BigAirBag® will never forget its roots and to honour freestyle skiing and snowboarding the Wintertour was born. Last March 4 resorts, namely: Hochfügen, Galtür, Kappl and Axamer Lizum, were visited and got the pleasure of experiencing the fun and enthusiasm BigAirBag can provide for freestyle winter sports. Four consecutive weeks the Freestyle BigAirBag travelled through the Austrian mountains with the first stop in Hochfügen, where the journey began.
Week 1 Hochfügen
From dawn till dusk the Freestyle bag attracted all kinds of people, but all came with the same purpose: jumping the bag! It was located underneath the head elevator, so after a nice run down the slopes everybody was warmed up and ready to hit the bag. A constant flow of people having fun, trying new tricks and improving their skills resulted in an inspirational atmosphere. This led to a young, persistent girl arriving on an early morning with the sun just revealing itself to the mountains, with only one goal: landing her first ever backflip. For two days, straight she practiced and struggled. On the second day, right before the slopes were shutting down, on her last run, after getting advice and seeing her parents cheer just as everybody else, she landed her first backflip. An amazing start of our Wintertour and an obvious example for what enthusiasm, perseveres and love for freestyle sports can result in.
Week 2 Galtür
After a good start of the tour the second week brought a bit of unfortunate weather. Lots of snow shovelling had to be done to keep the ramp nice and clean. The crew did an amazing job and the snow park looked beautiful for the excited kids who wanted to try the BigAirBag® Freestyleand get that airtime. Nevertheless, it was a week full of improving and just having fun. Enthusiasts such as the shaper got up early to get the first ride of the day and knock the nightly fallen snow of the BigAirBag, right before his work shift started. Preparing for a busy day with energy like that was a true motivator and set an excellent ambiance.
Week 3 Kappl
Kappl, the third location for the Wintertour and host of the Dutch Freestyle Championships which was organized and powered by Poederbaas. The Dutch free riders not only showed their skills on the mountain side, but also in the air when lanced from a ramp and landed safely in the bag. A lot of children were hyped by the free riders’ tricks and became so excited their mum’s had to drag them away to get them on time to school. Every day a horde of kids visited the bag before school showing off their best stunts, challenging and pushing each other’s’ boundaries. This led to a lot of people just enjoying the show and the competitive young ones’ try to top one another. The BigAirBag was an eye catcher which a lot of people seemed to notice.
Week 4 Axamer Lizum
The final week of the BigAirBag Wintertour went down in Axamer Lizum in their slope style park, the perfect opportunity to see the BigAirBag® Freestyleget shredded by talented skiers and snowboarders. This week was mostly about progression due to this venue and this didn’t go unnoticed. A lot of people were drawn to the tempting appeal of the bag and tried to show everybody what they were capable of. The word spread and reached all the way to Innsbrück and caused some kids skipping class to not miss this chance. The sun, music, good vibes and a lot of flying people, made sure the closing of the BigAirBag Wintertour was a week to remember.
They say that time flies when you’re having fun… and we here at BigAirBag® can only agree, as those 4 weeks flew by indeed. The Wintertour 2019 has been a first and definitely won’t be a last. Evaluations led to preparations and the planning of next year’s tour has officially started. Looking at the enthusiasm of people, the smiles on faces after landing something they would never even thought of doing and the fun it provided, inspires BigAirBag® to go big and do more to let people of all sizes and ages have an experience everybody should have had once in their life.
Next years locations are unknown yet, do you want to be a part of the BigAirBag® Wintertour 2020? Contact us!
