It’s official. #SummersBack. The Whistler Mountain Bike Park opens in less than 24 hours and as you can see, Mother Nature cooperated this year by melting a ridiculous amount of snow left over from winter as Trail Crew were hot on her heels. Not every year can the dirt on opening day feel like mid-June, but it’s sure damn appreciated when it does.

As of 10am on Friday May 18, Fitzsimmons Express will start serving up endless conveyors of gravity fed Park laps signifying summer has officially begun in Whistler. Anticipation for this day started last fall as the most dedicated riders finally had to hang up the two wheels for two planks.

It’s just the beginning though with more anticipation to come. Extended Play hours and Garbanzo Zone opening in June is next followed by the new Peak Zone’s Top of the World alpine trail in July and Crankworx Whistler in August. The line up for what’s to come is always anticipated but every year it seems so new.

Anticipation is sweetest the second the bar drops. Taste the candy. Bike season is here!

All photos by Kiska / Rudi Schedl

KTM 200 EXC photo by Barbanti

Out of all the bikes we do each year at Kiska, my favorite project is often the KTM EXC 6 days edition. Not only can we spec the bike with loads of nice powerparts and custom bits as stock (custom laser etched 6 days bars, black laser etched 6 days rims, black spokes, silver nipples, orange anodized triple clamps etc etc) but the GFX are always fun to do too and a rare chance to use some other colors than orange! The reaction to last years EXC 6 days Finland bike was really positive so I tried to keep some of the same visual language with this years bike to make it look like a natural progression.

photos by Barbanti

The GFX were a little tricky because the bike needed to be distinctly German but without evoking some of the more negative connotations which have been associated with German national imagery from the past. We went for a metallic gold rather than the lighter yellowy gold you see more often on the German flag and mixed it with the KTM offroad Visual language to create this years flagship model of the KTM EXC line and one of my favorite bikes we worked on this year. First person to send me a photo of of one (not photoshop) pimped out with Supermoto wheels wins a free t-shirt : )

Action photos by Kiska / Rudi Schedl

All photos by Kiska / Rudi Schedl

Lot’s more photos coming tomorrow and the full 2013 KTM EXC lineup too :)

Action Photos by Kiska / Rudi Schedl.

Checkout crossmagazin.de for more info here. Or their facebook page here. For full reports of the latest 2013 2 stroke and 4 strokes pick up the coming issues of Cross and other offroad magazines.

2013 KTM 150SX.

2013 KTM 250SX.

2013 KTM 125SX.

These are all bone stock, so obviously they look tricker with a little tuning :)

We decided to rent a RED EPIC for the day and needed something sick to film. We hooked up with the Kangas brothers, two of swedens most up and coming downhill mountainbike riders. This is what we got.

Produced by:

Christoffer Kristiansson
visual-creations.se

Simon Berggren
berggrenphotography.com

Shot on RED EPIC with RED Primes – 18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm & 100mm.
Edited in Premiere Pro CS5.5 and RED Cine-X.
Shot on location in Högdalen, Sweden.

Herlings was absolutely dominating MX2. Had almost a 30 second lead by halfway through the 2nd race!

Red Bull KTM factory riders Tony Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings sealed both the MX1 and MX2 GPs in Guadalajara Mexico on Sunday in Rd. 4 of the World Championships to move further ahead in their respective championships and retain the coveted red plates.

After a clear victory in the opening moto for Cairoli the five times world champion had to engage in a tough four-way fight for the checkered flag in the closing stages of the second moto. The final result could have gone either way right up to the last seconds but he managed to hang on to third place to grab the GP win by a slender one point. It was a fight all the way for Cairoli.

KTM’s Enduro factory riders picked up another slew of podiums in this weekend’s Rounds 7 &8 of the Enduro World Championship at Torres Vedras in Portugal but the outstanding rider for the Orange team was undoubtedly Christophe Nambotin of France.

Nambotin has proved to be the dominant force in this year’s competition as the season reaches its half way mark as he continued his charge this weekend with another two victories. On Sunday he won all the tests in the hot and dusty conditions but admitted it had been a good but tough day. “I did win all the tests and I liked the extreme test but it was very difficult physically today,” the Frenchman commented. Nambotin also thanked teammate David Knight for his help on Saturday when he had trouble in the river crossing during the final liaison. “If it wasn’t for his help it may not have been possible to finish,” he said.

Sunday proved to be a better day for Antoine Meo in E1 who also came to Portugal with an unblemished score card for the first six rounds. Meo failed to finish on Saturday after hitting a rock in the Extreme test that was built into a disused quarry. This damaged the engine casing, the engine lost all the oil and he was forced to retire. Sunday was a happier day for Meo. “I made a big mistake yesterday but I am very happy today,” the French rider said after resuming his usual place on Sunday on the top of the podium. He said the team were right behind him and had worked very hard to make sure he could race on Sunday.