From Dirt Issue 139 – September 2013
Words by Richard Cunynghame. Photos by Sven Martin.
After all the races I’ve done on a mountain bike and having actually watched it once, I haven’t competed at one of the most legendary races of them all… ‘The Mega’. It was about time that I got myself up that stupidly high mountain and rode down it with those hundreds of other riders.
When explaining to non–MTB people about racing bikes down a hill the Megavalanche is usually an image they have seen. Photographs of riders hurtling down a snowy mountain top have been printed and screened everywhere. It’s one of the iconic shots that has infiltrated the mainstream. I’ve seen full page photos in daily newspapers and footage played on TV shows that wouldn’t normally go anywhere near bikes. It is often a touchstone in a ‘look at these idiots’ kind of way. If mountain biking is an ‘Extreme’ sport and excuse me, I hate that phrase as much as I hope you do, then this is surely the most extreme of all mountain bike races. It’s so far out–there that I don’t even think there’s a proper name for this type of racing, let alone a category it can fit into. Whilst others have come close in emulation they don’t ever take away the jewel in this race’s crown.>>
