“I was thinking a few things actually,” shaper Chris Yates remembers. “I really wanted to ride this amazing pow on the one hand and on the other hand I was excited that, with these masses of snow, we could build so much more than we’ve planned to. But most of the time I was thinking ‘oh god’.” Chris sums up January pretty well with all its incredible dumps of snow and work for our crew. Just a couple of days ago the crew was able to reopen the AREA 47 Snowpark Sölden after a whole lotta digging. Wanna meet the guys? Well, here you go:

Every winter-loving shredhead out there had heart shaped eyes while watching all that pow go down, but imagine being in charge of getting all that white gold out of a park as big as the one in Sölden. “It´s challenging for sure, but it´s part of the job”, Tim Köhler says. He works as a Multimedia Shaper in Sölden and uploads the newest pics and current news right from the mountain straight onto Social Media, so all park rats know what´s going on in their favorite playground. “We are always in a good mood and get along with each other really well, that´s independent to the weather. Also, we sometimes had the time to have some pow runs after work, which surely raised our spirits as well.”

It definitely did, as shaper Alec Willoughbys recounts with joy: “For a day or two there was too much snow in the forecast, so starting to dig out the park would have been a waste of time. That’s why we got the opportunity to ski the deepest pow of my life and cut some sick lines through the trees, it was really crazy.”

Another reason why the guys managed to keep the morale high, even though the snowfall didn´t seem to stop, is the fact that they can build a bigger and better park now. “I found the best way to stay positive was to focus on how much fun we could have when it was all finished. I knew the hard work would pay off,” Alec explains. “We just knew that it’d be the best for the park in the long run. And also using one of the guys as a human shovel kept the dig-out very entertaining,” Chris adds with a smile.

“One day, there was so much snow that the whole mountain was closed due to avalanche risk,” Tim remembers. But that did not stop them from shredding. Together with the girlscrew from Obergurgl who couldn´t get into their park either, they built a double take off kicker and a bridge gap jump right next to their house. That session sure was one of the biggest highlights this season, at least for Chris. “Our backyard sesh was amazing, it was so good to be with the whole crew.”

But there is much more to come. Just last Wednesday on January 31 the crew was able to open the medium kicker line and the medium box line as well. “That was one of the best days for me,” Tim says. “The weather was great and we tested all jumps to make sure they were save.”

And today, the crew even managed to open the freshly built rail line for you. The park is ever growing, guys and girls! So come by and have a #soeldelicious session!

The crew ain´t finished just now – they still have some things in store for you. If you want to know exactly what else is coming for you, keep checking our Website, Facebook Page and Instagram Account for updates. Or you download the App for Android and iOS and get your AREA 47 Snowpark Sölden straight onto your smartphone.