“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” goes the wise saying. The North Bohemian party has not experienced such an enemy weather forecast for a long time. Fortunately, we are not at a folklore festival where soaked costumes would paralyze both spectators and performers. The audience of Mountainfest will hopefully shoot themselves into the "goretex" and will not miss the qualifying trickline show with an unexpectedly wide starting list. We hope so. In addition, the organizers, for the first time, charge the park entrance, so we have more wrinkles on our foreheads at the trickline. Unnecessarily. "I've never seen so much outdoor clothing in one place," said the frontman of the group “Poletíme?” when watching illuminated mass of enthusiastic colorful people under the podium. The spectator scenery was great again!
In the tents around the line stretched for the qualification, the spectators and the registered competitors are crowded. Nobody wants a wet and slippery line. But the desire to try it out and demonstrate new trained tricks and combos wins. Protective mattresses are on site. Music. “Prochy” tests the microphone. There isn't much time for a warm up jumps. New names appear in starting list. How will they be doing? Slight nervousness is obvious. Competitors have only 90 seconds to show the best performance. The top 8 will pass to the evening final.
Difficult conditions and possible over-motivation caused an unpleasant injury to a very promising 15-year-old racer from Uherské Hradiště. Tibor dislocated his left elbow during training and was taken away by an ambulance. Fortunately, the ligaments survived and the next day after the operation he was able to greet us from a distance with his right hand:) We wish him a speedy recovery and we look forward to what he will show us on the line next year.
Thus, only 16 people entered the qualification, which is still the highest number in history. We were very curious about the performances of Chilan Nico Aimone and German Marius Kitowski. Both advanced to the finals. Together with them Štěpán, Luky, Máslič, Mišo, Prochy and Ondra. From the seventh place, the jury (composed of Justyna Wallis, Philip Bitnar and Lukáš Fidrmuc) had a significantly tangled head, more candidates were born to advance to their dream final. None of the non-progressors has to be ashamed of their performance. There is only one category (OPEN), which is unfair for girls and younger boys. But the Adrex Trickline Cup is not a World Championship or an Olympics, so everyone takes it easy, cheering and helping others during the finals. I wish we could see such a friendly atmosphere in other sports as well.
The biggest uproar came from the progress of the youngest of the Růžička brothers. Right in the first "battle", Ondra competed against the winner of the qualification, Marius, and garnered a standing ovation for his fearless performance. In the second "battle", Prochy had a difficult position against Štěpán as a moderator, but he properly enjoyed his two minutes. The several-time winner Luky managed to deal with the coolman Nico, who adapted more slowly to our park specifics. However, the festival excited him, so he will definitely come next time. After a successful qualification, Máslič came across Miša, who continued in the semifinals in a friendly "slack show" spirit. It´s drizzling, the line slides, but the boys don't seem to mind, and show balanced, breathtaking fights. Only small nuances play a role in the jury's decision-making, everyone is actually on the "box" and so, for example, the "battle" for the third spot between Luky and Mišo turns into a spectator-appreciative exhibition. Marius has come from afar and is enjoying his first participation in the festival. The band waiting behind the scenes is already nervously treading, but the climax is approaching. Štěpán traditionally roars the audience without a T-shirt, which does not even notice that it is raining. Nobody wants to end it, but time is running out. Marius showed consistent performance throughout the evening, the cleanest jumps and unseen work with the audience, so he also deservedly won the highest prize money and promised further participation.
Marius Kitowski: "It was insane! The crowd was awesome and motivated us all to go big. The hospitality was very nice and heartwarming. What I was most surprised by have been the three brothers as I already seen them last year and they developed really good! Especially Ondra did an amazing job and we will for sure see more of him in the following years! Thanks again for this sick event! It was worth all the effort! See you next year:)"
and Tibor Mikulec DNS
There are dozens of new ideas and improvements for next year from both competitors and organizers in a euphoric atmosphere. We will try to think about them in peace and bring the essential ones to life. The goals are clear: more slackliners and, logically, more categories and an overall longer time on the "qualifying line", attracting other foreign names and perfecting the final show. So write down the date 26.8.2022 in red in your calendar and come and see Teplice nad Metují, how together we will manage the "tune up" of this great event.
In the end, we have to thank the MHFF and the boys from the boulders and the ČHS for a great background for the finals!
Photo: Pepe Piechowicz, Adrex and @piskyphotography
