Red Bull PlayStreets in Bad Gastein

• Red Bull PlayStreets was a freeski slopestyle competition in Bad Gastein.
• The course ran through the town rather than a conventional snow park.
• The winners’ record spans Charles Gagnier in 2007 to Jesper Tjäder in 2023.
• Elias Ambühl won the 2011 edition.
• Course features included kickers, corners, road gaps and rooftops.

Red Bull PlayStreets moved freeski competition from the snow park into the centre of Bad Gastein. Instead of a conventional groomed run, streets and buildings formed the course setting. Kickers are built take-offs; road gaps span spaces in the street and connect separate course sections. Other features included corners and roof areas. Athletes had to link these elements into a coherent line, making the contest visually different from a standard slopestyle run in a snow park.

Qualification and direct match-ups shaped the contest. Judges considered technical execution, style and creativity. A run was not judged only by the difficulty of one trick: skiers had to connect features sensibly and adapt their line to the unusual course. Spectators watched in the town setting while athletes competed on prepared snow.

Charles Gagnier won in 2007 and 2013, Oscar Scherlin in 2008, Russ Henshaw in 2009 and Elias Ambühl in 2011. Øystein Bråten won in 2015, Jesper Tjäder in 2017, Nick Goepper in 2019 and Tjäder again in 2023. The 2025 event was cancelled because of the Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm; a cancellation was also announced for 2027.

For the 2011 course, around 20,000 tonnes of snow were brought into the town centre, and about 10,000 people watched 18 international freeskiers. The urban route included step-downs, gap jumps and a slide over the Jägerhäusl. Elias Ambühl won ahead of Antti Ollila and Jossi Wells. This city course differs from the natural mountain faces of the Freeride World Tour; other park and urban formats are included in freestyle and freeride events.