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Salad Days Magazine | December 22, 2024

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DARKFEST 2019: PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF FREERIDE MTB IN STUNNING SOUTH AFRICA

DARKFEST 2019: PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF FREERIDE MTB IN STUNNING SOUTH AFRICA
Salad Days

Mind-blowing tricks on the most unbelievable freeride jumps known to man, DarkFest 2019 once again pushed the bar of MTB events one notch higher.

The third edition of the spectacular event drew a crowd of thousands to watch the best in the world fly over jumps up to 30 metres long and 20 metres high.

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The host and creator of the event, Sam Reynolds (UK), invited only the best in the world to attempt to ride the jumps that his crew had created – with athletes traveling into Stellenbosch, outside Cape Town, from Canada, America and Europe to experience what many count as their favourite event of the year. As part of the Fest Series events, these guys are pushing the boundaries of what Freeride MTB means to the world.

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DarkFest is the only event of its kind in South Africa and continues to be renowned around the world as an absolute standout in the Freeride calendar. The venue in Stellenbosch offers something so unique that the DarkFest team keep coming back for; a mountainous valley with endless scope for natural looking lines and no limits to the size of their creations.

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This year saw spanish wildman Adolf Silva throw a double flip on the final ‘Rocket Launcher’ a 20 metre high jump that is considered to be one of the biggest double flips ever landed on a dirt jump and was undoubtedly a highlight of the week.

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“I love being at DarkFest, it’s always my favourite event of the year and the jumps are so perfect and always getting bigger, so I can try the tricks that I dream about!” Adolf Silva will be returning in 2020 to try and land something even bigger.

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World Cup legend Brendan Fairclough was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding riders of the week, being the first rider to ride the full course top-to-bottom and was one of the standout athletes. Watch the unbelievable POV footage following Clemens Kaudela through the course that is already sitting at over 3 million views here.

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DarkFest winners

Monster Energy Dark King: Clemens Kaudela
Sonax Sender: Adolf Silva
Polygon Proper Slam: Adolf Silva
Vero Hero: Nico Vink
Spank Best Whip: Graham ‘Aggy’ Aggassiz

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The progression through the week was unparalleled, and the DarkFest crew have already started drawing up plans for next year, that is sure to continue to push the limits once again.

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