12-01-06 // Events: Wham Bam Thank You Jam

The Braun Wham Bam Thank You Jam hit Seattle on November 18 as one of the first major indoor mountain bike contests of the winter season.

The event was Braun Shavers’ first mountain bike event in the U.S., following four-years of supporting similar contests in Europe. Riders from all over the Pacific Northwest, East Coast and Canada congregated in the indoor bowl arena build by Tim Methven of Redmond, Washington.

Most riders used the entire six-hour practice session to adapt to the bowl's quick berms and features. As late as the morning of the event, riders were trying to get as many runs in as possible in order to get comfortable in the bowl.

The format of the event started with two 30-second runs for each rider, followed by a 30-minute best trick jam and a boost contest out of the seven-foot quarter. After the riders finished they were each given a ballot so they could vote for the following categories: Best run, best flow, best trick, most creative and highest boost.

When the riders' votes were tallied, Billy Lewis had the title for best flow, Sam Miller won for most creative, Adam Hauck took the best trick with a huge wall-tap to fakie on a set-back wall and Walker Wilkerson won the highest boost award for scraping his tires across the ceiling of the venue.

The award for best run was a three-way tie between Hauck, Guy Marsh and Billy Lewis. In order to break the tie, a sudden-death run was added to the event in order to decide which rider would take away the title and the $1,000 cash prize that came with it.

Each rider strapped on their cold, sweaty pads and got a few warm-up runs before the final round. Hauck was the first rider to go and he came out swinging with tailwhips, toboggans, euro-tables and plenty of flow. Marsh, the only rider in the sudden death round without a win, came out blazing, too. Marsh was throwing back-to-back tuck no-handers out of the quarter and then right over the following hip, clicked turndowns and lookbacks, and plenty of brakeless flow. After Marsh's run, Lewis rolled into the bowl and unleashed the same style of riding that gave him the title for best flow. Clicked inverts, no-foot cans and a couple new lines that no one else had used during the contest.

In the end, Marsh took the title for best run. He unloaded his bag of tricks and rode hard even after a big crash in the highest boost contest. The fact that Marsh had no brakes yet looked like one of the smoothest riders out on the course was certainly something that the riders noticed when they judged him for the best run.

The Braun Wham Bam Thank You Jam video footage will be featured with the support of Freecaster: http://play.freecaster.com/

For more information on the contest, contact Aaron Lutze (aaron@matchvideozine.com) and Landon Holt (landon@tonicfab.com).