The Åre bike festival swings into action this week in Sweden.

Dirt columist Rich “Cunny” Cunynghame is in Åre (the locals pronounce it “ore-eh”) now and apart from doing some reportage about the event for the magazine he will be sitting on the judging panel for the Scandinavian Photo Challenge.

They say that at this time of year the sun hardly sets at night in Åre which leads to some amazing light for photos, Cunny is going to have a difficult time judging I reckon, have a read below to see what it’s all about:

(Oh and where is Team UK?)

Monday July 5 is the starting day for the first ever edition of the Scandinavian Photo Challenge, one of the main events during the Åre Bike Festival in Åre, Sweden, northern Europe’s premier bike town. Five individually invited photographers from around the world – carefully selected by world-class hometown photographer, Mattias Fredriksson – get the task of creating a seven minute slideshow together with teams consisting of four riders of their choice.

The epic northern light and never-setting midnight sun and one of the world’s biggest bike parks is the perfect setting for a photo contest. The final results will be shown in front of a live audience at the Holiday Club Arena where a professional jury decides who gets a share of the 2000€ worth of prize money.

Daily updates, images and video from the event will be posted on www.arebikefestival.com.

Team France

Photographer
Stef Candé  – www.stefcande.com

Riders
Yannick Granieri
Pierre- Edouard Ferry

Tony Rocci
Antoine Dubourgnon

Team Norway

Photographer
Vegard Breie – www.vegardbreie.no

Riders
Mats Andre Haugen
Kristoffer Haugland
Knut Løkås
Jørgen Storhaug

Team Scanada

Photographer
Mattias Fredriksson – www.mattiasfredriksson.com

Riders
Martin Söderström
Trond G Hansen
Darcy Turenne
Janne Tjärnström

Team Germany

Photographer
Sebastian Schieck

Riders
Andi Wittmann
Carlo Dieckmann
Christian Textor
Andi Brewi

Team Canaska

Photographer
Dan Barham – www.danbarham.com

Riders
Mike Hopkins

Robin Wallner
Linus Sjöholm
John Alm Högman

Special awards
Best scenic action
Best close-up action
Best urban
Best air
Best bike culture

Prize money
1st 1 250€
2nd 500 €
3rd 250€

Judges
Hans-Petter Hval – Fri Flyt Magazine
Richard Cunynghame – Dirt Magazine
Tobias Liljeroth – Åka Skidor Magazine
Henrik Ljungbladh – Åre Bike Park
Petter Löfstedt – Åre Bergscyklister

Photo:Mattias Fredriksson