Where: Stuben/Arlberg, Austria

The Woodstock of Snowboarding is what they call the Longboard Classic in Stuben. This celebration of nostalgia and fun has become Europe’s biggest old-school snowboard event. Among the many snowboard legends that will rock up on April 17, 2010 are Terry “Godfather of Freestyle” Kidwell, Shaun “I’ll have another one” Farmer, Micky “First European Halfpipe Champion” Früh, Reto “I won the Air&Style in the year dot” Lamm, Jose “I invented the term European snowboard pro” Fernandez, and Regis “Apocalypse then, Apo now” Rolland.

Scene from the new Sony Bravia ad. Photo: Roland Schopper.

Three generations of snowboard heroes from industry, riders, media and John Q. Public will celebrate the eleventh Longboard Classic together. This year the focus will be on the kids “who will be taught the real spirit of snowboarding by the older ones” – if nothing else this should be fun to watch.

The music acts include Darby and Joan with their dynamic Indie/ Alternative Rock style and support from the LBC Allstars featuring Shawn Farmer (Vocals), Terry Kidwell (Guitar), Bob Klein (Drums), Paul Gruber (Guitar) & LBC friends.

Treating your own root canal on stage was a first. Photo: Mike Chantry.

As usual, the Longboard Classic race will start at the Albona Grat (2,408m). After a Le Mans mass start they will go down a thousand meters off-piste to Stuben Village (1,407m) in four different categories (Kids under 14, Old School, Boys und Girls). The event’s mantra goes like this: “It is not important to be first but to meet friends, find new ones and to have fun snowboarding with like-minded people.” Does this sound like a good time or what?

See, they DO use longboards. Photo: Sylvia Margreiter

If your board quiver does not feature anything beyond your 152 rail stick, longboards and freeride equipment from selected brands can be tested. To make the registration as laid-back as possible, we recommend you register online in advance. The provisional list of participants is published on the event’s website. And if you want to car pool (and we recommend: everyone should!) – the participants can be sorted by post code, city or name!

More information and registration on the website: www.longboardclassic.com