LW Mag On Ultimate X 2012

So on Friday last week we landed in Cape Town to finally check out the much anticipated and much talked about event, Ultimate X 2012. We have featured the previous Ultimate X events before but this was the first time we made sure to be there in person. We decided to go past the venue which was at the V&A Waterfront to check out the location and prepare for the onslaught of one crazy-ass, insanely awesome event that was about to blow our minds on the Saturday.

On arrival at the venue we saw a very stressed Markus Museler (the guy that puts Ultimate X together) running around and making sure things were coming together as planned. A lot was still to be done – the FMX ramp was still getting put together, the BMX and skate park was still getting built but it was all coming together nicely. It was quite funny to see the athletes pulling in with their rental cars to check out what was going down – little do the rental companies know how those cars got man handled. Word of advice – never rent a 1.4 car to an extreme sports athlete, they will make it run like a 2.0 litre turbo!

Finally Saturday morning came and we made our way to the venue early to watch some of the FMX practice and help out with the setup. Lots still had to be done and the venue was buzzing with brands setting up their stands but when 11am came and the gates opened to the public, everything was perfect. The masses started flowing through the gates, sound was pumping in the background and ice cold beers were being sold – it felt like the hottest day of the year, perfect weather for this event. Everything ran like clockwork and the spectators were treated to an array of action from the FMX, BMX, skateboarding and wakeboarding athletes. The awesome stalls featured some of the best brands in the industry like Fox, Skullcandy, Unit, Tits, Volcom, RedBull and GoPro. Something we loved about the event is that the action didn’t stop and we had the chance to check everything out. As soon as the FMX show finished the BMX prelims started and as soon as that finished the skate prelims started and so on. The whole day ran like this, right through to the finals and to prize giving – well done to OPS Productions for getting this done right and putting on such a rocking event.

FMX:

The day started off with the first of three FMX shows which saw Matt King and Wayne Lester (on a 4-wheeler) get the crowds warmed up. They were hitting the smaller gap of 16 meters but didn’t disappoint, especially with Wayne throwing huge Cans and Cordovas which just look insane on a 4 wheeler. Then the big guns came out; Nick De Wit and Alastair Sayer hitting a gap of 22 meters. Obviously the crowds went off as they pulled perfect Cliff-hangers, Rock Solids, 9 o’clock Nacs and crazy combos. Nick and Ali then interacted with the crowd on top of the landing, making sure the crowd was making as much noise as possible before they brought out their backflips and backflip combos. The crowd went off – definitely a goose bump moment.

BMX:

These guys threw down all day long – watching the preliminary rounds was like watching a final. Greg Illingworth stood out with his huge transfers while Malcolm Peters and David Rigby landed big, technical tricks over the box and spine jumps. Colin Loudon was also a contender but had a few crashes and also hurt his recently healed hand. Wayne Reiche had the crowd screaming for him as he spent his whole day and runs trying to land a fuf on the top of the wall ride, he finally landed it at the end of the comp and Ultimate X erupted in applause, screams and whistles! It was good to see BMX legend Francois April take part in the comp as well.

Results:

1^st – Greg Illingworth

2^nd – David Rigby

3^rd – Malcolm Peters

Jason Hood took the win in the rail jam comp with a backwards grind down the ledge.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nffR8EbSaLE&feature=youtu.be

Check out the video and the crowds response to Wayne Reiche finally landing his Fuf on the wall ride

Wake:

In the heat of the Cape Town sun, this event was welcomed by spectators who swamped the edges of the canal with their feet in the water to watch the wakeboarders in action. Each rider had four passes in the canal hitting the rail three times and then hitting the kicker on their last pass. Gregor Reithmuth was technical on the rail with some 270’s on to 270’s off. Devon Nassif did some impressive presses, in his words “press to impress and not spin to win”, he also mixed it up by placing a plastic box on the end of the rail and olleying over it. It was a blast watching this event and it just looked so cool with the backdrop of the mountain in the background.

Results:

1^st – Gregor Reithmuth

2^nd – Devon Nassif

3^rd – Craig Eygenberger

Skate :

The consensus around the park was that the level of skating was really pushed up from last year. Louis Traubert, a skater from Germany out here for a while entered the comp and his runs were flowing and consistent. Simon Stipcich had a good run and was landing tricks like his 360 flip down the rail. Dlamini Dlamini landed a switch lip-slid down the rail and Moses Adams looked dialled.

Results:

1^st – Louis Traubert

2^nd – Simon Stipcich

3^rd – Moses Adams