Transgression Snowballin’ BMX Jam Write Up

Last Saturday we hosted our first BMX Jam at the new park. We decided to call it the SnowBallin’ Jam which turned out to be quite fitting as we woke up to a snow covered Edinburgh.  Stay tuned for the edit of the jam which no doubt will highlight what an amazing day it was but for now here is our round up of some of the highlights…

The standard of riding was insane in every single group; we had over ten 12 year olds enter the jam it was amazing to see young kids stoked on BMX. They came from all over Scotland and the future of BMX in this country is looking bright with Dylan Austin 360ing the large jump box. Elliot Young sending lines around the park and Mark Ducat getting higher on his 10^th Birthday than most may do on their 20^th.

Also in this group it was demonstrated that it’s about progression and helping each other out too with Sangje Harper helping out a fellow rider when he went down. He picked up a brand new Haro BMX for being a great dude!

The 13-16 year old group was a real treat, bangers getting thrown down everywhere. Edinburgh local Andrew Russell proved it’s not all about barspins and whips by flying round the park with creative lines and style. Craig Sime sent it with whips, barspins and all sorts of tech trickery. Jonny Moffat attacked the course with a similar style but managed to throw a double bars over the box and then he flipped the wee box on demand after our MC George gave him that extra encouragement; this wrapped up the win for Jonny.

By the time it got into the B group we were on a roll and the riding continued to get more and more intense. It was a real treat to see a rider who used to arguably be at the forefront of BMX in Scotland; David Lorimer proved he still had tailwhips on tap by throwing one out of the wallride. Style cat Christopher ‘Katman’ Eastwood flowed around the park blasting lookbacks and a wild 360 to fakie out the vert wall into the quarter. In first place was Shaun Gornall who made the trip up from Widnes to ride our park. He was sending it all over the park with huge boxjump tricks and a 540 barspin air on the 7 foot quarter; his standard of riding will definitely see him riding in a higher group next time.

The riders in ‘A group’ final made the judging very difficult the standard was that good. Liverpool riders Anthony McGuirk and Francis Wright hit the park hard with massive tricks. Anton getting a 540 Barspin to tuck no-hander, whilst Francis tore the jump box apart with 720’s, flip-whips and triple whips! Scotland’s own Kriss Kyle also blasted the park in his own way with huge lines and wallrides!

We have to give a massive shout out to our locals, those guys really stepped it up. New BSD rider Hector Spencer-Wood did probably our favourite trick of the day with a massive 180 from the small bowl into the big bowl. It was great to see everyone get behind him. Other locals such as Euan Jowett-Mcfetters, Sean Paul, Charlie Robinson, Dale Macaroni, Connor Macaulay and Niall Waddel all rode amazing and it will be great to see those guys this time next year.

 
The Final Standings:

Under 12 winners (pictured above)
1st. Dylan Austin
2nd. Elliot Young
3rd. Mark Ducat

13-16 winners (pictured above)
1st. Jonny Moffat
2nd. Craig Sime
3rd. Andrew Russell

Over 16 Group B winners (pictured above)
1st. Shaun Gornall
2nd. Katman
3rd. David Lorimer

Over 16 Group A winners (pictured above)
1st. Anthony McGuirk
2nd. Francis Wright
3rd. Kriss Kyle

Our special guest rider Harry Main was on fire, the night before during a warm up session he flaired the 7ft and almost hit the light. When it came around to the jam a few of us were wondering what could potentially happen. The second he jumped from the box to the volcano heading towards the 7ft quarter I knew it was coming. He also stuck in a few pedals as if he needed any extra speed! BOOM! He was around 10ft in the air on a 7ft ramp UPSIDE DOWN! Smashing the light to pieces with his back wheel yet still almost landing the flair. It was hands down one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed; the whole place erupted!

The event was a great success and we would like to thank everyone who made the Transgression SnowBallin’ BMX Jam one of the highlights of the year by turning out to compete, spectate and help out.

We would like to thank all our sponsors who like our riders pulled it out the bag to offer some of the best prizes ever, so a special thanks to:

Monster Energy, Haro/Premium, BSD, Amity, Dig, BawBags, Snap distribution, IMG, 4Down, Zeal BMX, Split Second, Scoopbmx, Capix,Fatalitybmx & Cabaret Voltaire.

See you next year at the 2012 SnowBallin’ Jam