In just eighteen
months the Fest
Series has shaken
the MT B contest
scene to the core,
redefined freeriding
and captured the
imagination of an
exploding number
of new fans.
FreestyleXtreme
chats with the
stars and founders
of Fest, Andreu
Lacondeguy,
Kurt Sorge, Nick
Pescutto and Kyle
Jameson to find out
more.
Words: Simon Makker
Images: Toby Cowley, Ian Collins,
Callum Jelley and Malcolm Mclaws
J
UST TWO YEARS AGO
Norwegians Mads
“Makken” Haugen and
Aasmund Thorsen
hosted a new contest
that would change
mountain biking forever.
The riders invited to the Hillbilly
Huckfest encountered a course that
started with a big drop, a host of dirt
jumps and finished with a FMX ramp
set at a 45ft gap.
Bands played constantly and an afterparty of epic proportions inspired the
riders Kurt Sorge, Graham Agassiz,
Andreu Lacondeguy, Nico Vink,
Nick Pescetto and Sam Reynolds to
take MTB contests in a whole new
direction.
Screw the artificial slopestyle contests
and the minefield of politics that
come with it. Contests should be
about big, sphincter-puckering jumps,
a close-knit crew of some of the
world’s ballsiest freeriders, mammoth
parties and none of the bullsh*t and
bureaucracy.
Just like that, the Fest Series was
born. After five huge events last year
the series and the riders have gained
a cult following and things are just
getting started.
While the Fest crew relaxed after
some rowdy sessions at the Royal
Hills Fest in France, we caught up
with Fest organiser Nick Pescetto and
riding legends Kurt Sorge, Andreu
Lacondeguy and Kyle Jameson to
find out exactly what Fest is about.
Thanks for your time, fellas. To kick
things off, how would you explain
the Fest Series to someone who
didn’t know anything about it?
Andreu Lacondeguy: I’d say it’s a
group of guys who just want to ride.
We get together, build and ride the
stuff we’ve always wanted to ride.
I’d describe it as pure riding; we just
want to go big and it’s fun to see how
far we can go. What we used to think
was big, isn’t big anymore and we
want to keep stepping it up. Bikes are
pretty good nowadays so we’re just
riding them for the purpose they’ve
been built for.
Kurt Sorge: We’ve been competing
for so many years at events and
crying out for bigger, better courses to
showcase our skills on and no-one’s
ever delivered, so we took it upon
ourselves to put it on. Fest is more
content-driven than results and runs,
you know? We just want to make u