6 November 2020
With the annual EVO Bike Park Jam postponed this year along with so many other great events, Hutchinson decided to bring together a few of their big name riders to recreate the MTB community jam vibes, in a socially distanced format.
If you’ve been missing tearing up the parks with your riding buddies in 2020 then this new edit, located in the foothills of the Alps in Digne-les-Bains, France – perhaps one of the most beautiful bike parks in the world, is an ode to you and a reminder to keep the stoke alive.
Focused around the first kicker and the final step-up (after some much needed reshaping) of the Griffus Line – named after Hutchinson’s flagship gravity tire; and utilising the immense 50 jump long Whip It trail, Olivier Cuvet, Antoni Villoni and Adolf Silva joined forces with EVO Bike Park crew members Hugo Schoonheere and Romain Baghe to create one almighty train.
The Griffus Line, officially opened during the 2019 jam, was designed to offer something more extreme for the world’s best to train on and have fun with. As such, it features monstrous step ups, kickers and jumps of up to 19 metres long, to provide maximum airtime.
Filmed by Pierre Henni and shot by Maxime Rambaud between lockdowns in France which have sadly once again seen the park close to the public, this dream team of riders put on a masterclass in absolutely sending it on behalf of all of those who couldn’t be there.
The session trick list, including a huge fully extended superman by Adolf, superman seat grab & toboggan over the road gap by Olivier and an insane cliffhanger & backflip on the 12 metre step up by Villo is complemented by the style, flow and commitment of locals Hugo and Romain.
“This year has not been easy – we had to close the park the day after it opened in March, and we now have to close it again a month before its annual closing. The Jam was cancelled because we didn’t want to bring so many people together in the park and take the risk of creating a cluster (last year more than 800 people attended the event). Times are complicated and it was really cool to have these few days of shredding with Hutchinson boys.
Now, we will use this new month of lockdown to shape and maintain our current tracks, why not create new ones and improve our infrastructure. The second large uplift truck should be ready for reopening in early March, allowing us to accommodate up to 70 people at the same time! Stay safe everyone and we hope to see you as soon as possible.”
– Romain Baghe
Rounding off the jam session in typical fashion, the riders fired up the grill, cracked open a few beers and looked forward to the next time the EVO Bike Park Jam could take place.