Saturday brought with it clear, blue-bird skies and warmer weather. A record breaking 700 competitors lined up for the chairlift at 8:30am, with Canyon Flow-Motion racing kicking off early at 10:30am.
Riders were stoked and ready to hit the trails as they progressively dried out throughout the day, leaving a nice, tacky dirt on the surface.
With several harsh crashes throughout the day, racing didn’t cease until 6pm when Dean Lucas smashed it past the finish line in first place with a time of 7:47.55, only .68 of a second faster than second-placer Josh Carlson. Tommy The-Gun Crimmins finished off in third.
The A’hern double happened, with Sian and Kye taking the wins in both their categories of Pro Womens and U19 Mens.
Tegan Molloy claimed second, with Claire Whiteman in third, with 19.36 seconds separating Sian and Claire.
Harrison Dobrowolski kept Kye on his toes, coming in second with a time of 7:58.73, only 1.22 seconds behind Kye. Sebastion Weber claims third in the U19 Mens category.
Ellie Smith made it down the 4.5 kilometre trail with a time of 9:22.92 in U19 Womens, with Kenzie Diver and Amelia Café in second and third.
Ethan Corney crossed the line in first in U17 Mens.
The SRAM Whip-Wars kicked off immediately after the Flow race was completed, with riders heading back up the hill to throw out their best tricks in front of a huge crowd.
Fresh faces appeared to throw down, with Danni Beecroft taking out the Pro Womens category.
The U19’s fought hard in a sideways fashion, with Nik Barber throwing down the fattest whips and biggest backflip of the evening to claim the top spot.
Duke Millington worked hard in the off-season to tame David The-Magician McMillan to claim first in Pro Mens at the whip wars, thanks to his ability of achieving height, side-ways-ness, and smooth landings. Ben Zwar came down sideways to claim third.
Tomorrow brings more sunshine and hardcore downhill racing, stay tuned for more bangers!
Story and photos // Nick Waygood