Peaks to draw riders all over WA for unique events

The 2019 Southern Peaks festival is set to be one of the best yet, with a swathe of international-standard BMX riders to converge on Albany and the State’s premier mountain bike series returning to town.

This year’s Southern Peaks weekend will bring riders from across WA to the Great Southern to compete in three unique events on September 28-29, including a new jumps location off Stirling Terrace.

It will be the first time Albany MTB Club has taken charge of organising the event since it handed responsibility to Project 3 in 2016.

For 2019, the BMX jumps will be launched from a ramp off Stirling Terrace to Proudlove Parade below, where it is planned to have a social area with bar, food vendors and coffee vans.

It will be the first time the jumps event has not been hosted on York Street, according to jumps manager Bob Cooper.

Mr Cooper said it would “be a spectacular show”.

“This is the first time it’s going to all be up in one place, which is pretty cool,” he said.

“We’ll probably have 10 to 20 riders.

“We’ve got world-class riders in WA that people don’t see, who ride overseas and over east.”

The penultimate round of the XCM Cross Country season will also be hosted in Albany that weekend.

The Southern Peaks XCM (marathon) will see riders pedal from Nanarup Beach to Emu Point, take a ferry across the channel and ride through town before finishing near the jumps on Stirling Terrace.

The Urban Downhill and Kids Urban will also return for the weekend.

For details, visit Southern Peaks on Facebook.