DarkFest stars crowned

A new king and queen have been crowned at the 2025 edition of DarkFest, South Africa’s premier free-style mountain-biking (MTB) competition.

The annual event, hosted at Hellsend Dirt Compound in the Vuurberg mountains in Pniël, brought together some of the world’s best riders for close to a week of non-stop riding.

The ninth edition of this six day big air spectacle, which started on Monday 7 April and was hosted by free-ride legend Sam Reynolds, saw jaw-dropping jumps, stunning mountain views and an electric atmosphere DarkFest has become synonymous with.

Despite bouts of heavy rain during the week of riding limiting opportunities to jump on some of the days, an overall winner for the men and women’s categories needed to be crowned.

While the main goal of DarkFest is to push the limits on what’s possible on a bike, the rider-voted awards honour the riders who brought the most energy to the course.

Claiming the prize for the King of DarkFest was Canadian rider Matt MacDuff, while the Queen of DarkFest was handed to Chelsea Kimball from the USA.

Last year’s King of DarkFest Elias Ruso was unable to ride this year, but was on hand to hand the crown over to MacDuff. “What a week,” he declared. “Even though I couldn’t ride I had the best time with the most legendary group of people. It was also such an honour to pass the crown on to the new King of DarkFest, Matt MacDuff.”

There were also a host of other rider-nominated prizes available, meant to award the high-octane tricks on show throughout the week.

The 2025 prize winners in the women and men’s categories, respectively, included:

• Muc-Off Filthiest Whip: Vinny Armstrong (New Zealand) and Alessio Tonoli (Switzerland);

• Dewalt Best Moment: Lucy Vaneesteren (United Kingdom) and Finley Kirschenmann (United States) and Talus Turk (United States) (shared);

• Kenda Mind Bender (Best Trick): Robin Goomes (New Zealand), for a back-flip can-can on the step-up jump, and Kaidan Ingersoll (United States), for a 360° downside whip on the step up;

• Insta360 Best Run: Vaea Verbeeck (Canada) and Bienve Aguado (Spain);

• Insta360 Hotshot Award (Most Creative): Jack Schliemann (South Africa).

A whip is a manoeuvre performed on a bicycle, usually during a free-style mountain-bike contest, in which the rider brings the rear of the bike abruptly around to either side. The move is performed while the rider is airborne off a jump.

Reflecting on the 2025 edition of DarkFest, Reynolds said: “This year’s energy was off the charts. The riders pushed the limits in every session, and the course was running better than ever. It’s insane to see how far DarkFest has come and where it’s going.”