Audi Nines Is the Weirdest Contest on Snow

Nine years ago, a new type of contest was born with the start of Nine Knights, a unique freestyle competition featuring nine of the best park skiers on the planet. Since then, the competition has grown and evolved into one of the biggest events of the year, including the all-female Nine Queens competition and the inclusion of snowboarders in 2013.

Each year has brought countless “holy shit” moments with competitors pushing the sport to levels never thought possible before. Let’s look back at some highlights from years past:

This year, the event returns to Sölden, Austria and features a new format and some ridiculous new features. The list of competitors is stacked, including names like Emma Dahlström, Andri Ragettli, Jesper Tjader, and Markus Kleveland, to name a few. 
Check here for a full list of participants.

The last few days have provided us with a glimpse into some of the features riders are frothing over. Among the features we’ve been seeing, our favorites might be the full loop and the diving board drop-in. The rest of the course seems to be wild mix of a skiercross course and the nastiest slopestyle course we’ve ever seen, built by the German terrain park wizards Schneestern.