World’s First Triple Flip Off a Rail

19-year-old Czech snowboarder Jakub “Kuba” Hroneš has etched his name in the annals of snowboarding history by executing the world’s first triple flip off a rail.

“Officially titled the Switch Boardslide Switch Triple Underflip 1170, the trick is a manoeuvre where the snowboarder approaches the rail with their non-dominant foot forward, rotates 90 degrees on the rail, faces downward toward the landing, launches off the rail, performs a triple flip, adds a 90-degree rotation to the left, and lands with their dominant foot forward. This results in a triple flip with three-and-a-half rotations in total,” a spokesperson for sponsors Red Bull explained.

The feat unfolded along a specially constructed 10.5-metre rail, standing 1.7 meters high, located in Svatý Petr, a part the Czech Republic’s best-known resort, Špindlerův Mlýn.

Explaining the intricacies of the remarkable feat, Hroneš says: “The hardest part of this trick is the technicality of it because bouncing off something made of iron, spinning three times over your head, and landing back in the snow is a whole different thing than bouncing off the snow. You don’t do these tricks much as it’s extremely difficult to find obstacles of this type and calculate how it all works.”

Hroneš opted for an unconventional approach by utilising lard instead of traditional wax on his snowboard, citing its enhanced sliding properties. Despite initial challenges, his unwavering dedication and adaptability paved the way for mastery of the technique.

“The first few times I tried it, all the edges went under when I jumped on the rail,” Jakub recalls. But after two days of practice, I was sure I knew how it worked, and then it was just a matter of concentrating on doing the trick correctly.”

Preparing for the feat demanded years of meticulous preparation and a deep understanding of physics and mathematics to precisely calculate the measurements for the rail, rotation and landing.

Reflecting on this Hroneš remarked, “You could say I’ve been preparing for this trick the whole time I’ve been snowboarding because, in this sport, tricks build on each other. At 16, I managed to do this trick on a jump and immediately thought it could be done from the rail. A year later, I did a similar trick with two flips from the rail.”

The nineteen-year-old continues: “Last year I attempted a triple flip for the first time, but neither attempt was clean. I was disappointed at first that it didn’t work, but in retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t continue at the time. I learned a few lessons: to work better with several attempts, energy, and focus. This year, we changed the place and prepared a longer impact, so I had more space in the air, the railing had a bigger radius at the end, and I think all these aspects led to the fact that this year it was successful, and I am thrilled.“

A native of Špindlerův Mlýn, Hroneš’s journey into the world of snowboarding commenced at the tender age of two, igniting a passion that would shape his life. Initially drawn to alpine skiing from ages six to thirteen, Hroneš gradually redirected his focus, transforming snowboarding from a weekend pastime into his primary pursuit.

His breakthrough came after participating in the Czech National Ski Championship in Vítkovice, where he secured second place in his category.

Since then, Hroneš’s meteoric rise in the snowboarding world has been evident, culminating in gold in slopestyle and silver in Big Air at the European Youth Olympic Games in Vuokatti, Finland in 2022. His future aspirations include participating in the upcoming 2026 Olympics and Winter X Games.