
Flat-Down Industry, Flat Rail 6 m, Flat-Down Rail 3 m – 6m
Jib Line B
Flat-Down Industry, Single Bar Down Rail 9 m, Banana Rail 7 m
Kicker Line
Down Riffle 6 m, Easy/Medium Kicker 7 m, Wave Box 9 m

Easy Park (3 Lines, subject to alterations)
Upper Jib Line
Lower Jib Line
Boxes Line
Easy Kicker Line

Central Park (3 Lines, subject to alterations)
Medium Line
3 jib features and 2 kickers (appr. 8 m and 14 m)
Pro Line
2 jib features and 2 kickers (appr. 18 m and 20 m)
Jib Line
Creative line all across the park, with special features (A-frame box, wall ride & snow obstacles)

Super-pipe

Kitzsteinhorn Inter@ctive:

Step-up special feature, 2 kickers (appr. 7 m and 13 m)
Rails, tubes, wall ride and multi obstacle (down rail, straight rail, down tube & more)
4 different boxes (straight, down, wave)
3 easy kickers (appr. 2 m, 4 m and 6 m)

On March 13th the Stubai Jam is the official kick-off for the Spring Sessions. The Slopestyle Contest on the Stubai Glacier will again create furore and is the ideal start into the most beautiful time of the year: At the MOREBOARDS Stubai Zoo you can shred hell for leather until the end of May.

Finally it is spring again! Sun, firn and pleasant temperatures – what more could one desire? There is plenty of snow on the Stubai Glacier, but the power of the sun already shows its impact: You can learn new tricks on soft landings, get the shape of your goggle smoothly burnt into your face and your T-Shirt flaps in the warm wind. Springtime is just around the corner and so is the beginning of the snowpark season on the Stubai Glacier. Until the end of May the MOREBOARDS Stubai Zoo not only offers three kickers in line, but also countless jib obstacles. Everything is ready for a good session with your best friends and much action in the snowpark. The snow conditions on the Stubai Glacier are ideal until June – and it´s only 45 minutes from Innsbruck!

The Stubai Jam as the third stopp of the Quiksilver Wir Schanzen will take place on March 13th 2010. Despite the snowfalls of the past weeks spring fever settles amongst the riders. Fun at riding is definitely the focus of this contest and at the afterparty in the evening at the Blue Chip in Innsbruck the Swiss Clastsound will put the heat on everybody.

In cooperation with MOREBOARDS you can check out next season´s snowboards of Lib Tech, Gnu and Roxy on the March 21st on the Stubai Glacier. The material test is free of charge and a good possibility to get a first overview of the latest hardware trends.

From April 9th to 10th the Shred Sessions will stop over at the MOREBOARDS Stubai Zoo. Under the patronage of Nicola Thost all interested Snowboarders are invited to join this Coaching Camp. The participants will be divided into small groups to be able to learn new tricks and spend a great time with and under the guidance of skilled riders such as Quiksilver Pro Felix Georgii. You can get two nights accommodation, lift ticket, lunch package, coaching as well as a photo- and videosession for EUR 159.00.

There is no spring without an extensive Barbecue! Therefore steaks, sausages and other delicacies will wait on the Barbecue for you – two days through on April 24th and 25th. Cool sound at the parkbase and goodie-for-trick sessions will complete the relaxed days at the Zoo.

At the Snowbroader Video Weekend from May 08th to 09th a snowboard movie will be produced. All interested riders meet on Saturday morning to film their own “parts” in the movie together with the snowbroader.eu crew.

Here is an overview of all the events:

• 13.03.2010   Stubai Jam – Tourstopp of the Quiksilver Wir Schanzen
• 21.03.2010  Snowboard Testival – Snowboard Hardware Test
• 09.-11.04.2010 Shred Sessions – Coaching Camp
• 24.-25.04.2010 Barbecue MOREBOARDS Stubai Zoo
• 08.-09.05.2010 Snowbroader Video Weekend

Further information concerning the MOREBOARDS Stubai Zoo and all the events as well as videos, pics and news are to be found on the website www.stubai-zoo.com