Last week’s CLUBHOUSE event in Innsbruck featured a packed venue, conversations with professional snowboarder Gigi Rüf, creative workshops with artist Lukas Goller, and another night of fresh, creative community connection through the language of snowboarding.
There’s something about CLUBHOUSE that feels nothing like a big motivational speech witnessed from a chair in the audience. It feels more like an afternoon with friends: a post-snow collapse onto a couch and yarn about your lives. Only, you’re yarning with your favourite snowboarder’s favourite snowboarder, Gigi Rüf.
The latest volume took place at the funky culture house that is the Bogen blocks in Innsbruck – the perfect spot to let the creative juices flow and let a little loose. Which, in this case, was exactly the vibe for the Balaclava Customisation Workshop led by Lukas Goller that kicked off the night.
More than 40 people showed up to get crafty with their balaclavas. And thanks to laser-cut stencils and a whole lot of coloured markers, crafty high-quality Mons Royale Merino balaclavas were made. Local artist Lukas Goller led the workshop, with custom-made stencils to choose from, or guidance for making your own.
With the creative flow set for the evening, a small intermission and changing of the curtain transformed the room for the main event: a conversation with Gigi Rüf, Innsbruck local and raconteur of the snowboarding world. It was a conversation that Gigi had never had in front of an audience, much less in his own country.
Host and creator of CLUBHOUSE, Mariano Gibert, was a kid in a candy shop. You couldn’t stop the smile on his face as he chatted with Gigi well into the night, his curiosity sparking conversations that had the whole room on the edge of their seats.
The evening started with Gigi chatting through film highlights from his career, and three hours later, we were still going. We talked about his early snowboarding days in Austria, his first sponsors, and his breakout years in the US. We followed the evolution of his career, through the UnInc Crew, Volcom, Nike, and the creation of Slash Snow, and all the knowledge and creativity that defined his path.
The energy from the audience was high from start to finish. The yarns were genuine and easy to connect to: deep and nerdy at the best of times, and inspiring and reflective right the way through.
Gigi shared a basement scrapbook with magazine cutouts from his early career, dating right back to the late 90s. He also shared a gift booklet by Blotto, which features some legendary photoshoots with the Un Inc Crew from all the old-school, crazy ads they created back in the day. Finally from his backpack were posters from Super Natural, one of the first iterations of what almost ten years later became the Natural Selection Tour.
Speaking of NST, that felt like the perfect segue to chat through his legendary run from Wildcard to third place at NST Snow 2025, as well his plans for NST Snow 2026 happening just around the corner. As official global partners of NST, we're thrilled to have Mons-sponsored athlete Gigi Rüf repping our Merino base layers at the start line.
The night wrapped up with guest questions from Marc Iser, former Volcom Rep; Justin Hostynek from Absinthe films; Martin “Hasi” Haslwanter, former Burton Team manager; and Sani Alibabic, a friend for over 30 years. We also surprised Gigi with a few extra guest questions – his trainer and cousin Philip Rüf, one of his distributors Andy Barroso, and his son Oskar Rüf all threw a few great questions his way.
But alas, although the night could easily have gone on for a few more hours, all good things must come to an end. So, we said goodbye to Gigi, leaving lots to chat about next time we catch up. We can’t wait to see where the next chapter of Gigi’s career takes him – we know it’ll be just as inspiring as the ones we’ve already been witness to.
One thing is for sure: no matter the speaker, you’ll want to be at any and all CLUBHOUSE events you come across in the future. It’s always a treat and a special night for everyone involved.
