Freiburg freestylers are drawn to Muggenbrunn because the Feldberg is geared towards families and there is no longer a fun park there.
. Since this winter, snowboarders from Freiburg have a new domicile in the Black Forest: Muggenbrunn. In the Todtnau district there is a snow park that allows for spectacular jumps. The fun park on the Feldberg, where snowboarders used to romp around, will no longer be open. In the ski area there they want to focus more on families.
Rainbow Box, Down Tube, Wallride, Kicker: Even if these obstacle names only mean something to those who know the scene, even non-experts can see at first glance: The snow park in the Muggenbrunn ski center means pure fun and is a Mecca for freestylers. But if you only think of snowboarders when you think of snow park, you are wrong. Meanwhile, freestyle skiing is also becoming increasingly popular. Grabs, flips, turns, slides and whatever the tricks are called, skiers can do the same on the special course – as long as they have boards under their feet.
After there was a change of lift operator at Kandel three years ago, the Boardshop Freiburg, which had previously operated the Kandelpark for five years, began to look for a new partner. And those responsible found it in the Muggenbrunn ski center. “The collaboration works great,” says Jonas Leibinger, who organizes the park.
Not only the construction of the park demanded a lot from the team, the members are shoveling all season long. After every snowfall, the park has to be groomed. There is support from the Muggenbrunn ski center. Even during the day – especially when there is a lot of driving – improvements are made here and there, also to avoid injuries and to maximize the fun factor. The start of the park was slowed down in 2020 by the lack of snow and in 2021 by the corona pandemic.
Anyone who was looking for a parking space at the Winkellift at the weekend noticed immediately that there were a striking number of Freiburg license plates to be seen here. One of the reasons why the operators from Freiburg were convinced of Muggenbrunn as the new park location is the good accessibility from Freiburg. Freiburg residents can be here in around 30 minutes by car and 40 minutes by public transport. However, snow reliability also played a role in the decision. And of course the wonderful view, says Jonas Leibinger as he turns down the slope: The snow park is located at the Winkel lift, which takes snow sports enthusiasts to the highest point in the ski center: at 1243 metres. When the weather is nice, you can see as far as the Alps from here. It was important to the operators of the board shop, Gesine Schrammel and Florian Bechert, to run a snow park themselves again after retiring at the Kandel. The closure of the snow park on the Feldberg increased the pressure in the search for a new location. “The Feldberg has decided on a different target group – and that’s okay,” says Leibinger.
The previous fun park at Seebuck for snowboarders and freestyle skiers no longer exists. In order to set up the many elements, a great deal of effort was required, which the lift association at the Feldbergbahn put on for as long as sponsors were willing to finance this additional effort. In some cases, the World Cup weekends at Seebuck caused this effort several times when the World Cup slope builders included the terrain of the fun park in their route planning for their waves or steep curves. Now there are no more sponsors, and that’s why the fun park no longer exists in its old form.
But this is not the only reason. Rather, the Liftverbund Feldberg, as the operator of the ski area, wants to position itself more broadly after the compulsory one-year Corona break and present itself as a family-friendly ski area. Instead of a fun park, the offer will be expanded, and special zones with fun slopes will be created at four different locations throughout the Feldberg ski area as special attractions – not only for families. These fun slopes are separate areas in the ski area. Various elements are lined up in it, such as boxers or smaller jumps. There are also playful obstacles such as tunnels, bridges, snails and elements from ski cross with steep curves and wave runs.
The four new fun slopes will be created in the area of the indicator cable car, from the Franz Klarmeyer Weg down, on the Zeller Hang, Grafenmatt and in the Klusenwald on the descent to Fahl. “In a playful way, beginners as well as advanced users experience a lot of fun and variety,” says Liftverbund chairman Johannes Albrecht. Only one fun slope has been prepared at the moment, namely the one in the area of the indicator track. “The snow depth is not enough for more,” says Albrecht.
If you are an advanced or even an expert and mourn the loss of the old fun park, you can prove your skills in the new Snowpark Muggenbrunn. By the way: elements from the former fun park at Seebuck, which Feldberg sold to the operators there, are also being installed there.
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