Battle ROJal 2019 – that was (l)it!

“All in all, we were on the road for 8 ½ hours” says Andrea Ostijk – coach of the Dutch crew Shred Masters. The team travelled all the way from Landgraaf to the Reschen Pass to compete in the Battle ROJal at Schöneben. So, one can say, they definitely put in quite some effort. Was it worth it? “Absolutely! Usually we ride indoors, for many kids it was the first time on real snow” tells us Andrea. “It was great fun for sure!”

Maike Herkenrath was definitely as stoked as Andrea. Being a local, she knows every obstacle of Snowpark Schöneben. “That’s my park, I’m riding here the entire winter” explains Maike. She already took part in last year’s Battle ROJal and ever since she worked a lot on her tricks at her home base. “I learned new stuff and I definitely made some progress. The jumps are working perfectly today!” Read on to check out how Maike performed in the contest.

Maike already talked about the nice jumps. Andrea from the Shred Masters supports her: “The contest line-up was really sick! The jumps were awesome, doable for all levels and the weather also played its part!” This is music to the ears of Schöneben’s Park Designer Daniel Osterland, aka “Fox”. Together with his hard-working crew he built up a contest line which impressed everyone around. Just like freeskier David Wolf (AUT) put it: “The setup was again epic. The jumps were sensational. Just perfect for me to send it properly!”

One name really stood out on the starting list: Fynn Koenen (DEU). The 17-year-old already managed to reach a top-ten result in the Europa Cup this year – ironically, at his training area Landgraaf. It definitely looks like the young German is well on his way becoming a snowboard pro. At the Battle ROJal, the wonderkid dominated the qualification with an incredible score of 93 points. Yet, he struggled in the final runs. Even though he won the Best Trick Award with an awesome Switch Back 9, Fynn didn’t make it to the podium. “I performed the best trick on the first hit’s small jump. Then I wanted to step up the game, but unfortunately this didn’t really work out”, said Fynn. “I might haven’t been fully concentrated, things like that can always happen.” This meant Jesse Willemsen (NLD) won the Snowboard Men category in front of his fellow Dutchmen Lars Laeven (NLD) and Fabian Brenzel (NLD). Jesse Willemsen showed an especially outstanding performance as he didn’t only succeed in the Snowboard Men ranking, but he also secured the 1st place in the Groms Men division. Luc Meijers (NLD) was happy about his second place in the youngsters category and Pim Wiesen (NLD) came third.

Romy van Vreden (NLD) made it to the top and won the Snowboard Women competition, just in front of local Maike Herkenrath (DEU) and Barbara Mayer (AUT). The Snowboard Women winner was also the Groms winner – namely the young Dutch lady Romy van Vreden. Julia Hamers (NLD) showed a good performance and was second on the podium while Siobhan Moors (NLD) finished third.

This year’s Battle ROJal is in the books and it’s definitely a success story. A bluebird day, a massive contest line and endless freestyle action. What else can a rider’s heart ask for? Exactly – footage, footage, footage from the Snowpark Schöneben and from the QParks Tour. Where to find that? Easy, just go to the park’s Facebook Page and Instagram Account or visit the Tour’s Instagram and Facebook channels.