Czech freestyle snowboarder rewrites history

The 21-year-old turned a weekend hobby into a full-blown career, driven by passion, focus, and a fearless approach to snowboarding. “Until I was thirteen, I’d just show up at the snowpark and didn’t care what I’d do. I knew about four tricks, and that was enough for me,” Hroneš recalls.

Hroneš was born on July 15, 2004, in Špindlerův Mlýn. As a child, he competed in alpine skiing, while snowboarding was more of a weekend hobby. “Until I was thirteen, I’d just show up at the snow park without any plan,” he recalls. “I only knew four tricks, and that was enough for me.”

The moment he decided to fully commit to snowboarding, the results followed almost instantly. He earned a silver medal at his first Czech Championship in Vítkovice, and just three years later, he captured the national slopestyle title and dominated the Austrian Valley Rally series.

But Hroneš’s biggest breakthrough came in 2022 at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Vuokatti, Finland, where he won gold in slopestyle and silver in Big Air. Those results firmly established him as one of the rising names to watch in world snowboarding.

This season, he has clearly made his mark on the international snowboarding scene. Hroneš’ name now appears alongside the sport’s top riders on start lists, and he consistently battles them for spots in the finals.

March 2024 was a landmark not only in his career, but in the history of snowboarding. Hroneš was the first in the world to jump a switch board slide triple underflip off a rail – a trick that no one had ever tried before, let alone mastered.

What began as a bit of a joke turned into a moment that captured attention around the world. Hroneš proved that he possesses not only courage, but also technical precision and the drive to push the limits of his sport.

“I get in a cold shower every morning, which is a blast! I totally get a kick out of that minute under the ice shower. Then I give myself a good stretch and try to keep a positive vibe on the way up the hill.”

“I play all the situations in my head. I watch snowboard videos. Visualisation helps me a lot. I also did gymnastics from a young age, so I have my orientation primed. I know where I am in the air.”

While it might seem like a snowboarder’s work happens only in winter, the reality is quite the opposite. Hroneš doesn’t take summers off – he keeps training indoors, at airbases and in the gym. “In snowboarding, jumping into airbags is the turning point. We spend de facto the whole summer there. And otherwise I’m in the gym,” he says of his summer training.

On top of that, he’s studying business at the University of New York in Prague, which helps him keep his distance from the racing regime. “It’s a great way to switch off and stop thinking about snowboarding. It makes me look forward to it all the more,” he says.

His family keeps him grounded and gives him confidence that success won’t change who he is. “I’m scared of it all going to my head. I’m keeping an eye on it, and I think I’m doing well. My family and their upbringing played a big part in that. I’m hoping that will be my big advantage one day.”

His goal is not just a technically perfect trick, but also a human touch. “My biggest goal is to get to a stage where I can maintain a balance between being a really cool snowboarder with challenging tricks, and one that everyone sees as a cool dude and a role model of sorts. If one person starts snowboarding because of me, that’s a success!”

He does a lot to promote snowboarding in the Czech Republic. In February 2024, for example, he came up with the idea of organising the Red Bull Full Moon event, which turned the centre of Prague into a snowboarding street session.

In his latest project, Hroneš has shown that snowboarding doesn’t have to be limited to riding downhill. In fact, he’s created a new twist on the sport – riding uphill through snowparks and over obstacles, pulled by the lift anchor itself.

Head and body in the clouds, yet feet firmly on the ground – Hroneš’ journey began in Špindlerův Mlýn and now carries him through the world’s snowparks to its highest peaks. One thing is certain: above the clouds, Jakub Hroneš is a name worth following.