Year after year, we swap sandals for boots and our skate- and surfboards for snow sticks to herald the winter half of the year and celebrate the start of a new season. The annual season and park opening on the Hintertux glacier at the very end of the Zillertal in Tryol, Austria offers the perfect transition from one half of the year to the next. SOURCE’s German Editor, Anna Langer was there for the photos, words and good times.
With a fun After Shred program in the parking lot at the bottom of the glacier next to the test area and the freshly shaped parked, all preferences are catered for.
Those eager to shred get to try and test ride all the latest gear from 686,, Anon, Äsmo, Bataleon, Bent Metal Binding Works, Buddy Buddy Snowboards, Burton, Capita, Deeluxe, Drake, Fanatic Snowboards, Flow, Flux, Gnu, Goodboards, Icetools, Jones, Korua Shapes, Lib Tech, Lobster, Never Summer, Nidecker, Northwave, Now, Ride Snowboards, Rome, Rossignol Snowboards, Roxy, Salomon, Shred, Silbærg, Sims, Slash, Slytech, Smith, SP Bindings, SwitchBack, Union, VonZipper, West Snowboarding, and YES in the Betterpark that is specially prepared for this weekend. And visitors can even earn some cash in the Cash For Trix Session at the Fernerhaus on Sunday or the Session Of The Dudes on Saturday.
The premiere of Absinthe’s After Forever and The Method Movie sets the tone for the weekend. On Saturday the After Shred Session turned the parking lot into a pop up casino, offering brand new gear and other goodies as prizes for the luckiest players. Though the biggest attraction was probably the bike and skate pump track right behind the casino, which was sessioned until long after dark. There were even rumours that there was still action to be seen in the middle of the night, making for an incredible distraction while waiting for the shuttle buses to get home from the Opening Party Night in the Hohenhaus Tenne.
Unfortunately the Sunday was thwarted by a complete whiteout up top and rain in the valley, which quickly put an end to the open air camp ground and bonfires, which had formed in the parking lot the two nights before.
With the German Reunion bank holiday, the on-snow test was extended until Monday this year, giving everyone time for a couple of relaxed last runs to start their weeks and get back home without the usual weekend traffic.
After this start we can’t wait for the season to fully unfold and for the white gold to start trickling down from the sky… In the mean time, share our stoke and click through the happy faces in the gallery below.
What betterway to welcome you to the 1st snowboard event of the season? A bunch of old friends of course!Like the old school powder fishThe Burton Balance artwork...which used 5 boards for 1 masterpiece...or Craig Kelly's AirFollowed by the annual Media Snack, providing starving journalists with fuel for the weekendA delicious buffet of local "Brotzeit"...by the Tuxer TourismusverbandDJ Chris fuelled by Red Bull contributed the perfect soundtrack for the test area...that was set up right in front of the Fernerhaus...ensuring a smooth testing experience for everyoneMervin MFG offering Lib Tech, Gnu & Roxy Boards for testing with Demo Chief Toby Leyendecker and European Marketing Manager Julia MantlerDeeluxe, Union and Capita test booth manned by Christian Brandstätter and Nicolas Lutz686 European Marketing Manager Stephane Grenet, aka lover of the Strawberry FieldsPryde Group representing Flow & Icetools with Sales Manager Stephan Decker & Michael Berger, MarketingGoodboards Vice President Maik FrieseSalomon Bonfire demo crew with Michael Schirnhofer and Karl Feldbaumer with Dragon Alliance's Matti Puster in the middleÄsthetiker's one and only MonEpic, Andreas 'Mone' Monsbergerhotzone.tv's Stefan Fankhauser with Burton Sales Manager Austria, Thomas RecheisSmith Optics' Alex SprollRossignol had the best named team on site - Sub Category Manager Germany Tobias Bär and Fabian WildNever Summer CEO Nicolas Wendelken and Merle KittanÄsmo Co-Founder Stefan GruberThe Rome SDS SquadSilbaerg SnowboardsKorua Shapes Demo Chief Vitus ZenzKanoa Trading showcasing Lobster, Slash and Bataleon Snowboards with Clemes Fischer, Björn Betterman and Paul PobpThe After Shred Session encouraged people to hang out in the parking lot after riding......listening to Go-Shred.Com's DJ set upGo-Shred.Com founder Martin Winchenbach with Kanoa Trading's BjörnVolcom's After Shred BBQ to re-fuel after a day on the mountain for the......Skate and Bike Pump Track that had young and old flying over and through and out!Burton Team Manager Sani Alibabic quickly got the hang of it......adding to the viewing pleasure of the bystanding spectatorsJochen Bauer from Beatnuts Distribution & Playboard Magazine finding his way into the trackThe industry's finest getting after it......round and round......much like in the pop up casino where you could win fine prizes with a bit of luck...while listening to Templeton's friends, the Harem band, playing liveTempelton Outerwear co-founder Marinus Schuster showing the latest collectionLifetime Ästhetiker Steve Gruber with hotzone.tv's MaikHotzone.tv Hintertux Opening Dream Team aka the Triumphirat: Christoph "Stoffl" Huber, speaker & organizer Muck Müller from Munchie Konsilium & Ästhetiker institution Rudi KröllAnd for the perfect finale - public viewing of Red Bull Media House's global premiere of Travis Rice's The 4th Phase
