A meter of fresh snow, groomed pistes and lush (if tracked) off-piste slopes, blue skies and sunshine, a glacier resort where you could drop from 3000 meters al the way to the valley floor, 15 snowboards by 8 snowboard brands, and riding together with two other amazing snowboarders; that if anything is our perfect start to the snowboard season. The video in this post is just the impression of the 3 days we had riding: the video reviews of the snowboards are coming up.
But in this post, we just want to stand back for a moment and do a shout out to some partners that made this session possible. Some commercial, others not, but all really valuable to being able to make this reviews for all you snowboard lovers out there:
Dees Hetzenauer and Seb Jam
It is such a joy to ride with great snowboarders, there is so much to enjoy, so much to learn from. As I see them ride and can notice myself trying to emulate them, become as good as they are (though that will forever be an aspiration and not a reality I am afraid.) They road all the boards with an open and critical mind to everything the board brought them. Their knowledge of construction, shape, profiles of the boards but also stance, technique and style of riding was really fascinating and brought so much to the reviews we made. Thanks for coming with us and spending these days with us on the mountain.
Stubai
After having visited Stubai for the first time three years ago, I went back on a private trip in May and found myself back on the glacier again this November. I have only been to the glacier at the beginning and the end of the season and every time snow conditions were just really great. I can’t start to imagine how amazing the Stubaital is at the height of the Wintersports season. The valley itself is really the paragon of winter sport resort valleys, a long and winding road, hugging to a river, that becomes a stream and then a waterfall as you drive up to the end of the valley towards the lift stations. Small typically Austrian houses, old with dark stained wood, a fresh 30 cm of snow on them.
The drive up is just a gentle priming of all the winter sports/mountain instincts and emotions that we feel. It allows for an easing into your exhilaration. The ride up, this time with the brand new Eisgratbahn, the gondolas designed by the world-renowned Pininfarina, is smooth and swift. And once at the top, you see the majesty of the surrounding mountains and the many descents you can choose from. That feeling…that anything can happen.
And at the end of the first sunny day, we were all alone on the mountain; the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, the horizon looked like a rainbow going to sleep, a blanket of clouds in the valley and the three of us making our way down the mountain, cruising days’ end snow.
For this project, the Stubaier Tourism organization was kind enough to support us with our stay in the Happy Stubai hotel and the hospitality on the mountain. Our thanks go out to them and we look forward to the next time we can come to this beautiful valley. (Their support did not pay for the above-mentioned song of praise 😉 by the way.)
Our partner brands
In the reviews we do, we want to be absolutely objective. Really feel what the board does and share that directly with you guys. There is no other motive than wanting to give the best advice. The brands that provide us with the boards know and uniformly respect this. We thank them for their openness and trust in our judgement. Special thanks to Jones Snowboards, Nitro, Salomon and Frosty Snowboarding for the extra support in this project. Also a special mention to partner Thule for providing us with the means to bring the boards safely to and from Stubai, and all the way onto the Glacier. Stay tuned by the way for a #GearGiveAway of some really cool stuff we used during our reviews.
Snowrepublic
Last but not least: a word of gratitude and appreciation to our media partner SnowRepublic for helping us in the contacts with Stubai. The reviews we make will also be distributed through Snowrepublic.nl; reaching, even more, snowboard lovers.