112 Photos From Fest Series - Biggest Jumps You'll Ever See
Retallack Lodge has always had the mentality of trying to think outside of the box. With our mission to pioneer a new segment in Mountain Biking, we have been looking for a unique opportunity to showcase our product to the industry of Freeride Mountain Biking. We felt this was a great way to let biking brands and action sports brands alike know that Retallack Lodge is fresh canvas for them to get there message out to the public. Whether it be a Fest Series stop, product launch, or team trip - Retallack is equipped to knock your vision out of the park. Our fully contained remote luxury lodge, coupled with a newly developed and ever growing mountain alpine trail network - the sky is the limit!
 | With one of the hottest summers in years in the Kooteneys, and a freshly built course up at Retallack Lodge; myself and the rest of the Fest crew made our way up to the little piece of heaven that lies in the Selkirk Mountains. We were greeted to a mountain bikers paradise, but we were also joined by mother nature. It rained for the week leading up to the event, and all week on and off during the event, transforming the dry, dusted-out trails from the hot summer into primo spring/fall conditions. Unfortunately leaving the freshly built jumps much too saturated to ride. Everyone lent a hand and worked hard all week to get the jumps ridable, but what we were reluctant to believe was that we just needed the sun! But at least we still had the trails... We rode tons, and I had some of the best laps of my life, and every time ending at Retallack's world class lodge to have a beer to celebrate, gourmet meal, and the rest of the mountain life to relax and enjoy, and do it all over again the next day. After five days of building, riding, and having the time of our lives at Retallack, we ended up waiting out two days in Nelson while the sun dried up our future. It turned out to be one of the funnest sessions I have ever had, especially after all the work that went into this whole event. It was a great ending to see everyone come together and persevere against the odds to make it happen. Even if we weren't able to ride the jumps it would have still been a week of amazing trails, people, first decents, and good times... but the jumps were the cherry on top! - Kurt Sorge |
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 Retallack Lodge sunset. |
| Retallack liked the idea of the Fest Series from the get go. It resonated with our past experience of hosting the Red Bull Cold Rush - a rider judged competition. We believe this zero pressure judging format brings out the best in the athletes. We were not disappointed - the athletes were fired up and pulled off some of the most impressive athleticism we have seen on a big bike. They made 60ft long and 50ft high dirt jumps look like child's play. Our hats are off to event host Kurt Sorge and boys for bringing this event to Retallack Lodge and showing us a good time - Phil Pinfold, Owner/operator Retallack Lodge |
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| Alex Pro and Aggy about to guinea the step-down. |
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| Aggy testing out the easiest jump. A 50ft step-down, with a wet, squishy berm as the run-in. |
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| With jumps this grand, it takes more than feet and shovels to pat down the landing. In this case it was Kurt's girlfriend's truck. |
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| Andreu Lacondeguy can pretty much hop on any two-wheeled contraption and make it look like he's been riding it forever. |
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| Aggy: "Watch this." |
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| Freeriders freeriding. |
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| Kurt Sorge's day off. |
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| Don't let the finger fool you. Alex Pro had the best manners out of anybody, and always had the most fun. |
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| Kootenay greeting signs. |
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| Retallack Lodge was once a thriving mining community with seven thousand residents, all in search of Silver. Apparently there's still some left. |
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| Retallack dirt. |
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| If you look hard enough, you can see the brand new alpine trail the boys at Freehub mag just put in. |
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| Big bikes, little bikes, who cares. |
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| Another Retallack golden moment. |
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| It takes an hour 4x4 shuttle, and a ten minute hike-a-bike to get to the alpine at Retallack, and no-one complained a peep...'cause it's worth every second. |
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| Alex Pro having more fun than anybody. |
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| Hard at work on the best work site ever. |
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| Desperate times call for desperate measures; gasoline was poured over the dirt and lit to help the moisture evaporate out of the dirt. |
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| Landing lip meeting #1. |
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| Nico Vink was the man when it came to moving dirt. Did you know in his spare time Nico plans and builds dirt jumps? You do now. |
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| Digger break. Jackson and R-Dog. |
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| Big jumps call for big shovels. |
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| Geoff Gulevich, Jordy Lunn, and Alex Pro. Three very different riders, three very different people, and three very different clothing choices. |
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| The jump that will define the Hoff Fest at Retallack: the second jump on the course...the fifty-foot hip. |
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| The easiest hit on the course...the 50ft gap. |
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| When dirt won't dry fast enough or hard enough; mix in the concrete. |
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| When all else fails, burn the water out. |
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| Andreu Lacondeguy was the last guy to leave the dirt jumps on this particular evening. A good indication that he was 101% committed to this. |
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| A good sign that some serious shit's about to go down. |
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| An even better sign that some really serious shit's about to go down. |
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| At Retallack they start them young. Jackson is Phil, the operation manager's son, and he was stoked beyond words to be helping out some of his biggest heroes. |
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| Lacondeguy, all business. |
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| Johnny Smoke, trench warfare. To help the landing of the first jump drain water, a six-foot trench had to be dug around it. |
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| Morning meeting and a game of indo-board, giant Jenga, at the Lodge. |
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| No dig, no jump...you dig? |
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| Kootenay dirt pounder. |
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| End of a hard days work at Retallack. |
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| James Doerfling rips the first corner on the newly built "Guitar Solo" trail at Retallack. |
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| Day three and the jumps were still too wet to hit. Tensions are rising. |
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| R-dog. |
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| Lodge life #1. |
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| Lodge life #2. |
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| No comment. |
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| With all the work done on the jumps, and nothing left to do but wait for them to dry, it was back to business as usual for life at Retallack. This little zone sits a hundred feet from the front door of the lodge, and was built by Garett Buehler last summer. |
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| Lodge life #3. |
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| Lodge life #4. |
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| Retallack's newest line. Compliments of the world's best freeriders. |
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| Lounging around Retallack, waiting for jumps to dry does not suck. Garett Buehler, Alex Pro, Kyle Strait, and a lot of friends. |
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| Trophy cutting session. |
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| Hoffest 2014 Best Whip trophy, seconds after it was finished. |
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| Sorge inspecting the trophies. |
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| Good 'ol Robbie Bourdon came by to say hi, check out some big jumps, and ride the shit out of the trails. |
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| Involuntary high fives being pounded after pounding laps on Retallack's sick as f*ck trails. |
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| If you're Enduro, DH, Freeride, or just don't care, the trails at Retallack are some of the best anywhere. If you're Cross-country, come back in two years, they'll have something for you then. |
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| Lodge life #5. |
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| Lodge life #6. |
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| Afernoon shuttle laps, after a hard days work prepping jumps. |
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| Wonder what would happen if you threw a raw steak in the middle of these guys. |
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| Retallack sucks. |
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| Landing lip meeting #2. |
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| Putting out the fire with gasoline. Another redneck pastime, favoured by the crew. |
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| Lodge life #7. Doerfling: "I can smash my head through that piece of wood, no problem." |
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| Lodge life #8. Doerfling, moments before Lodge Life #7 photo. |
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| Lodge Life #9. Prison tattoos are all the rage at Retallack. |
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| Doerfling sampling some steeps on the "relaxation" day. If 45 degrees was from corner to corner, this looks like about 55 degrees. |
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| When the dirt finally dried and the jumps were ready to ride, it was these nine men that laid it down: Jeff "Herb" Herbertson, Alex Volokhov, Nico Vink, Kurt Sorge, Ron "r-dog" Howard, Kyle Jameson, Garett Buehler, Andreu Lacondeguy, and Nick Pescetto. |
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| Alex pro was the first person to hit the jumps on the day of the comp. |
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| Lacondeguy's dumped three's earned him the WELL-deserved title of Best Trick. |
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| Nico Vink. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Jeff "Herb" Herbertson |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Nico Vink and Nick Pescetto. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Jeff "Herb" Herbertson. |
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| Nico Vink. |
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| Nico Vink. |
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| Lacondeguy and Sorge. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Jeff "Herb" Herbertson. |
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| "We were just chilling in the most amazing mountains, riding the sickest loamy trails with the sickest crew. Sorge built some mad jumps too that we got to session for a day, and it was insane." Nick Pescetto. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Alex Volokhov. Relax, he was fine, and killed it every other time. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Sorge. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Nico Vink. |
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| Ryan "r-dog" Howard. |
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| Nico Vink. |
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| Lacondeguy. |
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| Sorge. Just getting warmed up. |
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| Best trick ever. Lacondeguy. |
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| "Hoffest was one for the books. Couldn't have been more stoked on the way everything turned out.. Already can't wait for next year!". Alex Volokhov. |
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| Garett Buehler. |
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| Garett Buehler. |
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| Lacondeguy and Sorge. |
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| With great success, comes great big hugs. Sorge, and girlfriend, Chiara. |
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| Fest Series Retallack winners: Andreu Lacondeguy, Best Trick, for the biggest dumped three's I have ever seen on a mountain bike. Nico Vink, Best Style (See shots), Kyle Jameson (for shredding all week on and off the trails, and biggest crash), and Kurt Sorge, best Whip, for tweeking that shit to the moon. Also, Alex Pro got honourable mention for the Hoff award, as well as Phil Pinfold from Retallack. |
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Member since Aug 4, 2009
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Fest series: big bikes on big jumps
Fmb: hardtails/slopestyle bikes (except for rampage)
As for the open loop- it's just one feature, don't get too hung up on it.
publicshamingeternus.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/alexpro.jpg
Thanks pinkbike for the amazing coverage of the Fest Series , that kept me alive and sane !
My 3 biggest issues :
- Roadies yelling at me while i'm holding a big pedal wrench ( as safe as pissing off someone holding an axe )
- Dudes making eye contact / talking to you and scraching their nuts .
And THE worse : getting on your knees , lock the footpump device to inflate a tire , look up a see about five dudes ; all circling you .
Basicaly facing penises .
No words to describe everybody working hard to build (I counted 16) and after that stiil have the energy to fly like that is what make the rest of us keep riding.
Cheers
cheers from Chile!!!