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Are Mountain Mayhem - Get there!
31st May 2005 - James
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From the land of the ice and snow, the midnight sun where the hot springs blow…. comes Scandinavia's largest freeride mountain bike event, Åre Mountain Mayhem (www.mtbfreerider.com). In this neck of the woods, it is not just long legged blondes, absolute vodka and fantastic alpine scenery. The last week of July is gearing up for a massive 7 days of gravity-fed trail riding on the best biking destination in the Nordics.
Åre Mountain Mayhem is a freeride festival where the stage is set, trails are groomed, stunts are built, extra long summer days, music pulsating out over the mountain, and riders are taking flight into the air. You decide how, when and what you want to do with it.
Åre has a large network of trails. Over 46 individual trails that interconnect with each other to form epic downhill loops, that cater for different levels of riders. New for 2005, there is the additional building of features and trails that include the Red Bull Run, Fox Drop Zone, Adidas Eyewear Wallride, Braun 4X track, WC Trail and the Holiday Club street and bmx park. Plus trials and street sessions all week.
The main focus of the event is, an open and relaxed atmosphere. But if you are itching to get involved with competitions and bike sessions, there is plenty happening during the week. First off, there is over 100,000 SEK / 11,000 Euro worth of prizes to be won. The Nordic Downhill Championships take place on 30th & 31st July. A 4X race on the 27th as part of the Extreme Biking Series, a slopestyle session on the 26th and a street session on the 28th.
Bike Clinics
If you have always wanted to get some expert advice on how to improve your DH, freeride or dirt skills, our guest pro riders Steve Romaniuk, Dylan Tremblay and Matti Lehikoinen will be joining the Mayhem festival this year and running bike clinics all week. Learn how to go bigger, faster and add style to your bag of tricks. Spaces on the clinics are limited. It is possible to make a preliminary booking beforehand by emailing contact@mtbfreerider.com noting which rider and date you have a preference for.
As well as the regular movie nights, we will also be holding an Amateur Movie Fest. For those riders who have taken the time to shoot and edit their own bike films, this is the perfect chance and opportunity to get your movie up on a cinema size screen, in front of the ideal audience. And for all those budding photographers, we will also be running a photography competition in coordination with Kadens Swedish bike magazine. The best photos received, will be published in the following issue. The readers vote, and choose the winner.
Some of the regular features that make up Åre Mountain Mayhem is the Red Bull North Shore, freeride movies on the big screen, roast wild boar, free bike washes, and of course the infamous party nights and DJ's will be spinning day and night.
Lift Access
Åre mountain has two chairlift systems which run continuously throughout the week. The world cup chairlift brings riders to the start of a mass of trails on the lower section of the mountain. The kabinbana drops riders off at the top section (a 900m vertical drop). As a special during the mayhem week, there is extended opening times on the chairlift, so riders enjoy additional play on the mountain.
For the best week of riding in northern Europe, do not miss out on this years Åre Mountain Mayhem festival. For more information see: www.mtbfreerider.com
Åre Mountain Mayhem is sponsored by:
Red Bull Sweden - Braun Shavers - Fox Sweden - Marzocchi - Adidas Eyewear - SRAM - Land Rover - Holiday Club Åre
Cost and Travel Info
What does it cost, and how do I get there?
Åre Mountain Mayhem is Free to enter and take part in.
To enter competitions, there are individual race entry fees.
To use the chairlifts, a lift pass for the week will cost Adult 1065 SEK / 116 Euro or Youth 850 SEK / 90 Euro. The pass is good for both lifts, and includes extended lift opening times.
Accomodation
There are low season accommodation rates in Åre during summertime.
There a several choices according to budget. Åre Fjällby self catering alpine chalets: As an example, 6 people can stay in a chalet for as little as 307 Euro. That is 51 Euro per rider for a weeks accommodation. Åre Fjällby Contact bokning@areresort.se or telephone +46 (0)647-177 00
Or you can choose to stay in the lap of luxury with the best facilities, and still get a reduced rate. As an example the holiday club hotel offers: stay 7 nights - pay for 5. For more details Contact info Tel. +46 (0)647-120 00 www.holidayclub.se info@holidayclub.se
Travel:
Bus Package: Stockholm to Åre return - Bus/Accomodation/Lift-pass
Borguddbros offer special bus package to take you and the bike from Stockholm to Åre on the 25th and back to Stockholm on the 31st August. The package includes a return trip by buss, chalet accomodation, and also a weeks pass for the chairlifts.
Dates: 25 - 31 July
Price: 2995 SEK / 326 Euro.
Transport of bike: 250 SEK / 27 Euro
Bookings before 30 May get 500 SEK / 54 Euro discount
For information and to make a booking contact www.borguddbros.com/collective
International
Right now international travel has never been cheaper to fly to and from Sweden. There are a number of airlines offering airfares from 20 Euro to 50 Euro from most major cities in Europe.
See flysnowflake.se, britishairways.com, Ryanair.com, Flynordic.com, Sterling.dk Germanwings.com
Internal Flights
SAS provide a flight from Stockholm to Åre for approximately 50 Euro no extra charge for the bike.
By Car
There are good roads all the way to Åre. If leaving from Stockholm, the best route to take is the E4 up to Sundsvall, and then the E14. Distances:
Stockholm - Åre 650 KM (takes about 7-8 hours)
Gothenburg - Åre 900 km
Malmö - Åre 1100 KM
By Train
Åre train station is located less than a hundred metres from the town square. A popular way is to take the night train. You can hire a bed/cabin for the night. Get a good nights sleep and you arrive around 8am in the morning. Swedish rail ticket would cost approximately 1200KR (130€) for a return ticket. Book in advance for a better prices.
**IMPORTANT: Swedish Rail will not allow you to simply roll your bike on complete. You have got to bag it up. Take the wheels off your bike, turn the handlebars sideways and bag it up so it looks like a (bulky) piece of luggage. For train information see: www.sj.se.
Nordic Ride
If you havent seen it yet - the Nordic Ride DVD features riding from Åre and last years event, we'll have a full review of the DVD as soon as possible, it's taken us a while to get around to reviewing it, but i've watched it a few times and it is well worth the money. We're not talking the biggest budget here, this is a bunch of guys having a laugh, riding their bikes, crashing and enjoying themselves, which is what its all about.
Look out for our review, you wont be disappointed!
Want more pics? Keep scrolling down..
Get there! You will not be disappointed!
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