Numerous premiere guests from acrossEurope ventured to the Stubai Valley to enjoy the snowpark’s sixth annual openingunder a brilliant blue sky and with late-summer temperatures. Although the current snow situation in the Alps leaves much to be desired, the guests and riders at the MOREBOARDS Stubai Premiere showed that they’re more than ready for the season to get started.

The eight-feature Mini Shred park built by Schneestern lured not only the local shreddersup to the glacier — the hike setup right at the Eisgrat lift station was a meeting point for nationaland international snowboard pros, too! In a relaxed atmosphere, ams and pros like Len Jorgensen(NOR), Kas Lemmens (NED) and Mario Käppeli (SUI) hiked the setup side-by-side, pushing each other in sessions on the downrail, double-kinked pipe and other features.

The Brand Saloon, where all the top snowboard brands exhibited their newest hardware for free testing, was also a bustle of activity. While many premiere guests tested and compared gear, others enjoyed the warm temperatures and the DJ sounds from the Chill Area and grabbed a free burger from the BBQ grill.

Without doubt the high point of the weekend were the Side Events in the Mini Shred park. In the Skullcandy Trick Sessions, MC Henry Jackson pushed participating riders to bring out their best in exciting battles for cash and goodies. The same went for the Adidas Jersey Jam, where each stylish trick on the Adidas Barriers was rewarded with drink vouchers and valuable prizes. Meanwhile, snowboard pro Julia Baumgartner had so much fun with the 15 participants of the Nikita Girls Camp that the ladies (aged between 12-30) were still grinning long after the lifts closed down. The highlight of the Side Events, though, was the the DJ Jib Battle. Throughout the session, the 20 participating riders demonstrated amazing levels of creativity and skill in finding new ways to jib the box to downrail combo. At the end, a unanimous Riders’ Vote sent Raffael Kossmann (GER) to the top of the podium, followed by Ziga Rakovec (SLO) and Christoph Schwarz (GER) who shared second place. The three victors then magnanimously divided up the 1,000 euro prize purse equally amongst themselves.

The party didn’t just rock on the glacier—all premiere partying rites were observed in Neustift im Stubaital as well. Parties at the recreation center with Die Boys and Drunken Masters on Friday, and Afrob and Deluxe Soundsystem on Saturday, as well as a performance by Sentinel Sound in the Dorfpub, kept everybody off the wall, while the day’s hard work on snow was celebrated into the early morning hours.

Now it’s just getting started! The Mini Shred Setup at the Eisgrat station will stay open to riders until the snow situation allows the Stubai Zoo to open in its full size. And since snow is forecast for the next few days, it looks like that won’t be too long! Once the park opens, the brand-new private park rope tow will also be in operation. The MOREBOARDS Stubai Premiere was once again a great success and we’re looking forward to next year already. The seventh edition will go down from 16-18 October, 2015. Save the date!

All information about the Snowpark is available at www.stubai-zoo.com and facebook Ride the Zoo!