Video & Photo Story: Sam Reynolds, Adrien Loron, Rob Heran & Iven Ebener Shred Bikepark Winterberg
What brings top pros to a region not exactly known as a mecca for riding? In the case of Sam Reynolds, Adrien Loron, Rob Heran and Iven Ebener, it originally had something to do with the iXS Dirtmasters Festival which takes place in Winterberg. The name of the town literally translates to "winter mountain", but even with grey weather, the guys had tons of fun on this modest hill.
The boys with their toys
He is fitter than you – Adrien Loron is a privateer without a frame sponsor, so he stays true (and fast) to his old faithful Norco Range.
Iven Ebener with the ultimate park setup: a Focus Sam with 180 mm at the front end with his double crown fork.
Sam Reynolds needs no introduction. For the park in Winterberg he went full enduro with the NS Enduro instead of rocking his DH rig.
Rob rides and drives only the best vehicles. Exhibit A: the VW T3 that graces the Syncronicle videos. Exhibit B: his Evil Wreckoning. Because normal is boring.
While it might sound like a hip Alpine town, Winterberg most definitely isn’t. First off, it's almost smack dab in the middle of Germany and only has 170 metres of elevation to play with. But weirdly, Winterberg boasts a white-hot standard of lifts that would turn any self-respecting Alpine town green with envy. Why so, you’re wondering. Winterberg is Northern Germany’s first ski resort, drawing people from far and wide. And despite its name, Winterberg knows how to draw in the crowds come summer too, with up to 600 riders hitting the bike park each day. Then there’s the matter of the iXS Dirtmasters Festival, which rocks up to the resort each summer and brings in some big-name riders to do what we all love: turning potential energy assisted by gravity into grins and braking dust.
Winterberg draws in thousands of tourists in the summer and even more when the snow falls.
For what it lacks in high mountains, it makes up for in its lift network – there are more than 20 state-of-the-art chair lifts in Winterberg. In summer there are running two of them for bikers.
Laps, laps, laps – Low mountains + a fast lift = tons of runs. Often you're back at the start of the next run before your heart rate has dropped from the last. Iven has been known to tick off more than 20 runs in a day.
High berms get you pushing the Gs!
One roller, three different styles. Scrub it à la Iven, table-top like Rob or full-send for Sam (gas to flat?). Wondering where Adrien is, well the auto-focus is still looking for him too ...
Winterberg-local Iven knows every single jump. You’ll find him here almost every weekend in spring.
Who doesn’t like loam? The boys stumbled across a brand-new section on the trail called Black Line, created by Christian ‘Texi’ Textor. Par for the style of Germany’s fastest enduro racer, Texi threw in off-camber sections and plenty of tricky tight turns, which made the guys love this trail even more.
What was once a thick forest is now open mountainside due to bark beetle infestations, giving the current national champion Texi his canvas. Tight and off-camber, who’s not going to smile?
Fresh flying dirt is a great indicator for fun
Every run counts as training for Rob, who headed off directly to Trans Madeira from Winterberg.
Whips don’t lie! Iven showing his skills here, a few days out from the iXS Whip Off but there’s no jury in sight, mate.
Refuelling ready for the next round…
Always one more lap! This time we’re leaving the camera behind. Who’s full send?
Text & Photos: Christoph Bayer
Video: Louis Eder
Author Info:
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It is so well filmed and ridden, it is way off of that every summer weekend reality.