Spring Break Attendee Info

#BESTWEEKOFTHEYEAR
Welcome to Spring Break 2015 and thanks for being a part of what has become the most essential trip of
the UK snowboard calendar.
For the last eight years we’ve held Spring Break – and its previous incarnation, The Snowboard Test – in
Kaunertal because we believe it’s the ideal spot to test snowboard products. There’s a killer park, the
locals are friendly and you can drive right to the snow line.
There has been an annual British snowboard test since 1989. We’ve been involved in it in various roles
since 1993 – a lot of snowboards, boots and bindings have been tested over the years and we’re stoked
that you’re going to be a part of the tradition! 2015 will officially be the biggest Spring Break event ever
– more that 300 people have booked directly with the resort, around 20% up on 2014.
Please take the time to read this information, it will hopefully answer all the questions that you have.
We will have an event office in the Kirchenwirt Hotel which will be open from 1700-1900 on Saturday –
Tuesday. We will also be on hand in the test area throughout the event, please come find us if you need
anything specific.
EVENT SCHEDULE
SATURDAY 2ND MAY
Saturday in the arrival day in resort but there is no
riding scheduled for today. If you’re super keen,
arrive early enough and have your own gear, then
by all means get up the hill and make some turns.
Be aware that you will need to buy a lift ticket for
today (from the toll gate on the way up the mountain) as your event lift tickets start from Sunday.
1700-1900 – Spring Break Office open
We will have an area at the Kirchenwirt hotel
where Spring Break staff will be able to give you
your Tester ID and answer any questions that
you may have. We’ll also be handing out discount
wristbands and so on, so come and see us! If you
haven’t booked through the Tourist Office, you’ll
need to purchase a Tester ID for €20.
2100 – Welcome Drinks, PfiffAlm
Our home from home is the PfiffAlm bar, which
is the location for most of the evening goings on.
While there won’t be a presentation like there
has been in earlier years – all event info is in this
welcome pack – it’s still a great way to say hi to
the people you’ll be shredding with over the next
week. Don’t stay up too late, there’s riding to do
tomorrow!
SUNDAY 3RD MAY
0900 – SPRING BREAK IS GO!
Testing officially kicks off! If you haven’t collected
your Tester ID yet, come and see Spring Break
staff –although we encourage you to collect them
on Saturday night as the first day is always the
busiest. If you want to check out a product, go and
talk to the brand rep, ask nicely and show your
Tester ID. They may ask for a photo of your for
their Instagram, so say ‘SPRING BREAK!’
1000 – Vans Waffle stand opens for business
All Hail free waffles!
1400 – White Lines Rail Jam.
TUESDAY 5TH MAY
To be held in the snowboard park. Please listen out 0830 – Test Day Three begins
for announcements and go watch some of the UK’s
finest throw down!
1000 – Vans Waffles. This is the last day, so make
sure you get one!
1500 – Test day one ends
1100 – Thirty Two Piñata Mermelada
1600 –Deeluxe x Capita x Union x 686 Skate jam
A brand new event this year, the Thirty Two Piñata
and FREE BBQ. The skate ramp is located just be- Mermelada will see all who enter do battle with a
fore the toll-gate as you drive down, at the bottom combination of park features, papier-mache idols
of the Gletscherstrasse (glacier road). It’s on the
stuffed with prizes and most likely some dudes
left hand in a little clearing. If the weather is bad,
dressed in Sombreros. It’s going to be a ton of
there’ll be a weather day later in the week.
fun...
2100 – Whitelines Party at the Pfiffalm
The Spring Break home from home will host the
Whitelines annual party, it’s always one of the biggest nights of the week.
1500 – The Analog Apres
The perfect chance to wind down for the day.
Oompah music, beers and give-aways at the test
centre. Make sure that someone else drives!
MONDAY 4TH MAY
0830 – Testing begins
The weekend crowds will have thinned out by now
and we’ll have the resort virtually to ourselves!
2100 – Monster Spring Break Rocks!
Rock and Metal all night long, including the Austrian Air Guitar Championships with a grand prize
of an Gibson Epiphone SG guitar! This is the main
party of the week so buckle up!
1000 – Vans Waffles
After the Whitelines party the night before, you’ll
thank all manner of deities for Vans waffles.
WEDNESDAY 6TH MAY
The short trip Spring Breakers go home today,
which means there’s even more room on the
1100 –The Reason x Tie Dye High Five!
pistes. Brands start to fill in the gaps for products
Come and make a tie dye T shirt, all free of charge. that haven’t been tested and cards that need to
The Reason provide the tees, Tie Dye High Five
be completed. If there’s a particulr product you’ve
provide the dye and you provide the creativity.
been struggling to get hold of, now is your chance!
1200 – Dragon Methodical Madness
Watch as the Kaunertal park turns into an homage
to the Method – the most stylish trick in snowboarding! Think you’ve got a Method to rival Jamie
Lynn’s? Or last year’s winner Will Smith’s? Turn up
and show us what you’ve got!
2000 – Volcom Mr Plant screening – One of our
favourite movies of the 2015 season, Volcom will
be taking over the lounge bar in the Kiwi, where
they’ll be showing the movie, having some beers
and maybe even getting some special guests over.
2130 – Vans Propeller premiere
Hot on the heels of the global release of the most
eagerly awaited skate movie of the year, Vans will
be showing Propeller for free.
0900 – Test Day Four Begins
1500 – testing ends
THURSDAY 8TH MAY – Last Day of Testing
0900 – Test Day Five starts
This is the last chance to tick off those boards,
boots and bindings that haven’t been tested.
1500 – testing officially ends.
FRIDAY 8TH MAY – Freeride Day
0900 – Test room opens. There will be extremely
limited amounts of kit available, so bring your own
board up if you have it.
1200 – Test Room closes and gets locked up!
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Spring Break is unlike any other snowboard trip
you’ve been on, please check out our recommended reading list below…
ROAD TAX
If you’re driving on the motorway in Austria, be
sure to pick up a ‘vignette’ road tax at a petrol
station as soon as you get into Austria. They only
cost around €12 for the duration of your trip. If you
are stopped without one on the motorway, you will
be given a hefty fine – in the region of €150 – which
you have to pay there and then. The driver gets
fined, not the owner of the vehicle.
INSURANCE
Make sure that you have adequate insurance
to cover your time away. Many banks now offer
insurance with their accounts and for those flying
on EasyJet or Ryanair, it’s possible to buy insurance to go cover your trip. Make sure that you
have Winter Sports Insurance and that it covers
everything you intend to do!
LIFT TICKETS
If you have booked through the Tourist Board,
then your lift ticket will be waiting for you at your
accommodation. Make sure you take it with you
every day as there is nowhere on the mountain
to buy another one. You need to show it at the
tollgate on the way up the mountain – the glacier
road is a private road, built specifically for the ski
area and part of the lift ticket price goes towards
it’s upkeep.
make sure to give it back directly to them, rather
than leave it lying around. With so many people
coming to Spring Break, you may not just be able
to rock up and test the product you want right
away as it may already be out. Try to work out in
advance a list of what you want to ride and work
through it. If something isn’t available, ask the rep
for advice of what might be suitable for you – you
might find something you love that you’d never
even considered before. Please don’t hog a product! There are tons of other people who want to
try things out, take a few runs and take it back to
the rep to let someone else have a turn.
TEST CARDS
When you’ve finished testing a product, you’ll
be given a test card to fill in. Please do this before you pick up a new product as it’s by far the
quickest and easiest way, and will avoid us trailing
around after you all week going ‘TESSSSSTTT
CAAAAARDDSSS’ like weirdos. The test cards go
onto the product database, which is your opportunity to get your views out to the snowboarding
public.
SOCIAL MEDIA
If you use Twitter or Instagram, please use the
#snowboardspringbreak hashtag for all your
tweets or pics. There are more than 1200 images
on Instagram from earlier events and we’d like to
try and reach 2000 after this week!
OFF THE HILL
Our off hill ‘home’ for the week will be the PfiffAlm
bar. Everyone wearing an event wristband will get
a reduction on beers – a large beer costs €3.50
with the wristband, €3.70 without. There are a few
GETTING TO THE TEST AREA
other watering holes around town – The Kiwi Bar
Feichten is a small village and there is only one
at the Kirchenwirt hotel is a relaxed little spot and
way up the mountain. Head up the valley and follow the road, 28km or roughly 30 minutes later and they do awesome pizzas if you’re hungry. Other
you’ll be there. Park in the car park, the test rooms places to eat include Pizzaria Rustica, which is a
little further down the valley, a short walk from the
are on the left as you look at the mountain, you’ll
be able to see them based on the huge number of centre of Feichten.
tents and flags you’ll see. If you don’t have a car,
INTERNETZ
you can either take the public bus to the mounInternet is available (paid for) at the Kirchenwirt
tain which goes up the mountain at 0900 from
hotel and Kiwi bar. Just ask behind the bar.
the Feichtenerhof hotel and comes back down
at 1600. The bus is free with your lift ticket. The
ATM
other option is to stick you thumb out for a lift.
Almost everywhere in Austria prefers cash for
payments instead of card, so make sure that you
TESTING A PRODUCT
have some on you. There’s only one ATM in FeichtIf you’d like to try something, make sure you ask
en and it’s at the bank, right opposite the Kiwi
the rep before taking it and when you’re done
bar. If your card doesn’t work there for whatever
reason, then you need to head down the valley to
Landeck to get cash out. It’s possible to pay for
lunches up the hill by card but most bars are cash
only.
FUEL UP
One exception to the cash-only rule is the petrol station, which is automated – even if it looks
closed and there’s no one on duty, you can still
buy fuel.
FOOD SHOPPING
Sunday is the day of rest in Austria so virtually
nothing is open as far as shops go. If you’re self
catering, bear this in mind and make sure that you
bought some food on Saturday.
MERCH
We have a number of pieces of merchandise available for sale for this year’s Spring Break, T shirts,
Mizu water bottles and button badges. Hit us up if
youanything!
BOOTS
There will be a full spectrum of snowboard
hardware to test throughout the week for those
holding Test IDs, but it’s a good idea to bring your
own boots as some people prefer to have them
for comfort’s sake, or to have a familiar point of
reference when testing other products.
SUITABLE OUTERWEAR
It may well be late spring and we are hoping for
sunny days, Spring Break takes place in a mountain environment and weather conditions change
quickly. It’s not unknown to get powder days this
late in the season, so you need the right kit in
case!
SUNCREAM
Make sure you’ve got a good application of suncream on at all times on the hill. Even when it’s
overcast, UV rays come through the clouds and
reflect from the snow and getting burned is easy.
We know this from first hand experience. Don’t be
like us!
SKATEBOARD
Feichten has it’s own midi ramp in a clearing in the
woods on the way up the mountain. Afternoon
skate sessions are often on and a great way to
unwind in the afternoon.
SUNGLASSES
For post-shred chilling beers
OFF PISTE RIDING
Don’t do it. With the warmer temperatures at this
time of year, snowpack is more unstable than normal and avalanches can – and do – happen. There’s
plenty of inbounds terrain to keep you happy!
CONTACT INFO
If you need to talk to any of the event staff, please call or text us...
Ian Sansom: 00 44 7403 159488
Helen Sansom: 00 44 7817 032334
Thanks a lot for your support!
EVENT PAPERWORK
There are a number of pieces of documentation that you’ll need to keep an eye on during
Spring Break – here we’ll break down what each of them are.
TEST ID’s – IMPORTANT!
Everyone who has booked through the Tourist Board will have a Tester ID with their own
unique Rider number. These can be collected
from Spring Break staff, either in our office
area at the Kirchenwirt hotel, or at the test
area on Sunday 3rd May. When you want to
demo a piece of kit, show the brand rep your
Test ID and they’ll hook you up. If the item you
want is already out, then try something else –
you never know what you might find!
Test IDs for those who have booked independently of the Tourist Board are available for
€20
TEST CARDS
Once you’ve ridden a product, please fill in a test
card when you take the product back. The temptation to do it later is big, but it’s far easier to get
it done right away, plus then you won’t have us
bugging you all week to write things up. The white
(top) copy is for you to keep for your records,
but please hand the blue copy to the brand rep,
or post it in the Spring Break postbox at the test
area.