Loosefest, lockdown style Gee Atherton MBUK’s Secret Santa EWS star Elliott Heap New bikes from Santa Cruz, Vitus and Devinci YT Industries Ian Lean’s top shots

How Nico Vink organised one of this year’s biggest freeride jams on the sly

Every year a bunch of the world’s best freeriders and hundreds of spectators flock to the unlikely venue of Malmedy, Belgium, to check out the huge jumps of Loosefest. But this time around, tight restrictions around public gatherings put the event in doubt. Organiser Nico Vink was determined for it to still go ahead, but knew he needed to keep things on the down-low so as not to attract the usual big crowds.

Nico had two main problems: how to invite the riders and get them there without anyone seeing them, and how to shape all the jumps without arousing any suspicions. This was made more complicated by the fact that the jump line lay in the middle of BikePark Ferme Libert, which is open to the public, and would require Nico to work the excavator for five weeks straight.

The 37-year-old came up with a plan. He started telling people he was shaping everything for a video shoot, like the solo edit he’d done at La Fenasosa Bike Park in Spain earlier in the year. Little did they know that some of the world’s gnarliest freeriders would also be appearing on the line.

As the riders started to arrive, they stayed in the background, wishing to alert as few people as possible to their plans. Once the last parts of the jumps were shaped, more famous faces rolled into the Ferme Libert car park, along with filmers and photographers. The line-up included Clemens Kaudela, Sam Reynolds, Jackson Goldstone, Ike Klaassen, Szymon Godziek,