Kaunertal Glacier Opening: A grand start to winter!

Text Mark Von Roy
Photos : Mark Von Roy
Photos ( Jump ) : flomotion.at

While the prolific Schneestern crew shaped over 20 features in three different park zones, the snow gods blessed the mountains of Kaunertal with a fresh coating of snow – ensuring that snow frothers from across Europe and even North America had plenty to play with.

The vibes throughout the three-day event were most definitely high and blue skies ensured that the contests ran without a hitch. Although the slopestyle line was slightly reduced in size, due to lack of significant snowfall the weeks prior, everyone competing was simply stoked to be sliding on snow again.

“I always love coming to Kaunertal and finally skiing with everyone again,” said Lisa Zimmerman, almost a veteran of the KTO, who won the female pro slopestyle contest for an impressive fifth year in a row.

Rising star Lukas Müllauer won a tight contest in the men’s division ahead of Torge Nagel and Fabian Bösch, “Although the course was kind of small, it was still fun and I am stoked to have won” reflected Lukas.

We even snuck in a cheeky Downdays Rail Jam and lots of stoked folk got their jib on, collecting prizes along the way. The award for best trick – a dope pair of Armada B-Dog Skis – went to style underdog Jannis Hoffmann, who stuck an unreal broken grind to blind 630 out!

Young Jannis has plenty of potential and if these first three days are an indication of things to come, so does our season. Thanks Kaunertal for an epic weekend, and bring on winter!