On December 22nd and 23rd 2018, the 6th Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY hosted by Ride Snowboards reconvened with the first stage at ski centrum Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach. The opening event of Zillertal´s most popular snowboard amateur series started with a bang! More than a hundred riders and international teams traveled to Hochzillertal to grab for a spot on the first VÄLLEY RÄLLEY snowboard slopestyle podium of the season. After an exciting contest day, everybody was happy to shred together and learn some new tricks on the coaching day. Andreas MonEpic Monsberger has put the highlights together for you: 

Zillertal VÄlley RÄlley "Hochzillertal" 2018 from Ästhetiker on Vimeo.

What a tour start! Just in time for the first Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY event, the Betterpark Hochzillertal showed off with a first class setup. Saturday´s competition start list comprised strong teams from Europe and Japan. All hundred riders seemed uninhibited by wind and weather and delivered their best tricks, hoping to rake in some of the popular medals, prize money and mad-prizes. Beside the day podiums, riders  were collecting points for the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY overall ranking and the international World Snowboard Point List (WSPL). 

For Japan´s Ryoma Kimata the journey to Zillertal paid off threefoldly. The talented Japanese scored two gold medals,. One in the category Rookie Boys (16-18 years) and one in the Men´s Open Class (all male participants of the contest). He also won the highly coveted BILLABONG best trick award with his stylish „FS 1080 Double Cork.“ On the female side, it was Melissa Peperkamp from the Netherlands, who took home three top spots. Beside the first place in the Grom Girls (13-15 years) category, she dominated the Women´s Open Class (all female participants of the contest) and got rewarded „most impressive grom of  the day“ by the Ästhetiker judges. Team Great Britain´s Amber Fennell earned herself the gold medal in the Super Grom Girls contest (under 13 years) while her fellow-countryman Charlie Lane took victory in the Super Grom Boys category. 

Jakub Hrones from Czech Republic won the Grom Boys (13-15 years) contest while Kiara Zung was holding the Austrian flag as winner of the Rookie Girls (16-18 years) class. 

Sunday was all about coachings and trainings at Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach. The Ästhetiker coaches Steve Gruber, Friedl Kolar, Klaus Hofmeister and Chris Kröll took over all the different lines of the Betterpark Hochzillertal. In small groups, snowboarders of all riding levels had the opportunity to try out new tricks and improve their technique under the eyes of their coaches. At the Ride Highest Ollie Contest, Ride Snowboards rewarded all great ollies with nice prizes. Everyone involved finally joined the last get-together at the Kristallhütte, before the entire Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY crew rode down  to the valley together. 

Martha Schultz, Ski Centrum Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach is delighted with the successful event: „Thanks to the team of the Ästhetiker. Once again, they were proffessionals at work. And these kind of events are important for wintersports and for our kids and young athletes. They convey the common joy out in nature and our youth is finding a platform to benchmark themselves.“

With the first out of four results, the hunt for valuable Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY overall ranking points has started. The overall winners will be crowned new Royal Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY family at the final tourstop on Hintertux Glacier in April 2019. The first stage counts as n.ASA (New Austrian Snowboard Association) Austriacup, while rookies collect points for their actual World Rookie Rank. More info at http://www.powdern.com. 

Partners of the 1st stage are: Zillertal Tourismus GmbH, Ski Centrum Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach, Erste Ferienregion im Zillertal, Ride Snowboards, Red Bull, Billabong, Greenroom Mayrhofen, Black Eye Lens and Dana Beanies, n.ASA, World Snowboarding, Kristallhuette Zillertal

The full rankings, results and photo galleries are now available at www.valleyralley.at 
Further info at  www.zillertal.at/valleyralley