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Drop student association

Snowboarding on Delft’s Markt? You could last weekend

Snowboarding on the Markt. Who would ever have thought it? Last weekend Drop, the students board sports association, turned the city square into a snowboarding paradise. It was a real snow spectacle.

(Photo: Thijs van Reeuwijk)

Admittedly it was a far cry from an alpine view, but the scene – with Delft’s impressive city hall as the backdrop for Flatstyle 2025 last weekend – was just as amazing. The snowboard event on the Markt was first held in 2016 in honour of the first five year anniversary of Drop, the student board sports association. The idea was that Flatstyle would be held every five years, but the Covid pandemic put an end to that plan in 2021. But it worked out four years later.

(Photos: Thijs van Reeuwijk)

The organisers transferred 300 cubic metres of snow in 15 lorries from De Uithof, an indoor winter sports complex in The Hague, for the event. The snow will not go back to De Uithof on Monday, but to an outdoor spot where the Drop members can go before it all thaws.

 

Drop’s Secretary, Lucas van der Meulen, said that the square was filled with spectators. He could not say officially how many people there were, but he estimated that it was at least as busy as in 2016 when 12,000 people came to watch the snowboarding spectacle.

The visitors were treated to the impressive snowboarding skills of the 20 entrants to the snowboard competition. Apart from the competition, there were also open sessions for which anyone could sign up to enjoy winter sports with the city hall in the background. Drop sold about 100 tickets for these sessions. Fans of skiing antics could join a skiing event with four freestyle skiers.

Lucas looks back at a very successful weekend. “I am so proud. It was absolutely wonderful to see how everything came together after one-and-a-half years of work. Everything went according to plan, perhaps even better.” He did sacrifice his sleep though. “I only slept 16 hours in the last four nights, but it was definitely worth it. It was totally amazing.” The hope is that from now on, Flatstyle will be held every five years.

 

Science editor Kim Bakker

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k.bakker@tudelft.nl

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