02 May Crowning of the new Kings & Queens of the VÄLLEY in the Zillertal at the Betterpark Hintertux – Hintertux Glacier – Tux-Finkenberg
On the 29th and 30th of April 2023 the great tour finals of the10 th Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY hosted by Ride Snowboards and Blue Tomato went down in the Betterpark Hintertux at Hintertux Glacier. Over 100 young snowboard talents travelled from all over Europe to Tux-Finkenberg for the last tour stop of the popular Zillertal Snowboard Amateur Series. After all, it was all about the crown at the grand finale! In addition to the tour stop winners, the new Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY overall tour winners 2022/2023 were finally crowned the new Kings and Queens of the VÄLLEY for the 10th anniversary of the popular event series.
Just in time for the great Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY final, Betterpark Hintertux was ready to rumble with its XXL set-up. Wille Kaufmann and his Betterpark Shapeteam had conjured up a great setup for all ages and skill levels for the 4th tour stop of the popular snowboard amateur series, where the youngest participants were 4 years old. Due to uncertain weather conditions, the competition was held on Saturday.
At the end of a successful day, it was Laura Zaveska from Czech Republic who took the victory in both, her age group in the Rookie Girls (U18) category and also in the open class of all female participants. Sam Smits from the Netherlands finished in 1st place in the Rookie Boys contest. He also made it to 3rd place in the open class of all male snowboarders and was subsequently got crowned Overall King of the Zillertal VÄLLEY 2022/2023 by the Ästhetiker for his solid performance all over the winter. Winner of the Open Class was his teammate Bart Poll, also from the Netherlands.
In the Groms (U 15) category it was Dmytro Luchkin from Ukraine who was more than happy about the gold medal and thus second in the overall ranking additionally won a silver medal. Anna Tomanova from Czech Republic climbed the podium in the Grom Girls class in first place, which also put her in 2nd place in the open class ranking and made her the Overall Queen of the VÄLLEY after four successful tour stops.
In the Super Groms (U12), Marie Kuhlmann from Team Germany was delighted with her 1st place. She had thus won all four competitions over the season and was crowned the new Queen of the Zillertal VÄLLEY in her age group. High-flyer Tibbe Keizer from the Netherlands was delighted with his first place in the Super Grom Boys contest.
Joewen Frijns from Belgium earned the Horsefeathers Best Trick Award with his “270 FS BS 450.” With an thoroughly first-class performance over the season, he then happily accepted the award as the new Overall King of the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY. Finally, the young Matyas Krejci from the Czech Republic was voted “most impressive grom of the day” by the Ästhetiker judges.
“Hosting a competition with over 100 participants in one day on the glacier is a challenge,” says Pia Schroeter from the organising team. “That’s why we are even more pleased about the smooth running, special thanks to the first-class support of the team from Hintertux Glacier.” Rudi Kröll from the Ästhetiker organising team adds: “The riders field now includes participants from all over the world. We are proud to have created with the VÄLLEY RÄLLEY on today’s 10th anniversary in Hintertux, the leading junior series and the most important stepping stone into professional sport for young snowboarders of all nationalities.”
Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY 4th tour stop Hintertux Glacier – Results:
Horsefeathers Best Trick Award: “270 FS Bs 450 “by Joewen Frijns (BEL).
Most progressive Grom Award: Matyas Krejci (CZE)
Super Groms (U 12):
Girls: Boys:
1. Marie Kuhlmann (GER) 1. Tibbe Keizer (NED)
2. Frankie Chard (GBR) 2. Jaka Pančur (SLO)
3. Nikol Novosadova (CZE) 3. Matyas Kreijci (CZE)
Groms (U 16):
Girls: Boys:
1. Anna Tomanova (CZE) 1. Dymtro Luchkin (UKR)
2. Katja Dutu (NED) 2. Oliver Stastny (CZE)
3. Sky Remans (BEL) 3. Oliver Vandendriessche (NED)
Rookies (U 18):
Girls: Boys:
1. Laura Zaveska (CZE) 1. Sam Smits (NED)
2. Sam Van Lieshout (NED) 2. Yvan Kerkdijk (NED)
3. Romy Van Vreden (NED) 3. Vojtech Horky (CZE)
Overall Class:
Women: Men:
1. Laura Zaveska (CZE) 1. Bart Poll (NED)
2. Anna Tomanova (CZE) 2. Dymtro Luchkin (UKR)
3. Katja Dutu (NED) 3. Sam Smits (NED)
Based on the results of all four tour stops, the new Kings and Queens of the VÄLLEY were then determined and the overall tour winners were crowned the new Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY Royal Family 2022/2023 with much applause following the regular prize distribution: Congratulations!
Overall Class: Queen: Romy Van Vreden (NED) King: Joewen Frijns (BEL)
Rookies (U 18): Queen: Romy Van Vreden (NED) King: Sam Smits (NED)
Groms (U 16): Queen: Anna Tomanova (CZE) King: Niko Lemark (SLO) and Oliver Stastny (CZE)
Super Groms (U12): Queen: Marie Kuhlmann (GER) King: Jaka Pančur (SLO)
The full results and rankings of the last tour stop as well as overall tour rankings can be found at https://valleyralley.at/results/season-22-23/.
On Sunday, the snowboarders celebrated the ending of the 10th Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY season in a relaxed way with coaching and training sessions and enjoyed a final get-together at Sommerberg with a delicious surprise by Tux-Finkenberg Tourist Board. The Betterpark Hintertux will now remain open with the XXL setup until 4 June. All info and current updates can be found at www.hintertuxergletscher.at
Ines Eberl and Lena Kuhlkamp from Hintertux Glacier Marketing agree: “It is a pleasure for us to witness the enthusiasm and ambition with which the young athletes practice their sport. It makes us very proud to be able to contribute to youth development and to be part of the game.”
With their participation in Hintertux, the snowboarders also collected points on the international World Snowboard Point List (WSPL). The tour stop is a recognised ASA (Austrian Snowboard Association) Austria Cup and rookies (U18) are credited points for next season´s World Rookie Ranking.
The partners of the 4th tour stop are:
Zillertal Tourismus GmbH, Zillertaler Gletscherbahn with Betterpark Hintertux, Betterparks.at, Tourismusverband Tux-Finkenberg, Blue Tomato, Ride Snowboards, Red Bull, Horsefeathers, Dana Beanies, the World Snowboard Federation (WSF), the Austrian Snowboard Federation (ASA) and World Rookie Tour (WRT).
Park Overview Video: https://vimeo.com/822892065
Winner Videos:
Super Grom Boys & Girls (U 12) winners: https://vimeo.com/822353219
Grom Girls winner (U 16): https://vimeo.com/822359914
Grom Boys winner (U 16): https://vimeo.com/822356736
Rookie Boys (U 18) winner: https://vimeo.com/822362346
Rookie Girls & Overall Women winner (U 18): https://vimeo.com/822364445 Overall Men´s Winner: https://vimeo.com/822348098