Absolut Park celebrates 20 years

[Press release]

The Absolut Park will be 20 years old in 2019. The first freestyle facilities were built on the Shuttleberg in 1999, the Absolut Shuttle and the Chill House opened in 2006. Since then the Absolut Park has not only become Austria's biggest snow park — it is also one of the most famous terrain parks in the world. On a huge area with seven different sections, the park is equipped with about 100 creative, challenging obstacles, which are groomed daily by an experienced shape crew.

Whether you're looking for massive airtime on the 5 kicker line, chasing the numerous rails and boxes or racing through the Cross Run and Halfpipe — in Absolut Park it's all possible. The shape crew reworks the park every year, builds new obstacles or repositions existing ones. They mostly get inspiration from the Absolut Park team, as head shaper Markus "Dude" Deutinger explains: "We have so many team riders from all over the world and are looking to talk to them, ask them what they like or whether we could do something better. The most important thing, I think, is that you live the sport and are interested in new developments."

Thanks to well thought-out earthworks and optimal snowmaking, the Absolut Park is set up more early in the season than any other park without glacier and at the tree line. For the winter season 2018/19, the park opening is planned for December 1 — should the temperatures permit it even earlier.

Six-week anniversary program
To celebrate its birthday, the Absolut Park will host a six-week anniversary program in the entire park area between the Spring Battle (from 16.03.2019) and the season end (22.04.2019) with photo and video shootings, events such as the 10th anniversary of The Stash, several Cash For Trick sessions and a Banked Slalom, special and even more obstacles and extended runs in The Stash and in the Absolut Park. Stay tuned for more information!

News for winter season 2018/19

New obstacles in the Absolut Park
During the summer, the Absolut Park Shape crew welded and hammered everything they could — to surprise you with a brand new Stair Set this winter. It consists of a Stepdown Rail, a Down Rail, a Double Kinked Rail and a Ledge with a Creeper Rail and will be located at the end of the Jib Park as usual.
Besides, the guys built six new rails for you: A nine-metre long Doublekinked Rail, two Straight Rails, an eight-meter-long Elbow Rail, a six-meter-long Rainbow Rail and a seven-meter Wave Rail.

Happy birthday, The Stash!
The natural park is already ten years old, but still as cool as on the first day. This season the Lil' Stash, the easy to ride part below the Powder Shuttle top station, was extended.

Cross Run extension
We have added a second start to the Cross Run, the boarder and ski cross track in the Absolut Park. Now beginners and advanced riders can start into the flowy track according to their level.

New to the Absolut Park team
Ståle Sandbech and Torgeir Bergrem have a lot in common: Both are Norwegians, travel a lot together and are often in front of the camera in twos on YouTube. Starting this winter season, they will also be team buddies in the Absolut Park team and will undoubtedly be pulling their laps around the park more often than before.

Slopestyle Olympic participant Yuka Fujimori from Japan will join the ladies from now on. She is the first Asian in the Absolut Park Team and since her victory at the Spring Battle in 2017 you can see her in the park time and again.

The seven sections of the Absolut Park
The Absolut Park is divided into seven sections, which we present to you here. 

1 Kicker Line
Five kickers in a row offer you maximum airtime at an international top level. This is where the Spring Battle, Austria’s most famous on-mountain snowboard and freeski contest, takes place.

2 Rail Yard
Here you will find all kinds of rails and jib obstacles, always new and creatively arranged: S-Rail, Barrel-Rail, Elbow-Rail, Kinked-Rail, Double Kinked-Rail, Straight Rails,…

3 Beginner/Medium Line
The ideal place to work on your skills, practice new tricks and prepare for the bigger obstacles: The Beginner/Medium Line starts at the top station of the Absolut Shuttle and ends at the bottom station of the Powder Shuttle.

4 Rail/Halfpipe Line
The Rail/Halfpipe Line is equipped with many different rails and ends in a funny, 100-meter-long halfpipe with four meter high walls. It is ideal if you want to learn how to ride a pipe and try your first tricks.

5 Jib Park
Directly in front of Chill House, you will find the ultimate playground for all jibbers: The Jib Park offers you many rails and boxes, which are easy and fun to ride. All shredders, regardless of their level, will have fun here.

6 Cross Run
Both beginners and advanced can ride the Cross Run, a top-maintained ski and boardercross course, without any problems — two separate starts for different levels ensure this. It's best to enjoy it with your buddies!

7 The Stash
The Stash Park does not offer you perfectly groomed slopes, but instead, you can get creative. There are obstacles made of wood and snow integrated into the natural terrain, and you can usually ride them in several ways. The area offers a lot of additional possibilities for natural jibs and powder runs.
Kids and beginners will find the Lil' Stash with its wide, simple wooden boxes and rails an ideal terrain to start with their first freestyle tricks. 

Further facilities

Bouldering, skateboarding and relaxing: The Chill House
The Chill House below the Jib Park is the freestyle scene’s meeting point. The light-flooded, two-storey building is equipped with a boulder wall and several chill-out areas where you can watch freeski and snowboard videos. Since last winter season, the Chill House is also pleasing to the eye: Inspiring paintings and drawings from artists in the boardsport and freeski scene are shown on a regular basis. The highlight, however, is the skate mini ramp — the first of its kind on a mountain worldwide.

When the weather is sunny, numerous sofas and picnic tables invite you to have a snack outside, to relax or to watch friends and pros in the park.

Absolut School: Learn freestyle
Do you want to learn your first freestyle tricks? The Absolut School offers special freeski and freestyle snowboard lessons in which experienced coaches teach you freestyle from scratch. With the right technique, you will quickly and safely master new tricks and dare to take on ever larger obstacles in no time.

Besides regular freestyle lessons the Absolut School also organises freestyle camps and events especially for freeski and snowboard rookies.

The Absolut Park team

The Absolut Park team is one of the largest freestyle teams worldwide and includes top international athletes, Austrian champions and local rookies within the freeski and snowboard scene.