Spectacular Tricks At Red Bull Rail Yard, Kuhtai, Austria. Mia Brookes (GBR) & Frank Jobin (CAN) Win New Snowboard Event
The first edition of Red Bull Rail Yard (March 31st to April 2nd, 2022) wrapped up successfully in Kühtai outside of Innsbruck with exciting Head-to-Head finals in the spectacular Railgarden. The Jib elite of Snowboarding romped in the park for three days and had lots of fun riding the unique setup. 15-year-old Mia Brookes (GBR) and 23-year-old Frank Jobin (CAN) are the winners of the first ever Red Bull Rail Yard. The Railgarden, planned and developed by the Schneestern crew in collaboration with snowboarder and creative mind Clemens Millauer, truly played all tricks. A unique park setup with numerous Slopestyle and street elements, among them wallrides, down rails, flat down rails, double kink rails, bowls, and elbow rails. Quite challenging to ride – also due to the sudden return of winter this week – but predestined for creative riding. And that’s what snowboarders from across the world showcased over the course of three days: inspiring, crazy, and difficult tricks.
It all started with the Open Qualifier on Friday – for rookies, amateurs, and pro riders. Leon Gütl (GER) and Moritz Amsüss (AUT) convinced as winners of their respective heats. Despite adverse weather conditions riders reached deeply into their bag of tricks. The top 10 moved on to the main event. Saturday kicked off with the Closed Qualifier, where invited riders met the ten qualified ones.
Again, Leon Gütl and Moritz Amsüss dominated and won their heats, while Alexis Roland moved into finals as the best woman. The action continued with the super finals. The 16 male and 8 female finalists truly ignited a firework of tricks. After jam sessions in the previous heats, it was all about Head-to-Head in the finals, 16 down to 8 down to 4 down to 2 for the grande finale.
After the sun finally showed up for a little while in the morning, it snowed continuously for the rest of the day. The snowflakes didn’t shorten the motivation of the riders, who rocked the setup. In the women’s session the only 15-year-old Mia Brookes (GBR) ended up on top of the podium. The youngest participant impressed everyone with her strong riding: „It was overwhelming. The Heat-to-Heat session with all the girls was super fun. Riding with someone like Anna Gasser was pretty unbelievable for me. She is a big idol. The setup was so good. Pretty big, but it was fun and flowing, I really enjoyed it.”
Double Olympic Champion Anna Gasser showed her experience and routine, rewarded with a 2nd place at the end of the season. US-American Alexis Roland completed the podium on third place. Additionally, she took home the well-deserved trophy for the “Most Creative Line”. She tried out new lines all day long and showed new tricks constantly. Alexis: “The setup was so sick, it was probably one of the most challenging courses I have ridden, but once you get the hang of it, it’s so fun. Stoked about the most creative line , I like doing hard stuff, and I like to change it up.”
The men’s final was a thrilling one. At the end two pairings were left at the start. Leon Gütl and Moritz Amsüss met in the small final, both making it all the way from the open qualification into the last round. In the end Moritz Amsüss claimed 3rd place. Jess Augustinus (NED), one of Europe’s finest jibbers, ended up on 2nd place. He was riding with Frank Jobin in the big final but had to give precedence to the Canadian: “Such a fun event with a really good vibe. The setup was so much fun and it was fun to be with a great group. I will come back next year!” Frank convinced with unique style and a bag of tricks known more from video productions than competitions. Also Niek van der Velden (NED) impressed the judges and fans with some crazy tricks up his sleeves. He delivered all day long, heat after heat, and therefore earned the trophy for the “Most Creative Line”.
The premiere edition of Red Bull Rail Yard at Kühtai is history. Clemens Millauer sums it up perfectly: “The first Red Bull Rail Yard is in the books. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t in our favour, but none the less all riders rocked it. The super finals were insane to watch. We also witnessed some very special moments in the Best Trick session.”
RBRY Top 3 Women:
1. Mia Brookes (GBR)
2. Anna Gasser (AUT)
3. Alexis Roland (USA)
RBRY Top 3 Men:
1. Frank Jobin (CAN)
2. Jesse Augustinus (NED)
3. Moritz Amsüss (AUT)
RBRY Most Creative Line:
Women: Alexis Roland (USA)
Men: Niek van der Velden (NED)
RBRY Best Trick:
- Women: Maggie Leon (Down Flat Down Feature: 50-50 to layback)
- Men: Moritz Amsüss (Down Rail: Cab 270 in Front board Pretzel Out)
- Women: Mia Brookes (Elbow Rail: Half-cab 50-50 back 3 out)
- Men: Ian Matteoli (Double Kink Rail: Front board)
