The Rockstar Energy Open launched its inaugural winter snowboard and music festival last year at Breckenridge’s Ullr Fest. It was a unique addition to the mountain town’s winter kickoff, bringing a taste of competitive snowboarding into Breck’s annual party where 1,400 people line up on Main Street for world-record shot-ski attempts, a full-fledged parade, and praying for snow around a massive bonfire. Rockstar announced it’s bringing the event back to Breck for a reunion December 18-20.
The event was voted the “Pro’s Favorite Event” by a long shot in a Snowboarder magazine poll earlier this year. The poll of 75 professional riders had it as both their favorite to watch and favorite to compete in.
“A decent number of responses said it felt like a return to some of the older contests,” Snowboarder wrote about the response to the Open.
It seems event organizers are going with the if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach thanks to that feedback. A press release announcing the 2026 plans didn’t reveal any major changes to what made the 2025 edition stand out — a rider-designed Parkstyle course that doesn’t follow either a traditional slopestyle, halfpipe or big air format.
“Last year showed what this event could be, and I think everyone’s going to come back even hungrier. This competition embodies what snowboarding represents to so many of the pros and Summit County is always an awesome crowd,” Olympian Red Gerard said of the news.
“Year one set the bar, and now it’s about raising it,” added Steve Mateus, Senior Director of Sports and Music at Rockstar Energy. “We saw what happens when you give riders the freedom to do their own thing instead of boxing them in to a traditional contest format. At the Rockstar Energy Open, we’re rewarding creativity, style and individuality. We are reinventing the traditional snowboard contest. Breckenridge’s crowd matched that energy step for step, and we’re bringing back a stacked roster and building an even bigger event around them.”
