Good news! The hare-brained iXS MacAvalanche is set to return for 2012. Britain’s biggest mass-start mountain enduro will hit the slopes of Glencoe Mountain Resort on the 28th and 29th April. This year entrants will get more riding that ever, with a practise session and a qualifying heat on the Saturday and practice and racing on the Sunday.
No Fuss Events, the people behind the equally loopy Fort William Endurance Downhill, have decided that they’ll cut out last year’s helicopter rides in favour of giving people more time on the bike. No Fuss Events partner Frazer Coupland explains: “For those who saw the stress the helicopter caused me and the financial implications if things went wrong it was very nearly not worth it. We listened to the riders and, although the experience was mental, they wanted more time to ride”
Web boy Jon took part last year and it was without doubt his favourite the event of the year. To get a flavour of the event you can read his online feature but it’s worth checking out the video below for some idea of the experience…
http://vimeo.com/23213993
If that hasn’t convinced that it’s well worth entering then here’s the word from No Fuss themselves…
“Spring is about to kick off in the Outdoor Capital of the UK. Its only four weeks until the second ever iXS MacAvalanche the full on, mass participation, gravity assisted endurance race.
iXS Spokesman Martin Astley said “We are excited for iXS to support the growth of the Macavalanche in 2012 with a new format that increases the amount of time on the bike. If this great weather increases we may be in for a repeat of last year!”
Good Winter, Bad Winter? I guess the answer to that question depends on who you are! If you run a ski resort then there will be no doubt it’s been a bad one. Glencoe Mountain Resort after successfully hosting the Coe Cup last week (Scotland’s first ever freestyle ski/snowboard event) is now counting the days until the return of the IXS Macavalanche.
With diversification on the tongue of every business, Andy Meldrum from Glencoe mountain resort said “After a very poor ski season the MacAvalanche is expected to provide just the lift that we need. The buzz has already started to build and staff and local riders are already getting excited about this year’s event. Last year’s was the most amazing event the centre had ever hosted. This year’s event with the new two day format promises to be even better.”
With a little over four weeks to go to the second running of the iXS Macavalanche who cares about snow it’s all about the bike action.
No Fuss the race organisers will start riders at the top of Meall a’ Buiridh (Pronounced Meal a Vourie) Glencoe Mountain Resort and the first to the bottom of the pre-designated route will be the winner.
Organised by No Fuss Events, the crew behind the equally mental Fort William Endurance Downhill race, the race will be held on the slopes at Glencoe Mountain Resort in 2012. In 2011 riders were afforded the novel opportunity of helicopter uplift.
No Fuss Events partner Frazer Coupland was recently asked the question would there be a helicopter in 2012? He smiled when answering “No, for those who saw the stress the helicopter caused me and the financial implications if things went wrong it was very nearly not worth it. We listened to the riders and, although the experience was mental, they wanted more time to ride”
The format for 2012 moves closer to what has been done in Europe for years, the iXS MacAvalanche was and still is the first time a Mega Avalanche-style race has taken place in the UK. 2012 will see rider get a practise session and a qualifying heat on the Saturday and practice and racing on the Sunday.
So what is happening? The weekend of the 28th and 29th of April has been chosen so get it in the diary. The planned format for the weekend is as follows
Saturday
0800 Registration
0900 – 1200 Lower Mountain open for practice. ( Two Chair lifts)
1300 Heat One
1340 Heat Two
1420 Heat Three
Top Third to grand final on Sunday, second Third to second final, small final for the rest.
Sunday 0900 – 1200 Lower Mountain open for practice. ( Two Chair lifts)
Only the Finals will be run from the summit of the mountain and afford riders the opportunity to ride one of the biggest descents in Scotland in full on, elbows out, no holds barred (with in limitations) mass participation racing!
1300 Small Final
1340 Second Final
1420 Grand Final
The No Fuss view is that for us this is an opportunity to take the Macavalanche to the next level.
Finally will there still be snow? Well as they managed to run a freestyle ski competition last weekend:
No Fuss partner Spook Munro has said he will publicly eat his shorts if there is no snow at the IXS MacAvalanche in 2012.
For an entry please go to www.nofussevents.co.uk
