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Chris Horsley reports on what went down at... There was an air of anticipation hanging about Hales Superbole on Friday 22nd of May 2009 as the center was getting set up for Superbole Mayhem that weekend. Having only really advertised the event on facebook, everyone was wondering how many riders, if any, would turn up for Hales Superbole's first center run competition. Having found out, only after organising it, that it was slap bang in the middle of many peoples exams, I think everyone was a little nervous. Fortunately these fears were quickly dissipated as the Goggin's notorious yellow van pulled into the car park, followed shortly after by the rest of the court farm crew, all eager to see the new additions to the center and get riding! In fact it wasn't long before a speaker system, generator and some decks were taken up to the entrance and new arrivals were greeted with the sounds of Superbole resident DJ, Stevo mixing tunes from the back of a van! The weekend was definitely getting off to a good start. After a relatively early (by mountainboard standards!) night, we arose to a perfect English summers day, sun glaring and blue sky as far as the eye could see. It also looked like more people had turned up during the night, including Sam Nicholas and the infamous Ryan Slater, sporting some of the shiny new Trampa hardware on their boards! With such perfect conditions it wasn't long before me and a handful of others were padding up and heading onto the new and improved jib park to warm up for the days competition. The plan for the day was a "Ghetto" Slopestyle comp kicking off around 12 oclock, held up on the main hill, then the U12s, U16s and Open qualifying jib comp held a little later on in the jib park and finally the night jib final held at 10 oclock under the floodlights in the jib! The slopestyle was great fun to take part in and to watch, it was set in a jam format and with the relatively small turnout of riders compared to the UK series comps, it felt alot more like a big chilled session than a competition, however that doesn't mean people weren't pushing it! It took place on the main hill which had a massive selection of lines and hits, ranging from jibby boxes and rails to big kickers and northshores. Oscar Travis was tearing it up in the U16s throwing down 540s, 1 foot 360s and loads more (seriously, someone sponsor this kid!) as well as Ryan Bunting attempting backflips off every jump in sight! The U12s was amazing to watch, with kids doing 180 grabs, hitting the big kickers, even throwing down boardslides! Special mention goes to Ben Wanklyn who was killing it and going massive with backside 360s! In the Open category Steve Evans was proving that he's just as good on a mountainboard as he is DJing, putting down his super skate style on every line on the hill. There was so much great riding going down in all categories that it would be impossible to mention it all here as im sure anyone who was there will agree! After a bit of a rest the jib comp got under way. If you went to Hales Superbole last year for the ATBA series final then you'll know that they have a sweet jib setup. Well now it's ten times better than it was then and the riding going on was to match! Again, the younger generation of boarders in the U12s and U16s were showing everyone how it was done, with some inventive lines and tricks that you wouldn't think possible on such small jibby features. Ryan Bunting in particular was pushing the bounderies of what WAS possible with his backflip attempts over the smallest jump you've ever seen! The open qualifying went down afterwards, with the top riders going through to the final which would be held after the sun went down and the floodlights came out. It was definately worth the wait. If you've ever rode at night, or been to one of the fat face night air events, then you'll know what i'm talking about when I say that everything seems alot more fun and alot more impressive under the glow of electric light. Jib king, Mark Hale was absolutely destroying it in the jib park that he's put so much time and effort into crafting, doing crazy nosepick combos, noseroll 180s to 360 outs and loads more. Meanwhile Kynan Goggin was, in his usual fashion, managing to go massive off the little kickers doing grabbed FS 360s and more. As the competition drew to a close, the party was starting, and what a party it was! Or so I've been told by the odd person who can actually remember it! Steve was back on the decks accompanied by all round nice guy, co-owner of the bole and musical mastermind Adam Hale and between them kept the music going until the early hours of the morning. I think everyone involved learned an important lesson that night, that banana sambuca and shots of moonshine from the guy behind the bar are are lethal combination. Sunday morning occurred sometime around 12:30 with everyone looking a little worse for wear from the night before. The best trick comp was to be held on the tabletops in freestyle bowl around 1ish, but in true mountainboard fashion that time got pushed back a couple of hours until people were feeling a bit more awake and a little less hungover. With considerably fewer riders entering than the day before, the top spot was definatly up for grabs. Starting off as before with the U12s and U16s going first, each rider had 4 runs to put down their best trick over one of the tabletops. We saw massive airs, huge grabs, 360s, 540s and one footers and congratulations to Ryan Bunting on finally landing his flips on the first table and securing himself the win! After that wound up it was the Open and Masters turn and the crowds were definitely in for a treat! In the masters, Superbole local, Nige "the torpedo" Ball was showing us how it's done, doing crazy inverted handplant 360s on the first table, whilst Lawson David, king of the spin, was dropping frontside 540s and attempting frontside 7s! Mental stuff! Last but definately not least, was the Open. With only 5 riders entered it was anyone's guess who would take home the win. Spectators were treated to huge styled out backflips from James Wanklyn and Sam Nicholas, massive 360s and 540 attempts from Jamie Johnstone and some backside corked 540 attempts by yours truely. At the end of the day it was Sam's enormous and stylee frontside rodeo that bagged him the top spot and the £60 prize money! A brilliant weekend was had by all, with some amazing riding, fantastic weather and a super fun atmosphere that wasn't to be missed! And if you couldn't make it this year, then pen it into your calender for 2010 when it'll be bigger, better, and more MAYHEM than ever before! words and pictures by Chris Horsley |
