Top 5 Snow Parks in Europe

What makes the best snow park? Is it sheer scale? The number of features? The size of the hits? Variety perhaps? Or is it how well the park is maintained? A likelihood that every jump has a crisp, fresh design? Perhaps you’re concerned about how easy it is to ski or board laps – having a lift serving the length of the park without needing to ski down from the bottom to the lift and then find your way back on slopes from the top can be a big plus. 

The reality is a great park probably needs all of these aspects and more besides. Snow parks typically need a lot of snow to build many of their features, so resorts plan them far in advance. A key issue I that they want the parks up and running as early in the season as possible, but it can take a while for enough snow to build up, so creating them high on the slopes increases the opportunity for early opening. Many of the glacier resorts like Hintertux and the Stubai Glacier that open in early autumn make a big event of having the first parks open in Europe (and the world) by the start of October. 

Some resorts actually create park features out of the earth below the snow surface so that less snow is required to build up on top before they can be used. Creating half pipes and super pipes is particularly snow and energy-intensive so having one carved out of the ground to be coated in snow rather than needing thousands of tonnes of snow to carve the pipe out of saves a lot of time. 

The resorts with some of the best snow parks generally employ teams of people or ‘park crews’ to ensure that the snow is shaped to perfection throughout the season with the jumps, waves and other attractions constantly maintained and new hits created each week to keep the design ever-changing and fresh for regular riders. 

Here are some of Europe’s top snow parks. 

Mayrhofen 

The Penken Park at Mayrhofen is one of the best and largest in Europe. Located at the Sun-Jet, the park has something for every snowboarder or freestyler with four different areas that can be combined by taking your own line between them. They include a medium area, fun area, advanced area and pro area. The obstacles include a rainbow box, a wall ride at the bottom of the park and the mighty multi-jib "Beastbox". The famous Tirolean resort also has a separate fun slope on the Ahorn with three different sections.

Sierra Nevada 

Sierra Nevada lies above the southern city of Granada, which is home to two big universities and tens of thousands of students, all wanting to have fun in the snow above …so it’s no surprise the area is a top freestyle destination. The resort’s Superpark Sulayr is located in the Loma de Dílar area, and has its own park crew monitoring all jumps and rail modules to ensure they are in the best shape. The park’s name comes from the time that Arabs ruled the region and called Sierra Nevada,  Monte Sulayr or “the Mountain of the Sun.”  

Solden 

Solden’s Area 47 has established itself as one of the leading freestyle hotspots within the European snow park scene. The park has a versatile setup to keep boarders and skiers on their toes and is always aiming to innovate with new ideas. The park’s shapers are constantly growing, adding or replacing features so the design is forever evolving, giving the choice of line a fresh look every day. There’s a good balance of beginner, advanced and jib features and a range of kickers too, so something for ‘everyone’ as they say. 

Avoriaz 

Avoriaz made waves more than a decade ago now when it teamed up with Burton to create the first ‘Stash’ terrain park in Europe (there are others around the world). The ideas was to cut down the need for high energy use to carve out parks and avoid bringing artificial structures up the mountains and instead build everything naturally, using local wood and whatever rocks and bumps could be found. The stash was a big success and its one of four parks at Avoriaz (with more accessible at other areas within the Portes du Soleil).

Innsbruck 

Innsbruck’s remarkable 13 ski area Ski & City pass means you can not only ride a different area each day, but also a new terrain park – and some of the top snow parks in Europe are here. They include the Stubai Zoo park up on the glacier which can be open for six months or more, the Nordkette Skyline park – an institution in the city, the Snowpark Patscherkofel …all of which have been rated in the top 10 in Austria and all on the one city ski pass!