24 Dec Perfect start to the 12th Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY just before Christmas in the Zillertal
On 20 and 21 December 2025 in the Hochzillertal – Kaltenbach ski region
On 20 December 2025, the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY hosted by Blue Tomato kicked off its twelfth season in glorious sunshine with the first tour stop in the Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach ski region. The opening event of the popular Ästhetiker Snowboard Tour attracted over ninety participants from all over Europe to the leading holiday region in the Zillertal. With its unique combination of snowboard freestyle coaching, style sessions and internationally recognised snowboard slopestyle competitions, the VÄLLEY RÄLLEY has established itself as an important tour for young talent and is nowadays a springboard for young snowboarders into international professional sport. Watch the highlight video of the first tour stop by monepic.at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g54nbneb-aU
Perfect start to the season with over 90 participants
It couldn’t have been better! Just in time for the first Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY tour stop 2025/2026 hosted by Blue Tomato, the Betterpark Hochzillertal shone in bright sunshine with its first-class freestyle setup. Over 90 participants from all over Europe travelled to the premier holiday region in the Zillertal for the first VÄLLEY RÄLLEY event of the popular snowboard tour.
Park opening, training sessions and Ästhetiker style session to kick off the freestyle season
Betterpark Hochzillertal opened its doors for the winter season on Saturday with its XXL setup, offering young snowboarding talents from all over the world perfect training conditions. Many participants took the opportunity to learn new tricks during the free freestyle coaching sessions and at the end of the day, plenty of prize money, fame and glory were up for grabs at the Ästhetiker Style Session. The Style Award winners are:
Grom Boys (U16) Alex Campbell (AUS)
Women: Marie Kuhlmann (GER)
Best Trick: Damian Millinger (GER) „Switch BS 180 BS Air“
Overall Best performance: Dmytro Luchkin (UKR)
International winners’ podium at the 1st Slopestyle competition in Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach
On Sunday, conditions were perfect for the snowboard competition in the Olympic category ‘slopestyle’. International teams raised the bar high in the battle for the top podium places right at the start of the season. The winners of all eight categories received lots of medals, prize money and prizes from partners like Zillertal.at, Blue Tomato and Horsefeathers.
At the end of an exciting day, Austrian Eric Dovjak was delighted to take first place in the open class of all male riders. With his stylish ‘Switch Backside 1260’, he also won the coveted Horsefeathers Best Trick Award. In the ladies’ competition, it was Austria’s Livia Schatzer who was delighted to be crowned the best female rider, winning gold in her age group in the Rookie Girls (U18) and in the open class of all female riders. In the Rookie Boys category (U18), Dmytro Luchkin (UKR) dominated the podium of a very strong starter field. Marie Kuhlmann from Germany impressed the judges in the Grom Girls (U16) category as the best snowboarder of the day in her age group, taking home the gold medal. Her teammate Leo Schwab from Team Germany fought his way to the title in the Grom Boys (U16) category. In the ‘little’ Super Groms (U12) category, Valerie Schwab from Team Germany and Newin “Nunu” Kunert from Team Czech Republic climbed to the top of the podium as the happy winners of the day. Last but not least, young Jonas Krauer from Czech Republic was overjoyed with his title as ‘Most impressive Grom of the day’.
Martha Schultz from the Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach Ski Centre is delighted with the successful launch event: ‘Thanks to the Ästhetiker team. They are professionals at work! Events like this are very important for winter sports and for our children and young talents – they convey the fun of being outdoors and allow young people to compete with each other and measure their skills.’
The points chase has officially started
With the first of four contest results, the starting signal for the chase for new points was given in the Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach ski region. The overall tour winners will be crowned the new Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY royal family in spring 2026 on Hintertux Glacier. Points will also be awarded for participation on the international World Snowboard Point List (WSPL) and the tour stop counts as an ASA (Austrian Snowboard Association) Austriacup. All under-18s collected points in the World Rookie Ranking at Betterpark Hochzillertal and can therefore qualify for the World Rookie Tour Finals. More information athttp://www.powdern.com
All remaining Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY tour stops at a glance:
2. Tour stop 24–25 January 2026 Zillertal Arena
3. Tour stop 28 February–1 March 2026 Penken Park Mayrhofen, Mayrhofen-Hippach in the Zillertal
4. Tour stop 25–26 April 2026 Hintertux Glacier, Betterpark Hintertux, Tux-Finkenberg
The Ästhetiker would like to thank the partners of the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY for their support:
Zillertal Tourism, Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach Ski Region, Tourism Association Erste Ferienregion im Zillertal, Blue Tomato, Red Bull, Horsefeathers, Dana Beanies, Betterparks
Special thanks go to the cooperation partners:
World Snowboard Federation (WSF), Austrian Snowboard Federation (ASA), World Rookie Tour (WRT), Boardriding.com, X-aces.com
Full results, photo and video galleries are available at www.valleyralley.at
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