Ook deze zomer is Åre weer een week het cemtrum van de Noord Europese bikegemeenschap. Het Mayhem Festival, het grootste Freeride evenement van Scandinavië vind dit jaar plaats van 31 juli tot en met 6 augustus. Inmiddels is het officiele persbericht uit met het programma. Het wordt weer een week volgepakt met waanzinnige bike-action. Heb je dus nog niks in je agenda staan voor deze zomer? Overweeg het Zweedse Åre eens tijdens de eerste week van augustus.
MAYHEM FESTIVAL 2006 - ÅRE, SWEDEN 31 JULY – 6 AUGUST

The first week of August is set for the 4th annual Mayhem Festival, in Åre Sweden. Located in the heart of Scandinavia, the Mayhem Festival is the largest freeride mountain bike event in the Nordics.

The event program for Mayhem includes an open 4Cross competition, open Slopestyle comp, plus the Eric Wållberg Street Jam. There are masses of prizes to be won in all competition categories. Both adidas eyewear and Gazza Tyres are awarding product sponsorship contracts for those competing in Slopestyle and 4Cross, which will be a one-year product sponsorship deal.

What’s new for 2006?
First off, after 3 years of running the festival under the name ‘Åre Mountain Mayhem’, we changed the name to just ‘Mayhem Festival’ (www.mayhemfestival.com). No need to go into any great explanations, we just like to keep it simple. We re-designed the web site and logo etc, so it’s a brand new look this year.

Trail Developments: This is what you really want to know. Starting the end of last season, there has been a lot of new trail developments on Åre mountain. The Åre Trail Crew commenced work on an epic FR trail from the kabinbana top station down to Hummlen. The trail itself is about 3km in length, and 400m vertical drop. The grade will be intermediate (blue) with a freeride feel to it. Continuing on from Hummlen you still have about another 500m vertical to travel to get down to all the lift stations. From here you can choose between a few different routes.

The trail crew have also started renovation on trails Kälkspåret and Bergbanan. They are being widened, with bigger berms, with alternative lines incorporating jumps and other features on to them. The basic trail grade is intermediate (blue), with alternative possibilities along the way to ride stunts and step up the difficulty level. The 4X track will also see some new and improved changes and grooming for this season.

Slopestyle Development: One area for continued development is the slopestyle course, which is now on a three year scheme funded by Fox Sweden (Bruhns Racing). Plans are set to make this one of the hottest and most exciting areas, and will be the focus area for the Slopestyle competition at the end of the week.

Bike Clinics / Training Camps:  If you would like to brush up on your freeride skills and get to ride and learn from a pro, now is your chance. Adidas eyewear pro rider Steve Romaniuk will be running a freeride Bike Clinic during the Mayhem week.  Steve will be taking riders in small groups to different locations on the mountain to help you hone your skills. Straight from Crankworx, Gazza Tyres will be bringing over Thomas Vanderham for the first half of the week (before he competes in Red Bull District Ride).  On Tuesday evening we will have a Gazza party where Thomas will pick a select number of riders to join his bike clinc on the Wednesday.  See web site for more details.

The Extreme Biking School is the leading DH / 4X school in Sweden with instructors Tommy Johansson and Mikael Bolmstam at the helm.  There will be a two day bike clinic on 3rd & 4th Aug, teaching everything from DH racing to slopestyle.  There will also be a special ‘girls only’ training camp on the 1st August.

Mayhem Pass:  Another first for 2006 is a card that saves riders money during the event, how clever is that. The mayhem pass gets you 10% off a 7 day lift card, (instant saving of 120kr or €13) plus between 10% to 20% discount on the best bike shops, restaurants, bars, supermarkets etc all week.  Complete details on the web site.

Film Fest:  We will be showing all the best mountain bike movies on a cinema size screen at Holiday Club.  Friday evening will be the adidas eyewear movie night playing the hugely awaited ROAM film, with opening introduction by Steve Romaniuk.  As usual, there will be plenty of parties all week. The Oakley team will be making sure you get your swerve on as they plan to hold a big Oakley Party on the Thursday evening after the street comp. Definitely something to look forward too.

Pre-Event Competition: Right now, we are giving away a whole bunch of prizes including a 7 day chair lift pass, bike clinic with Steve Romaniuk, Thomas Vanderham, adidas eyewear goggles & t-shirt, Gazza tires, mayhem t-shirts, case of red bull, case of snickers and more. Log on to the web site and enter for free!

General Mayhem Festival Info:
7 Day bike festival - Free Entry
3 Chairlift Stations – Kabinbana / VM Six Seater  / Hummlen
900M Vertical Drop
Over 35km of bike trails

For complete run down on the festival and more details on the competitions, visit www.mayhemfestival.com