Funparks – Over the moon

The jumpers have infinite energy. The nice thing about it is that they don't have to be frugal with it. The park operators are different, because building the parks is extremely complex. Most of the obstacles are made of snow, which comes mainly from the cannons. In addition, maintaining the parks also requires a lot of effort. But don't worry: The facilities described on the following pages will be available in excellent shape this winter, and cost-cutting measures will continue to be limited to less frequented side areas. The mostly young visitors to these parks are over the moon, but never sad to death. After all, it is called a fun park. Even if the fun can sometimes lead to being taken away with a serious injury.

With higher and further it has been over for some time now. At some point, the pain threshold was reached with the obstacles, in the truest sense of the word. The current theme is clearly variety: that means that in addition to the unchanged extreme kickers and rails, people are increasingly thinking about building their own lines for beginners and those who are not yet quite up to speed. All of the parks listed on the following pages generally separate their clientele according to these criteria. By separating them according to different needs, fun slopes are still very popular. They are built as part of the snow and fun parks or independently on the edge of wide slopes. A roundabout is a must, a 360-degree curve that ends with a small tunnel. Because it's not just boys and girls who should have fun on their flying boards, these are facilities that older people can also dare to use.

The "soft version" was born because ski instructors liked to let their little ones ski on the cross courses to their delight. That wasn't the point and the cross courses are now almost only found in places with cross races. After the pioneers, the development was almost like an avalanche. Our personal favorites among the fun slopes include Serfaus, Sölden, Axamer Lizum, Hintertux and Bad Hofgastein, but there are also beautifully designed examples in smaller areas such as the Ehrwalder Alm.

In the Pillersee Valley The renovation of the Steinplatte Waidring snow park was recently tackled. Four lines of varying difficulty levels, a relaxed atmosphere and creative elements for everyone await freestylers and anyone who wants to become one in the "perfectly prepared" park. Depending on the setup, you can really let off steam on a 1.5 km long track with 15 to 18 elements - including boxes, tubes, rails, hips, kicks and corners.

The quality of these slopes increases with the depth of snow. Of course, they are not as spectacular everywhere as in Zell am See. The Schmitten Funslope is 1,300 meters long and, as far as we know, one of the longest in the world. In addition to steep curves, waves, jumps, boxes and two snails, the unique route through the forest, which is reminiscent of the beloved "Waldwegerl", is a highlight of the fun slopes. To add further sensory impressions to the experience, the fun slope has been expanded to include sound elements such as the Sound Speed Booster or Sound Slopies. In some places, one variant is simply called a "wave track". One could also argue that if not all slopes were planed smooth and some were left unprepared, these innovations would not be needed. But there is also a question of safety, i.e. insurance and lawsuits. The center of the young activity are and will remain the fun parks with their kickers of different heights, rails and boxes. Hinterstoder can perhaps be seen as an indication that the heyday of the parks is over: Because the area announces: “No more snow park!”

Absolutely the ultimate highlight at the moment is probably the goings-on in the “Absolut Park” at Flachauwinkl-Shuttleberg. Spring has long since arrived, the temperatures are almost summery, but when you talk about the park here in the Salzburg sports world, no one under 30 thinks of picking flowers. Absolutely not. You could also ponder: tables instead of benches, rails instead of cycling, or even kickers instead of kicking. Snow park life began here 20 years ago. Josef Harml Jr., Sepp for short, was there from the start. As a boarder, he encouraged the family to liven up the low-guest drag lift in this way. The exercise was successful: today the comfortable “Absolut Shuttle” is used and makes a million trips on the approximately 130 days the lift is in operation. The Chillhaus has been the central culmination of the riders' goings-on since 2006. A shelter of a different kind. With a ramp and bouldering facility, especially when the weather doesn't play along. Upstairs, the hot and cold water dispensers are used eagerly, as there is no obligation to buy! The surrounding huts are happy, the terraces are very busy and the action on the countless table football tables is a circus-like program.

Can you should. This also applies to the easier of the countless lines. A special feature here is the Absolut School. It's actually a completely normal ski and snowboard school, but six of the teachers are freeski and freestyle specialists. There are also local kids camps at half price. The Absolut Park also seems to be the right base for future highs: Olympic champion Anna Gasser completed her first jumps here and remains loyal to the Absolut Park. "It's important that people can already board or ski safely before they go to the park," emphasises Sepp.

First the work, then the fun. Hardly anyone thinks about that when they see the halfpipes and jumps that have been moving from the edges of the slopes to the center for over a decade and have long since been styled into complete snow or fun parks. At the Kitzsteinhorn, six permanent shapers are busy looking after the three parks, as well as caterpillar drivers and helpers. Because the glacier flows, the obstacles have to be renewed regularly. The art of the right design is above all to calculate the angle of take-off correctly. Only routine helps here. Because the top priority in the fun park is and remains to maintain a high level of safety.