Downhill Disco 2012

Showing up to a scene full of hundreds of people, skateboards, helmets, pads and smiles I skated towards the road I have been too many, many times before. I have seen every type of event go down here but I think it is safe to say this was the gnarliest, craziest, most innovative contest I have seen. I turned the corner to see the Mike Vallely rainbow rail, followed by some sort of side ramp, a hump ramp (known as the Honey Hump) and a step up jump. Further down the road there were smaller ramps, spine ramps and the huge kicker from last years Disco. With all that there were cones snaking down the course and groups of skaters walking back up the hill.

Just two years ago I attended my first Disco. There was only a group of around 50 people in attendance and you didn’t need to jump off any ramps, go through any tunnels or ride over spines, step up jumps and sideways hit ramps. The event seemed more of a race than anything else and a strong group of fast racers competed in the event.

I attended the event last year and the place looked like a snowboard park with ramps and jumps, rail and even a tunnel lining the course. A whole new crowd of shredders were competing and people layed down four deep allowing riders to soar over their bodies, people even hucked themselves over their buddies stand or sitting in chairs just past the ramps. The event still a race also had somewhat of a slide jam to it.

This year was so completely insane. There were hundreds of people. Lots of shredders and even a lot of spectators. Cameras were a plenty snapping pictures and recording video capturing everything that happened. The rain brought a halt to the race portion of the event after only a few groms had the chance to take their runs so far. The rain gave  birth to a couple new contests which included who could do the longest stand up slide and who could launch the farthest off the huge ramp. The rain did not let up and with hundreds of soggy shoes, rain soaked boards and bearings and some donated skin and blood Scott Lembach from Muir Skate told everyone to meet back the next day at 9am. Although I did not make it this day I am still finding out who won and will post that when I know. Until then enjoy these pics I snapped. Got many, many more so check back. – Leecifer

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Martin Luther King of the Hill Slalom Race

Edit and filmed by: Leecifer Eisler

We got a real official feel from the race as we watched them build the roll in ramps, gps each cone’s location and circle it in chalk. A sophisticated timing machine was set up which include a trip wire riders rolled over which ensured they did not jump the starting buzzer and riders rolled over another trip wire at the finish line to stop the time.Riders were told to enter the cones on a certain side and if they lost rhythm and ended up going through the cones the wrong way the were disqualified. Each cone knocked over added additional time as well.If a rider hits too many cones he is disqualified.

The racers were held in two divisions. A 17 & under division and an open division. Saturday was reserved for the Special/Hybrid Slalom racing and sunday was reserved for Giant Slalom. Special/Hybrid Slalom racing is has cones placed at 10-15 ft apart and 5-7 feet apart. It is most often run in a head to head format.  Giant Slalom races are held with cone distances of around 20-40 ft and faster speeds than Hybrid Slalom racing.

The race took forever, although the beginning was slightly boring once the open class got rolling it got exciting as riders grunted trying their hardest to pump their way to a win.

Results

Hybrid Slalom

Junior Class (17 & under)

1st- CJ Barcelona

2nd- Ocean Lehrman

3rd- Orien Lehrman

4th- Cameron Zweifel

Open Class

1st- Mike Maysey

2nd- David Hackett

3rd- Richy Carrasco

4th- Lou Statman

Giant Slalom

1st- RIchy Carrasco

2nd- Mike Maysey

3rd- Lou Statman

4th- Johnny Miller