Heaven is a place on Earth
I just got back from four fantastic days freeriding during the Åre Mountain Mayhem festival. The trails were spectacular and varied, ranging from fast berms and jumps through lovely technical singletrack to a few very nice downhill sections. We obviously spent most of our time riding, and since we do roll around in the dirt at times I’m not too inclined to riding with my camera equipment in my backpack. I did however find a few hours to spend behind the camera instead of behind the bars. Click the images for larger versions.
Unknown rider jumping on the “blue” slope Kälkspåret. Fast and popular trail with lots of berms and jumps. I’m personally more at home in more steep and technical sections… Like all the red and black trails. Good God, I want to live there!
Cancan in the slopestyle competition.
Eject, Mailman, eject!
I have no idea what this is called, but it doesn’t look too healthy.
Tabletop.
Nohands backflip. Oh, and I’m clueless when it comes to dirtjumping. Feel free to correct me ;)
We’re already trying to figure out how we can squeeze in another trip to Åre during this semester. How can we possibly stay away?
August 19, 2006 at 12:26 am
It looks like a ton of fun. No doubt about that. I expect you’ve shown these to Anders? He’ll probably feel better if you don’t… ;)
August 30, 2006 at 4:41 am
I’ve seen it; several times (I’ve returned back today even!)
Could probably rent a bike here in Hue; though the average bike weighs 25kg and looks like a bike from the fifties in Norway… Maybe Cyclo-downhill would be fun, or just REALLY scary. :)
October 28, 2006 at 1:51 am
You could reenact the original klunker races of the late seventies, considered by most as the birth of mountainbiking. Read about the repack races over at Charlie Kelly’s or listen to the MTB Legends podcasts.
The further you get down Repack the less effective your coaster brake becomes. It’s not the hill, it’s the heat causing the brake to fade. I had several rides where it was not possible to lock up the brake by the time I hit the bottom, and that’s fairly serious on Repack. You would certainly get a third-degree burn if you touched one of these hubs at the bottom of the hill. You might as well heat a frying pan and put your hand on it. There is smoke pouring out of it, because the rider put a lot of grease in before the ride and it’s been heated far beyond whatever it was made to do. (-CK)
Much fun (and mind melting terror) to be had riding stuff like that down the mountains :)
October 31, 2006 at 2:46 pm
Oh, and the Repack name comes from the fact that they had to repack the hubs with grease after a run, since it would all melt/burn/boil away all in one go. How’s that for pushing the envelope? :)
April 8, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Hey
can i use the BACKFLIP NO HANDS picture for pimp it and use it as a goupe picture in a comunity