Audi Nines 2019 has taken off in Sölden, Austria with the usual crazy shapes and features that we’ve come to expect from the event which seems like it breaks new ground year-after-year. Following on from a pretty funky Aftermath movie for the 2018 Audi Nines with spacesuits donned in martian surroundings, the 2019 Nines has continued the ‘out of this world’ vibe.

A team of 16 shapers, three snowcats and three excavators have been working away to shift 150,000 cubic metres of snow to build a huge two-tiered setup for the 2019 Audi Nines. This year’s Audi Nines is going to feature two separate event setups – one for men and one for women, both running alongside each other.

By far the most impressive feature of the courses is the ‘Launch Pad’ over on the men’s course, an insanely narrow (2.25 metres wide) literal launch pad that’ll send some of the best athletes in both freeskiing and snowboarding disciplines into the stratosphere with a 32 metre gap. Given that the first quad cork 1800 was landed on skis by Andri Ragettli at the 2017 Suzuki Nine Royals, we’re psyched to see what the Launch Pad will allow the guys to throw down.

The women’s setup has been designed with some of the best riders in the industry in mind, after Audi Nines approached the female athletes for feedback on previous courses. The women’s specific course is being staged in Obergurgl-Hochgurgl and has been designed with an all-female team of athletes, designers, shapers – all to be shot by female photographers. With two angled kickers, a big air jump and their ‘Space Age Jib’, the course is said to provide the best environment for the women to throw down and maximise their progression together.

Give the latest episode of Behind the Nines a watch below to see Audi Nine’s enthusiastic founder walk you though the building site that is going to be the stage for some of the best riders on the planet going big on some of the world’s biggest jumps.

For more information on Audi Nines 2019, head to the official website.

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