<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>On 17 and 18 December 2022, the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY hosted by Blue Tomato & Ride Snowboards kicked off its tenth season in glorious sunshine with the first tour stop in the Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach ski region. The kick-off event of the popular Ästhetiker Snowboard Tour attracted over a hundred participants from all over Europe to travel to the Zillertal. With its unique combination of snowboard freestyle coaching and internationally recognised snowboard slopestyle competitions, the VÄLLEY RÄLLEY has grown over the past decade to become the leading amateur junior tour in Europe.</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What a start to the season! Just in time for the first Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY tour stop 2022/2023 hosted by Blue Tomato & Ride Snowboards, the Betterpark Hochzillertal shone in the sun with its first-class setup. Over 100 participants travelled to the Zillertal for the first VÄLLEY RÄLLEY event in its 10th anniversary year and took advantage of the perfect conditions on Saturday to train for the big competition on Sunday. In the open slopestyle competition on Sunday, teams from all over Europe delivered a breathtaking snowboard show to battle for the first podium spots. Lots of medals, prize money and prizes awaited the winners of the eight categories.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Niklas Huber from Team Germany caused a sensation with his "switch backside 1260" and deservedly secured the Horsefeathers Best Trick Award and the silver medal in the overall ranking "Overall Men" behind the winner Joewen Frijns, who took the gold medal for Belgium. As the youngest participant in the competition, 4-year-old Ryan Borgmann, also from Germany, was awarded the title "most impressive Grom of the dÄy" to overwhelming applause at the award ceremony.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Vanessa Volopichova from the Czech Republic took both the victory in her Rookie Girls class and the podium as the best female rider in the Overall Women category. In the Rookie Boys contest (16-17 years), Petr Ershov from Russia was the first to climb the podium, which also earned him the bronze medal in the "Overall Men". </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shania Colsters from the Netherlands and Oliver Stastny from Team Czech Republic won the competitions in the 13-15 year olds (Groms), while in the youngest (under 12 years - Super Groms) Marie Kuhlmann (GER) and Gustaw Nawarkievicz (POL) as VÄLLEY-RÄLLEY newcomers each brought home the gold medal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Martha Schultz from the Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach Skiresort is delighted with the successful inaugural event: "Big thanks to the Ästheticer crew, there are professionals at work here! Events of this kind are very important for winter sports and for our kids and young people - they convey the fun in nature and the young people measure their skills together."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first of four contest results in the Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach ski region marked the start of the hunt for VÄLLEY RÄLLEY points. The overall tour winners will be crowned the new Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY royal family in spring 2023 on the Hintertux Glacier. Points on the international World Snowboard Point List (WSPL) were also awarded for participation and the tour stop counts as the ASA (Austrian Snowboard Association) Austria Cup. All under 18-year-olds collected points in the World Rookie Ranking in Betterpark Hochzillertal and can therefore qualify for the World Rookie Tour Finals. More at <a href="http://www.powdern.com" target="_blank">http://www.powdern.com</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>All remaining Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY tour stops at a glance</strong>: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2nd tour stop 21.-22.01.2023, Zillertal Arena </div><div style="text-align: justify;">3rd tour stop 11.-12.03.2023, Penken Park Mayrhofen, Mayrhofen-Hippach in the Zillertal Valley </div><div style="text-align: justify;">4th tour stop 29-30.04.2023, Hintertux Glacier, Betterpark Hintertux, Tux-Finkenberg </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Ästhetiker thank the partners of the Zillertal VÄLLEY RÄLLEY for their support</strong>: Zillertal Tourism, Ski Region Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach, Tourism Erste Ferienregion im Zillertal, Kristallhuette Zillertal, Blue Tomato, Ride Snowboards, Red Bull, Horsefeathers and Dana Beanies. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Special thanks to the cooperation partners</strong>:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">World Snowboard Federation (WSF), Austrian Snowboard Federation (ASA), World Rookie Tour (WRT).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>