Even if the guys didn't know it at the time, these were the moments that would define their future and part of the future of freestyle in the Alps. The ‘guys from back then’ are Jan, Jürgen, Paul and Andi and with QParks they have filled one of the most important roles for local freestyle.
Hanging out with friends on the mountain, celebrating style and progression together. That's what it was all about when the fathers of QParks started shovelling and that's what it's all about today.
For two decades, Young Mountain has been shaping winter sports with innovative concepts, first-class snow parks and a unique freestyle spirit. From its foundation in 2002 to groundbreaking developments such as QParks, the QParks Tour or the Girls Shred Sessions - our journey has been characterised by creativity, passion and countless moments of success. In this article, we take you on a journey through the last 20 years, look back at our most important milestones and take a look into the future.
This winter season is a very special one for us: Young Mountain is celebrating its 20th anniversary! Two decades full of freestyle, exciting projects and countless success stories lie behind us. We would therefore like to thank everyone who has travelled a part of this journey with us: our customers, partners and sponsors for their trust and our employees for their tireless commitment and motivation. Together, we have rejuvenated winter sports and created a new dimension in freestyle sports.
Our journey began in 2002 with a clear vision: to rejuvenate winter sports and bring the enthusiasm for freestyle sports to the mountains. The basic idea took commercial shape in the 2002/03 season, and so the foundation stone for Young Mountain was laid.
With the first snowpark projects in Sölden and Planai, we were able to show how a well thought-out setup can inspire the scene. Our QParks brand was founded and focussed on high-quality parks with unique features and events.
From 2003 to 2016, the Pleasure Jam was a fixed date in the contest calendar. Every year, the international freestyle scene came together at Superpark Dachstein to show off their skills.
QParks stands for ‘Quality Parks’, which make freestyle sports accessible to a wide audience. In addition to innovative set-ups, scene-orientated events and well thought-out marketing concepts have become a success factor.
We have further developed winter sports with innovative facility concepts: Family parks for beginners, funslopes for maximum fun, funcross as a dynamic piste alternative and snowcastles as adventure worlds for children.
Our media obstacles such as ‘The Wedge’ (Area 47 Snowpark Sölden 2016) or the ‘Gap Kicker’ in Kitzbühel provided spectacular images and made QParks the home of the best freestylers.
For a decade, our Girls Shred Sessions have stood for female empowerment in freestyle sports. Through free coaching sessions and media coverage, we have created a strong female freestyle community.
Under the motto ‘Contests for Riders’, the QParks Tour offered young talent a stage. It returned in 2023, this time as the FIS Junior Contest and FIS Cup!
With the Shape Academy, we take care of the construction and maintenance of fun facilities in winter and trail construction in summer. Around 200 employees share their passion for outdoor sports here.
Since 2019, we have been using digital tools to make our systems even more precise and resource-efficient.
Since 2021, we have also been active in trail building with QRides and offer quality and safety for bike trails with our partners.
Whether on the piste or in the office: teamwork is in our DNA. Every day, our employees shape the freestyle world of tomorrow with passion and creativity.
After 20 years, we look back on our successes with pride and look forward to the future with excitement. One thing remains certain: Young Mountain will continue to set new standards in winter sports!
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