I’ve seen quite some festivals and parties throughout the years but one stands out like a turd in a punchbowl; Rave On Snow. Why ? It’s unique and nothing like it. There are so many summer festivals but there’s only one winter festival, which is Rave On Snow, like the name implies.

Now you won’t hear (a lot of) rave in this weekend, because the line-up is programmed with lots of interesting dj’s/live acts like Lexy & K-Paul, Marco Carola, Loco Dice, Mathias Kaden, Chris Liebing, Pascal FEOS and the list goes on.

There’s only one problem, getting there. It takes place in Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria, which is 1000 km from Amsterdam. Every year I make an attempt to organise a bustrip but unfortunately all attempts have failed. Maybe it’s too far away.. I don’t know, but I was going, since I had the time and money and it was the 15th anniversary. I found someone who already wanted to go for some time but never went, so together we drove of Thursday morning towards our snowy adventure.

The first 8 hours were no problemo, we drove on and made good progress, until a civilian police car ordered us to pull over. We were checked, probably because of our Dutch license plates. They checked our entire car but luckily didn’t find anything, which saved us a HELL load of problems. Robbert, the driver, had to piss in a cup and his urine was checked for illegal substances but luckily this was also no problem, so we could continue our trip.

We arrived in Saalbach after approx. 11 hours of driving to find out there was enough snow to go snowboarding the next day. With this in mind and since the town was still abandoned on Thursday, we went to bed early, saving ourselves for the rest of the weekend.

Day 2
After a decent breakfast we geared up and headed for the lift, next to our hotel. From the top at 2050 m. we could go all directions and come back at the same point every time, which was kinda important since this was where the snowparc was located with jumps and rails.

Now I didn’t jump (a lot) with this board yet so I was pretty eager to do so and after a trial run or two, I made my first successful frontflip and landed the fucker. Since this was one of my set ‘goals’ for the weekend, I was happy already. I tried some backflips as well but failed. We went up and down the slopes some more until it was getting cold and snowy so we went down the mountain to prepare for the night.

Every ‘day’ at Rave On Snow starts with a party at the town square, in the open air. All packed we went outside to dance in the snow to music by Bjorn Wilke, Patrick Lindsey, Pascal Feos and a bit of Liebing. By then our feet were getting so cold we had to warm up.

Back at the hotel I developed a massive headache and since I wanted to see Codec & Flexor I rested for 2 hours to tey and get rid of the headache. Robbert went in town with another friend (named Robert), while I slept. Exaclt at 1 I woke up (the time Codec & Flexor) were about to play and with no more headache I rushed over to hear them.

I was surprised to see that Lexy & K-Paul were playing but not Codec & Flexor. I didn’t mind at that point since they were tearing it up !!! Man, this was some set to begin my night with. Energy just exploded out of that dj booth. I found Robert here, but not my Dutch friend Robbert, who left me after a while since he had to get up at 7 am to build up the stage on the mountain (glad I’m not him).

I couldn’t reach my friend Robbert so I decided to look around and went to Castello, a small genuine Austrian bar, with benches, tables and all, but with a dj instead of the wrong kind of apres ski music. I found some other friends here but still no Robbert, who had the key to the hotel and I was running out of grass so I needed to refill.

Luckily I could go inside the hotel with a guest with a key and found Robbert passed out on the bed around 4 am. I wasn’t, so I refilled and headed back out for a bit to listen to Dapayk & Padberg at Castello, which was very nice. Not a lot of people were there which gave us all the more room to dance. I didn’t stay out too late since I wanted to grab breakfast and make it onto the mountain before 12 because of the party going on at the top.

Day 3
We got up and into the lift before noon, since we wanted to be on top to see ‘the actual Rave on Snow’. These 4 hours on the mountain were the main reason to drive so far to hear some music. Standing on 2050 m. above sea level, dancing in the sun on snow is a feeling you can’t explain or compare to any other party and is unique in its kind. I knew Loco Dice was playing but we didn’t see a thing from it, since the dj was playing in a small tent halfway the floor and we didn’t bother to get to the booth since it was so crowded.

I strapped on my snowboard to do some flips again but after three runs my head was spinning (no wonder after smoking non-stop), so I gave it a rest and joined the party again until it got too cold and we went down the mountain again to warm up and recharge for the night that was coming.

And I planned to maximize it to the fullest, but first we crashed at the hotel because snow, booze, thc and high alittudes seems to make you dizzy…

We skipped the party at the town square, although we missed Nude (live), which was a smashing show, so we we’re told by our neighbours, but you can’t have it all.

At midnight we walked into the parking to hook up with some people and to go to the Taverne to hear Guido Schneider play at the Taverne. The location was what the name implies, a bar where normally older people listen to music we don’t even think of having in our collection. Nevertheless, such a location was a perfect fit for this weekend.

Back in the Parking later on we went to see Mathias Kaden and Ana. I never heard of her but ironicly enough I was smoking with her the day before in Castello, not knowing who she was. But she was on the bill for a back2back with Mathias Kaden so it must be ok, otherwise he wouldn’t have teamed up with her. I didn’t pay attention when Mathias or Ana played, I just danced my ass off. There’s one thing about Kaden’s sets I like, they’re always full of energy and he’s always dancing like a madman behind the decks which is definetely an advantage for the atmosphere.

Towards the end of their set we had to go back to the hotel for an herbal refill but I lost Robbert here who didn’t get up from the bed anymore. Back to the parking but a different area this time for Format B. Just like the day before with Lexy & K-Paul the crowd was tearing it up. Eveybody was jumping, shouting, raising their hands, it was total madness.

One nice aspect of Rave on Snow is all locations are on walking distance from each other, with a maximum of 500 meter, so you can basicly roll down the mountain to your hotel if walking is not an option anymore. Just looking at people trying to get down the streets, while being incredibly drunk is a fun sight to watch. The Taverne was my last scheduled stop this night with Luna City Express behind the decks and with a lot of friends/acquintances it was a very nice atmosphere. They were supposed to play until 7 am but they were allowed to continue ’till 9 am.

I thought this was a nice moment to call it a night and get some breakfast but after one sandwich I could’t resist the urge to party and went back for the afterhour party at Castello. Scheduled to play were Pascal FEOS back2back with Domenic D’Agnellli (Rave On Snow’s resident) but Pascal was playing with some woman, who made a bit too many mistakes dj-ing but everybody was so wasted and messed up, most people probably didn’t even notice.

It was around 11 when the people I was with were all starting to drop out and head on to the hotel so this was the time for me to go as well. Plus I could use the rest since I had been partying/dancing for the past 11 hours. I crashed and slept a long time, preparing for the drive back which we think would take us about 10/11 hours.

Even though you have to cross some borders and drive 1000 km. it’s worth every minute of the weekend and I know for sure this wasn’t going to be my last time Rave On Snow.