Video: Final Touches & First Hits - Week 3 Build & Test Update from DarkFEST

Feb 4, 2020
by Eric Palmer  


The guys have absolutely crushed it this week and the course was done early in the week, with just a few final touches needed here and there with a spade and rake. Some of the riders have started to arrive and had their minds blown by how massive and perfect these jumps are. Lots of hands to help now and some good test sessions have gone down.


NFCC
NFCC

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Nico likes bicycles and bicycles like Nico
Nico likes bicycles and bicycles like Nico!

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Padding up
Padding up!

Safari Prado
Safari Prado

Waterboys
Waterboys

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Pre session rituals
Pre session rituals

Starting the day off right
Starting the day off right!

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photo

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Morning Step Up sessions are a treat
Morning Step Up sessions are a treat!


The step up is always the first one on the list and the guys made the lip slightly steeper, so now you can go as fast as you can and you just go higher and still land in the sweet spot. Overshooting is almost impossible, which is amazing for a jump you head into at almost 80km/h!


Dropping into the step up run in
Dropping into the step up run in

All the stoke
All the stoke!

T-bog
T-bog

Too many good shapes on the whips to choose
Too many good shapes on the whips to choose!

Hand dangler whip
Hand dangler whip

Sui
Sui

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Sui
Sui

Underflip
Underflip

Huge Flat 3
Huge Flat 3


Sam opened up the long 90ft jump and wasn't long before he was going sideways over it. The hip landing has been made steeper and more bowled out and looks so good! At first, the lip was made of a slightly more sandy soil, which was fine, but was getting a few ruts, so Clemens redid it with some fresh perfect clay and it is looking much more solid now.


90 footer first hits
90 footer first hits

Making it perfect
Making it perfect

big course big water
big course, big water

Dirt Porn never looked this good
Dirt Porn never looked this good!

Giving the lip a golden shower
Giving the lip a golden shower

Showing Ike how the hip is done
Showing Ike how the hip is done!


The scary ones were the 2 at the bottom, because no one was sure how they would work. The rocket launcher landing has been raised like mad, so the landing is a bit safer and if you do manage to go a bit long on it, there is more than enough slope to help out. The new last launcher is a slightly smaller version and completely new, so that one was really up in the air to whether the guys calculations and guesses were right.


Beauty shot of Rocket Launcher No. 1
Beauty shot of Rocket Launcher No. 1

Beauty shot of Rocket Launcher No. 2
Beauty shot of Rocket Launcher No. 2


Clemens was at the top of the Step Up during a test session and had some serious focus in his eyes and was carefully watching the wind. He gave me a look and I could see it was time. He dropped in and a few seconds later I saw him fly out of the top of the lip in the distance and made it!!! The rocket launcher was open and perfect! Godziek hit the 90 footer for the first time and with his adrenalin flairing I told him Cdog hit the rocket launcher and I got the reply, "Ok, I hit it" and dropped straight in. The debating on what to do for the last one was going around seriously, the next session a few more of the guys were making friends with the rocket launcher and then out of nowhere Nico went for it. The landing of the launcher was a little soft, so he took 4 cranks at it and it blasted him so high and perfectly into the landing. The whole line had been hit, every jump works so well and you can just about go as fast as you can into most of it and land in the sweet spot.


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Rocket launcher is open for business
Rocket launcher is open for business!

Dropping
Dropping

Stop drop and roll
Stop, drop and roll

Shuttle Up
Shuttle Up!


Now that they knew everything worked, the next session was time for some top to bottom runs. Sam, Nico and Clemens were sending trains down it in no time and greasing the hell out of everything. There are not many trains as impressive and steezy as what these guys are sending now. It is a treat to witness.


Farmer C pushing up
Farmer C pushing up

Cdog dropping
Cdog dropping

Not even the smallest gaps in the line are safe from Nico s steeze
Not even the smallest gaps in the line are safe from Nico's steeze

So much height and so much of sideways
So much height and so much of sideways!

Mr Steeze Himself
Mr Steeze Himself

The stoke is at an all time high and lots more riders are coming in the next few days. With a start like this we are in for an incredible week of riding and can't wait to see what goes down on these beasts!

Stanky Leg Stretch
Stanky Leg Stretch

Huge whips all day
Huge whips all day!!!

16yr old Ike hit the 90ft for the first time
16yr old Ike hit the 90ft for the first time!


Thanks again to Kenda and Bobcat for their partnership and help and to Monster Energy for fuelling the dream as always!


Flip Can
Flip Can

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Cannonball
Cannonball

Cranking it
Cranking it

Flat 3
Flat 3

Eject button
Eject button

Nothing for Jords
Nothing for Jords!!!

Cooke Roasting it
Cooke Roasting it!


Author Info:
ericpalmer avatar

Member since Feb 6, 2008
58 articles

17 Comments
  • 3 0
 2:09 "...we can get some kind of formula and make perfect jumps everywhere."

Holy Crap! They aren't using the formula?!

Well, it's true that with enough speed you can clear basically anything. Guinea pigging stuff this big requires massive balls of pure Titanium. Mad props to these guys!
  • 4 0
 I like how we all think only Five Tens work, yet Nico just chooses Vans.
  • 2 0
 Sk8-hi to go high!!
  • 1 1
 Yeah but he has to wear ankle braces to have enough support. Probably more a fashion statement than actually liking it better.
  • 1 0
 @Boosting: Everyone is wearing ankle braces here...
  • 4 1
 Is there any website we can watch the proper event live??
  • 1 0
 I wonder if it was behind a paywall, people would actually pay to watch it.
  • 3 0
 there is no "proper event". it's just a week long jam session with gopros and drones
  • 2 0
 Haircut of the century right there
  • 2 0
 We use to cut our hair like Reynolds did back in 1984. Damn I'm old, I'll get off my own lawn now ????
  • 2 0
 It's poppy man! (flies 5 seconds to the moon)
  • 2 0
 "They got quite a bit bigger eh!" he yells from the top of Mount Everest
  • 2 0
 The STOKE is real!
  • 2 1
 Why is it called dark fest if they ride during the day time?
  • 12 0
 cuz if you hit the ground the lights go out
  • 1 0
 Donker Mag!
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