Ultimate X 2013 Review

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This past weekend saw SA’s biggest action sports event, the Hunter’s eXtreme Ultimate X Festival, hit the V&A Waterfront and it did not disappoint. Over 6500 fans crowded the venue in anticipation to see what the Wakeboarding, Freestyle Motocross, Skateboarding and BMX action had to offer as well as check out the related expo area and the newly added Ultimate X Gamer competition presented by Mountain Dew and the Inner City Muscle Car Show.

The day played out with perfect clear skies, hot weather and saw fans blown away by the international standard of action that went down. Commentators Kai Linder, Rupert Von Tutschek and Austrian Pro Snowboarder/ Skateboarder Chris Cab kept Ultimate-Xers informed throughout the day and hyped up in the right places and at the right times as the days competitions and shows unfolded.
Ultimate X

Wake:
This year saw a newly built 2 tower cable-way installed into the canal thanks to Tich Mitchell and was named “Tich Towers” which worked out perfectly and made for an even better comp at this year’s Ultimate X. The course featured a Slider past the judges area, a Rooftop A-frame Slider and a Kicker which both the guys and girls took advantage of and put on one hell of a show busting huge tricks and slides over all three. Prelims took place in the morning, finals in the afternoon and in the heat of the day crowds flocked to the water side to catch their piece of the action.

Domnik Reichmuth showed his talent by laying down some very technical and stylish runs which included a 270 Frontboard on and a 270 off, off the Rooftop which put him into 3rd place overall. Jason Colbourne fought it out for 1st place against Dylan Mitchell and landed a big Crow Mobe off the Kicker and pressed to impress with some tweaked Nose-Presses across the Sliders but at the end of the day it was Dylan Mitchell’s run that impressed the judges most when he landed a huge “Big Worm” Olay Crow Mobe 5 and took 1st place over Jason in 2nd.
Wakeboarding

BMX:
With an upgraded park for the riders to dial into this comp was action packed and saw riders pull tricks out the bag that they had either never tried before or hadn’t tried in a while. Huge Transfers, Backflips, Tailwhips, Backflip variations and perfect extension on big tricks were the order of the day. Brothers, Stuart and Colin Loudon both made it to the finals and put on an awesome shown with big 360′s and Turn Down Flips but it wasn’t enough to put them on the podium. Buddy Chellan had a few killer and smooth runs but crashed pretty hard and hurt his ribs which put him out of contention.

The only international rider in the field was British rider Paul Ryan who didn’t have the biggest run in terms of hitting the bigger obstacles and throwing big tricks but instead Paul put together a hugely impressive technical run with Barspins, 180’s and 360’s being thrown everywhere possible and this put him into 3rd place. The never disappointing Malcolm Peters showed his skill and executed perfect big tricks like 360 Tailwhips, 360 Double Tailwhips, Decades, Flips and Flares but it wasn’t enough to put him on the top step of the podium and saw him take the 2nd step.Defending champ Greg Illingworth killed the course again this year with a huge Tailwhip Transfer, a big 360 Transfer, No-Handed 360 and a perfect 720 over the box jump which he hasn’t done in almost 2 years. Greg’s variation on the course mixed with the big tricked earned him 1st place again.
BMX

Skate:
Probably one of the best and closely contested Skateboarding comps SA has ever seen. The closely matched final had the crowds on their feet and screaming for their favourites and for tricks to be re-attempted and landed. Chris Cab even admitted that the level of competition that went down at Ultimate X was without a doubt of international level.

Dlamini Dlamini looked in control and nailed some perfect tricks on the also upgraded Skate park and even after breaking his board he carried on skating to take 3rd place. Khule Ngubane put on an impressive run against Jean-marc Johannes and took 2nd place overall. Louis Taulbert was just flawless on the park and defended his title as the Ultimate X 2013 champ.
Skateboarding

FMX:
A crowd favourite! Although just a show that ran 3 times throughout the day the 6 riders that took part did not hold back. Matt King, Scott Billet, Mike Oyston, Dallan Goldman, Alastair Sayer and Nick de Wit put on a show that many will never forget. Unfortunately due to bike problems on the day, Quad Freestyle rider Wayne Lester had to pull out of the show.

The 3rd FMX show was the last event to happen at this year’s Ultimate X and what a sight it was. A huge, huge, huge, crowd assembled to support and shout for the guys to throw down. Matt King, Scott Billet and Mike Oyston hit the 23m gap first to get the crowd warmed up with stylish tricks like Whips, Seatgrabs, Indian Airs and Dead bodies. The 3 more experienced riders, Dallan Goldman, Alastair Sayer and Nick de Wit then had their chance to wow the crowd with jaw dropping tricks like the Flatliner by Dallan. Hugely extended Cliff Hangers, Rock Solids, Combos, and Backflip Combos by Alastair and Nick. A perfect and even emotional end to what is, in our books, the best local action sports event to happen in South Africa, ever!
Freestyle Motocross

A big shout out goes to Markus for putting this amazing event together and to all the sponsors who made it possible: Hunters Extreme, DC Shoes, Fox, Volcom, MK, Mountain Dew, Skullcandy, CWB Board Co and the Western Cape Government. Make sure to be there in 2014 as Ultimate is just going to get bigger and better. Fact.

Results:
BMX
1st – Greg Illingworth
2nd – Malcolm Peters
3rd – Paul Ryan
BMX