Pleasure Jam on the Dachstein

• The Pleasure Jam was a snowboard freestyle competition.
• Its format was slopestyle.
• The venue was the Superpark on Austria’s Dachstein glacier.
• The contest attracted international snowboarders.
• A November edition was announced as an opening to the coming winter season.
• The field and park setup depended on the edition.

The Pleasure Jam combined a snowboard contest with the early season at the Dachstein area. International snowboarders met at the Superpark Dachstein to usher in the coming winter. The discipline was slopestyle: riders linked jumps and other park features into a run.

Slopestyle judges assess a rider’s run across a sequence of jumps and other park features. Spacing, transitions and feature shape influence available lines, so the park setup is central to the contest. Park design and feature order varied with each edition. In 2014, the O’Neill Pleasure Jam was a World Snowboard Tour slopestyle contest on the Dachstein glacier. Aimee Fuller placed fifth in the women’s field and Rowan Coultas finished sixth among the men.

The Superpark provided the setting for an international freestyle competition. Slopestyle focuses on a run over park features, while giant slalom is decided by total time on a gate course. Here, judges assess performance across a sequence of features. The contest has a different rhythm: a successful run links individual tricks and controlled landings. The snowboarders’ skills and the course design are central.

The Pleasure Jam’s profile came from its slopestyle discipline, Superpark venue and international field. Other freestyle and freeride events appear in the freestyle calendar. Beyond slopestyle, ski-sport events include many disciplines with their own competitive formats.