Scott Lembach of Muir Skate, regains his balance out of turn #6.
Words and Photos: Jake Grove
Racers from around the world came together in the scorching heat of Pala, California for the Second Annual Angie’s Curves, taking on the course referred to as the gnarliest track in the IDF. Maneuvering through the various curves and turns in the triple digit temperatures, riders burned through wheels and took out hay bales in a battling to speed past each other and advance to the next round. Sector 9 went all out this year, with a total prize purse of $14,600 and the addition of a live feed on the event.
The crew taking in the scenery before the chaos. Thanks to Fitz Illingworth of CVLB for the rad shot.
I found a ride with some friends up to the hill the week before, and with my camera gear and board ready to go, I jammed myself into the back seat and set off to drive up to the spot.
After looping through the different roads and neighborhoods of Pala with the constant change of iphone directions and people getting in and out of the packed car to skate around, we spotted Louis Pilloni driving by and followed behind him to the hill. We swept hay and debris off the hill the rest of the day and then returned to some shenanigans at the campsite. The next morning we woke up to a packed campsite, full of riders who had shown up the night before and were preparing for practice day.
To protect the microfiber cables for the live feed, a new feature was added during practice runs, “Angie’s Bump”. If you want to see how riders tackled the feature be sure to check out this video.
Racers traveled to race in the heat of Pala from all around the world, Maria Esyutina traveled all the way from Russia to compete in the women’s division.
Arbor, Caliber, and Blood Orange all terrain ripper, Tyler Howell, takes a practice run as Byron Essert lurks in the background.
Mike Fitter pushes the hay bales off of him, while they continue to domino around turn six. Mike achieved the top recorded speed of 69mph.
Over 2,500 hay bales were stacked around Angie’s Curves prior to the event to keep people from going off the cliffs. We had swept all the loose hay off of the hill the day before, and in the triple digit weather even that was brutal. Big ups to all the volunteers who stacked all the hay bales and helped out the rest of the weekend.
Practice day was over and Sector 9 ended it right with live music by AJ Froman and Sister Juanita.
The next day, qualifying runs were taking place and riders quickly stepped up their game. Refraining to break tuck longer and longer through the straight away, there was some added competition to fight for the fastest time and win $1,000 worth of Michelin tires.
Sector 9 Rider, Chance Gaul, shoots through turn 6, the fast right, with ease.
Louis Pilloni (Sector 9, RDVX, Gullwing, R.A.D.) was in a neon volunteer shirt the majority of the weekend, doing everything at the event to keep it running smoothly, but as soon as he got the chance he’d be leathered up and taking some runs on the hill. Without all the work Louis did, this event definitely would not have been as rad as it was.
South African Sector 9 Rider, Richard Gibello takes a tumble through turn #6, winning the downhill bellyflop contest.
Patrick Switzer took the fastest qualifying time, slaying the course and winning $1,000 worth of Michelin tires.
Qualifying day was over and after eating a bunch of Wahoos burritos on the hill, we headed back to the campsite in the packed Muir van driven by Mr. Tibs. After some agitated passengers got thrown into the wall of the van by Tib’s campsite drifting, the doors opened and everyone hopped out. We grabbed our boards and headed over to the Pala skatepark for the Gullwing Deathrace.
Gullwing put together two man heats and set up a course through half of the skatepark, leaving the other half open for everyone else to shred. The race went by pretty quickly with riders pushing off as hard as they could and pumping through the transitions, racing to the other side to advance to the next heat. The sun was soon down and Mercado was on the grill, cooking up some tacos for everyone outside the park.
Original and RDVX ripper Brett Ciabattini follows Alex Sucala through the Pala skatepark, approaching the second half of the course.
Race day had come, and riders were all over the campsite tweaking their setups and putting freshies on. Tibs was soon driving around the campsite blasting some good ol’ ‘merican rock and roll and yelling out the window with an accent no one could understand. After speeding through the turns up the hill in the Muir van, we were at the top and the sponsors were setting up their tents preparing for the crowds of spectators to come. The Pala Indians blessed the riders and the green flags were up, leaving the course empty for riders. Racing was on.
Sector 9, Reine Oliveira, speeds through Angie’s with style, competing in the women’s division.
Canadian 9′er Brendan Davidson leads the heat through ambulance corner, throwing some shakas to the live feed crew.
Danny Connor and Max Capps in the announcers booth.
Sector 9 put together a live streaming of the event, sharing the footage with a worldwide audience of thousands. If you haven’t yet, watch it. The whole video of the event was recorded and posted online.
Fabián “PunkRocker” Gutiérrez Roa came up to Pala from Mexico City.
Legendary all terrain ripper, Jeff Budro, gets down low through Angie’s Curve.
Lots and lots of hay was taken out through turn #6, and then cleaned up by the volunteers, and then knocked down again, and so on.
Byron Essert charging into turn #6.
Jimmy Riha sets up for the final left.
Angie’s Curves 2014 was coming to an end and the finals heat had been organized. With Jimmy Riha, Kevin Reimer, Dillon Stephens, and Zak Maytum battling out for the title of first place and $5000, the competition was on. With the riders advancing and falling behind one and other, spectators gathered at the finish line to wait for the winner to complete the course.
Kevin “K-Rimes” Reimer finishing the course with the inside line through turn #9.
The cluster of riders emerged from the trees of turn #9 and as they approached the finish line, K-Rimes took first place. Dillon Stephens took 2nd, Zak Maytum with 3rd, and Jimmy Riha finished 4th. After a bunch of high fives to the riders, the Muir Van and U-Hauls loaded up with riders and spectators, and returned to the top of the hill for the podium.
Louis Pilloni announces the podium.
Landyachtz and Bear Rider, Elena Corrigall was carried up to the podium, taking home first place in the women’s division.
Kevin “K-Rimes” Reimer claimed the title for first place in open class.
Huge thanks to Angie Wolf for letting us use her hill. Without her land and approval, the race never could have happened.
Jimmy “Rad Train” Riha with the podium high-five. Angie’s Curves 2014 was a blast!
Big thanks to Angie Wolf, Louis Pilloni, all the sponsors, the volunteers, the Pala Indians and everybody else who made this event happen. Angie’s Curves 2014 was sponsored by Sector 9, Gullwing Truck Co., R.A.D. Designs, Michelin Tires, IDF Racing, Zico Coconut Water, Wahoos, and The Ian Tilmann Foundation.
Results
Open:
1st – Kevin Reimer
2nd – Dillon Stephens
3rd – Zak Maytum
4th – Jimmy Riha
5th – Sebastian Hertler
6th – Brendan Davidson
7th – Carlos Paixão
8th – Patrick Switzer
Junior’s:
1st – Connor Ferguson
2nd – Dane Hanna
3rd – Alex Charleson
4th- Oscar Gutierrez
Women’s:
1st – Elena Corrigall
2nd – Marie Bougourd
3rd -Georgia Bontorin
4th – Emily Pross
That’s all. Be sure to watch next years race and if possible come out to the event. Thanks for reading! Now get on a board and do your thing You can check out the full Angie’s Curves 2014 photo album here.