The community of old-school snowboarders celebrates itself. On April 17, 2010, the time had finally come. The biggest old-school snowboard event in the world took place in Stuben am Arlberg.
For the eleventh time in a row, this event was all about community. Of course, homage to the founding fathers, formative characters and pioneers of our favorite snow sports equipment was a must. That's why the field of riders read like a snowboarding history book. Names such as Terry Kidwell, Shawn Farmer, Bob Klein, Regis Roland, Ueli Kestenholz, Jose Fernandes, the Freinandemetz brothers and many more made the hearts of the spectators and, above all, the other participants beat faster and faster. For many of the 410 participants, tackling a slope of 1001 vertical meters board-to-board together with their great role models and idols is one of the greatest moments of their snowboarding career.
On Friday evening, however, the participants first met up for the traditional legends dinner, where the main protagonists got out of the history book and filled their stomachs in a relaxed atmosphere in Stuben, bringing memories back to life. This provided enough material to fill the evening until the early morning.
Saturday was the heart of the gathering. A classic top-to-bottom downhill race with no rules or regulations. The Les Mans mass start already offered a fantastically colorful neon chaos, with the participants stumbling through knee-deep snow to their sports equipment. The models, some of which were ready for the museum, were strapped on as quickly as possible and the 4 km long descent was tackled. Special respect was due to some who dared to overcome the almost 5 meter high cornice with stylish jumps on their relics from quaint snowboarding days gone by. Another highlight was the final part of the slope, which had very little snow and once again demanded top-level riding skills from the athletes in order to maneuver the well-maintained boards skilfully around the rocks.
Placings played a rather minor role this year too. The focus was on the shared experience. The finish area became a celebration area and a collective glow went from one end of the crowd to the other as the ceremonial awarding of such unique categories as Soul Master, Oldest Board and similarly profound recognitions took place. The celebration was moved to the party tent in the evening, where movie classics such as "This is Snowboarding", "The Holy Grail of Snowboarding" or "Apocaypse Snow" were shown before the masses were allowed to celebrate themselves with reggea beats.
The thanks for the continuation of this unique event go to contest organizer and snowboarding veteran Paul Gruber, who also announced the date for the upcoming Woodstock of snowboarding, the Longboardclassics 2011. We will meet again on 9.4.2011 in Stuben am Arlberg.
