The flyer of the jam made us curious. Concrete parks are popping up let and right and the Hypnoz park had at least a couple of good hips telling from the contest flyer. The video on the Twenty side revealed the complete park and we couldn't wait to get there. Alex Baret booked us a room next to the bowl so all sounded good.
On arrival we were stunned. After driving through the countryside for an hour we arrived at Cap Decouverte. It's a multi sports complex built at an old charbon mine. The park has more than you can think of. The "Auberge" hosts the guests where the skatepark is only 30 meters away. I shot some pics of the park from the bedroom window and with the PA being loud enough I could have chilled at the room the entire time and didn't miss a trick. The skatepark is amazing. The painted
surface is a bit rough for skateboarding but it doesn't matter too much when you roll around on the 20 inchers. The deep end is roughly 7 feet deep where it starts with a 4 foot section. On the way down there are numerous hips and lines which are too hard to explain in writing. A picture tells a thousand words so try to get am impression of the park by looking at the park in the background of the photos. The Hypnoz park also has a covered street section with foampit so you can make this a training camp if you like. For the contest a mobile street course was set up with a wall, sub box, trannie to flat quarter pipe, and a box in the middle. Next to the park was a skate/bike shop with a bar inside and a chill area to watch videos and read magazines. It's all rather modern so the TV was a big flatscreen.
Next to the skatepark there was more to do. Snowboarding and skiing on mats at 30 degrees celcius. Wakeboarding, horseback riding, swimming pool with slides, a sort of rollercoaster with single carts, there was a lake to do some swimming, a big music center, place to place basketball, playing courts for the kids, you name it. Seeing a skatepark at a complex like this is great, it shows the people up there are taking BMX and skateboarding serious. The park is used for summer camps and Nicolas Cambon is one of the BMX teachers.
Back to the street/bowl contest. Oakley had flown in 19 years old
Sergio Layos from Madrid, Spain. The FlyBikes rider loves to ride concrete stuff and he could get to work in Carmaux. Sergio did the regular lines but also found new ones. With his skills of turning both ways he sure had an advantage at the Hypnoz park. Sergio has been on a podium streak this summer and he took the win at the 20/Oakley jam with whips, lookbacks, nosebonk 360-s both ways and simply stylish airs which made you feel like you were in Upland in the mid-eighties.
Jerome Gaultier is
one of the better brakeless riders and he hit up the park in his own way. He made it on top of the wall with an ice-pick, did an over ice pick on another obstacle and had no problems blasting over the several hips that Hypnoz had to offer.
Nicolas Cambon used his home advantage to whip the channel and used the street course to his full potential. Nico is a great rider who sometimes struggles in competition but he felt at home at the park where he teaches BMX.
JB did any tailwhip in the book and
Dimitri Ivanov knows how to lay his bike flat. Give
Kevin Gaerdner a split second and he can whip his bike or do a flattie that makes 99% of us jealous.
Check the results on who placed where. The jam wasn’t about winning, it was about pushing each other and having a great session at a new park. Good times.
BdJ
surface is a bit rough for skateboarding but it doesn't matter too much when you roll around on the 20 inchers. The deep end is roughly 7 feet deep where it starts with a 4 foot section. On the way down there are numerous hips and lines which are too hard to explain in writing. A picture tells a thousand words so try to get am impression of the park by looking at the park in the background of the photos. The Hypnoz park also has a covered street section with foampit so you can make this a training camp if you like. For the contest a mobile street course was set up with a wall, sub box, trannie to flat quarter pipe, and a box in the middle. Next to the park was a skate/bike shop with a bar inside and a chill area to watch videos and read magazines. It's all rather modern so the TV was a big flatscreen.
Next to the skatepark there was more to do. Snowboarding and skiing on mats at 30 degrees celcius. Wakeboarding, horseback riding, swimming pool with slides, a sort of rollercoaster with single carts, there was a lake to do some swimming, a big music center, place to place basketball, playing courts for the kids, you name it. Seeing a skatepark at a complex like this is great, it shows the people up there are taking BMX and skateboarding serious. The park is used for summer camps and Nicolas Cambon is one of the BMX teachers.
Back to the street/bowl contest. Oakley had flown in 19 years old Sergio Layos from Madrid, Spain. The FlyBikes rider loves to ride concrete stuff and he could get to work in Carmaux. Sergio did the regular lines but also found new ones. With his skills of turning both ways he sure had an advantage at the Hypnoz park. Sergio has been on a podium streak this summer and he took the win at the 20/Oakley jam with whips, lookbacks, nosebonk 360-s both ways and simply stylish airs which made you feel like you were in Upland in the mid-eighties. Jerome Gaultier is 
one of the better brakeless riders and he hit up the park in his own way. He made it on top of the wall with an ice-pick, did an over ice pick on another obstacle and had no problems blasting over the several hips that Hypnoz had to offer. Nicolas Cambon used his home advantage to whip the channel and used the street course to his full potential. Nico is a great rider who sometimes struggles in competition but he felt at home at the park where he teaches BMX. JB did any tailwhip in the book and Dimitri Ivanov knows how to lay his bike flat. Give Kevin Gaerdner a split second and he can whip his bike or do a flattie that makes 99% of us jealous.
Check the results on who placed where. The jam wasn’t about winning, it was about pushing each other and having a great session at a new park. Good times.
BdJ
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.