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As the campsite emerged into view, a dark hillside littered with lights and small fires, the atmosphere in the car all at once lifted as excitement filtered through. Even then we could tell it was going to be a good weekend.

Saturday morning was soon with us and with it the early riders meeting. The usual rules and procedures were run through and particular reference was made to a new timing system. Round 1 was of course the first outing of the new digital timing system. It was explained that every rider would have one run, starting with the U14’s and working through to the Open category and then a system of open qualifying would run whereby any rider from any category could have a timed run. The amount of qualifying runs allowed by any one rider were unlimited with the only restriction been that at the top the rider must join the back of the queue.

All seemed to be going well, if not rather slowly, and all riders seemed to get a fair few runs in. Most riders seemed happy with the time they had managed when qualifying and spirits were high when everyone gathered together to find out who was going through. The news which greeted the riders was unexpected to say the least. It was announced that the timing system had failed and no times had been recorded, it has been rumoured that various things happened to the sensors at the top of the course but as of yet nothing has been confirmed. It was announced to the shocked riders that qualifying would take place again with each rider having only one shot at a decent time.

The qualifying soon got back underway with a new found speed; riders were flying down every few seconds and all seemed to be going well. Eventually the racing got underway, and with the sun beginning to set over the valley the setting couldn’t have been better.

The racing was excellent and the track in superb condition. Some of the best action took place on the first big berm; a large left hander pre-ceded by a set of three rollers and pro-ceded by two doubles. The berm took no prisoners and saw countless crashes with numerous riders seen to fly over the top of it.

The racing went on and the action was none stop. A superb atmosphere was created by the large crowd, the layout of the track providing a number of excellent places to watch the whole race. By 8pm the racing was over and the winners known. Some excellent racing was seen in all categories with Leon Robbins taking the win in the Open and Jonathan Charles narrowly missing out on the win to Tom Kirkman in the U18s. In the U14s Joshua Campbell raced to victory, Steve Birkbeck won the masters, and Sacha Bush was the first down the hill in the Ladies.

Sunday saw some amazing freestyle and the judges were no doubt struggling to name a winner. The U18s category saw backflip’s galore and some amazing rotations. The Open wasn’t short of flips either and rotations alongside tweaked grabs were the order of the day. The standard of riding was high and all riders gave it there all. The slopestyle layout also went down well with the two tables getting most use, but the two rails also saw their fair share of action. The rails also provided riders with the chance to improve a run if the first table was bailed. The U14s also rode well, and the two ladies who entered were landing smooth grabs and spins.

The final results in all categories and for both disciplines over the two day event were as follows:

BoarderX


U14
1 Joshua Campbell
2 Joel Treliving
3 Joe Knight

U18
1 Tom Kirkman
2 Jonathon Charles
3 Jack Herniman

Open
1 Leon Robbins
2 Pete Tatham
3 Tim Jones

Masters
1 Steve Birkbeck
2 Scott Leadbitter
3 Lawson David

Ladies
1 Sacha Bush
2 Niki Forcast
3 Natalie Reynolds

Freestyle

U14
1 Mick Kirkman
2 Miles Oliver
3 Edd Wilson

U18
1 Tom Kirkman
2 Joe Dickson
3 Laurie Kaye

Open
1 Leon Robbins
2 Tim Jones
3 David Compton

Masters
1 Lawson David
2 Steve Eccles
3 John Poole

Ladies
1 Jos Kirkman
2 Niki Forcast