Flying high during the BGV Fest in Magnitogorsk, 2010.
Deep in the snow of Russia, along the Euro-Asia line that is known as the Ural Mountains, is a tucked away mountain near Magnitogorsk. This resort area, Metallurg-Magnitogorsk (Bannoe Lake), is home to one the the finest ski and snowboard mountains found in the Southern Ural Range and, just like several years in a row, it once again hosted the wrap-up of the annual BGV Festival. For three days and two nights, boarders packed the area to participate and of course, to party!
Final jump on BGV course, rider boosts in front of the crowd.
The BGV Festival is Russia’s winter extreme sports competition which heavily focuses on snowboarding, but includes a freestyle motocross show, extreme ski jumpers and live music for the frothing…err, freezing crowd. The snowboard competition is part of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, which helps to rake in some world class talent as riders are competing to earn a spot amongst the world tour.
BGV starts in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia as a 3-star event with an open invitation to all riders. Following the competitions are live performances from some of Europe’s most popular music acts. While anyone can compete in the Siberian event, only the best are invited to further participate in the main event at Metallurg-Magnitogorsk.
Gnarly flip in front of the audience, during BGV Festival, 2010 in Metallurg-Magnitogorsk.
On Friday, February 5th. 2010, the festival and competition started. The first day consisted mainly of elimination rounds. Only invited riders and wild-card holders were able to battle it out and earn their spot for the following night’s big air and freestyle competition. Riders from Russia, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia, Argentina, and Finland sported the BGV jersey and strapped into their snowboards, looking to grab a piece of the 600K Ruble ($ 20K) prize-purse.
With big coin on the line, and a big crowd of screaming fans, riders push themselves to their limits and we witnessed some gnarly wipe-outs, with at least one cracked helmet.
One of the few wipe-outs during the BGV snowboard competition.
After the first round of jumps and tricks, the crowd only had to turn around to watch and dance to a set played by MC Noize. Fans gathered tightly in front of the stage and steam was literally boiling into the air. He played a 20 minute set and then the sound of two-stroke motorcycles cracked into the crisp air. The freestyle motocross show was next up and the crowd was ready for more eye candy.
BGV Festival, halftime freestyle motocross show.
The final snowboard contestants made their way up the mountain, via a quick trip behind a snowmobile, and the last round was underway. These guys pushed the envelope and pretty much tried to launch into space. Like bullets, they screamed down the track and flew into the cold black night, twisting and contorting their boards and bodies to simulate the skateboarding tricks that the sport is based on. It was nuts! A killer show, for sure and the crowd loved every ounce of it.
On the stage, MC Noize performs during the BGV Festival, 2010.
RESULTS FOR BGV FEST 2010:
1 Chris Soerman (SWE) – frontside board slide to fakie, switch backside 900 indy, backside 900 indy
2 Alexey Sobolev (RUS) – switch frontside board slide, switch backside 900 indy, frontside 1080 tail
3 Zebastian Landmark (SWE) – blunt to fakie, switch backside 900 indy, frontside 720 tail
4 Chris Kroell (AUT) – frontside board slide, frontside 1080 stale fish, backside 720 mute
5 Sergey Lapushkin (RUS) – backside board slide, backside 1080 mute, frontside 900 melon
6 Otto Veijola (FIN) – switch frontside board slide, cab 900 nose, frontside 720 melon
7 Ludwg Lekner (SWE) – frontside board slide to Danish, frontside 900 tail, switch frontside 900
8 Petek Matevz (SLO) – backside board slide to fakie, switch backside 720
Words and Photos by: Chuck Turkington
