Snapped: Snowbombing 2017

Snowbombing is all about partying at altitude, whether it’s at 20,000ft on the plane over, or 6000ft atop a mountain with a crispy beer. Its combination of snowboarding and skiing with a world-class dance music line-up has made it a must-attend for adventure tourists looking to party. It’s a wild week; one we were happy to embark on as soon as a stag-do started dishing out shots of bourbon on the flight there.

Having arrived in Mayrhofen, an idyllic alpine town in the Austrian Tyrol, it was straight to Hans The Butcher for a couple of cheese pockets and a secret Artwork set beneath the various hanging meats. From there, the cavernous Racket club awaited. A myriad of corridors and a wave of heat meets you at the venue that played host to the likes of Groove Armada, MK and an impressive light display during the week. David Rodigan MBE preceded headliners Run The Jewels on the first night in an environment that felt like everyone was juiced up and ready to roll. Unlike many, we decided to head home for some rest ahead of a first full day of slope action.

It's the fine line you walk at Snowbombing. Some make the mountains but cut short their nights. Some choose to forgo the mountain and party through the night. Most people combine the two. One lad we met on the ski lift down managed to get hypothermia after skiing in a cotton poncho while drinking Jagermeister out of a camel pack. But getting up the mountain really is the best way to clear that hangover and also catch some excellent sets. Rompa’s Reggae Shack provided a healthy dose of bass up the mountain with killer sets from My Nu Leng and Barely Legal among others, while a constant stream of revellers sinking Pilsner Urquells the Snow Park Terrace busy.

By Wednesday we were all-in. After a pop-up party in the back of a truck hosted by Eats Everything, it was time to take in the Forest Stage, which was smashed to bits by Chase & Status on Friday evening. Before you could say Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung, we found ourselves in a club that looked like the one from Scarface at 4am listening to a throwback drum and bass set from Redlight. The Bristol DJ was one of the highlights of the festival, warming up for Gorgon City with a set at the Arctic Disco the next evening as well.

But the shining light at Snowbombing is the Bruck'N Stadl, by far the festival's best venue with its superior line-ups and sound. Every night the DJs brought it, KiNK and Dixon on Tuesday, Gerd Janson and Midland Wednesday and DJ Koze and Axel Boman on the Thursday all of which we made sure we were front and centre for. The venue also set the stage for our Mixmag party on the final Friday night. Patrick Topping, Alan Fitzpatrick and Skream tore the place apart and sent us on our 5.30am airport transfer beaming.

And we're not morning people.

Louis Anderson-Rich snowboarded three days out the five and partied till at least 9pm everyday, follow him on Twitter

[Photo Credits: Richard Johnson, Giles Smith, Danny North, Gobinder Jhitta]