FMX

The 2018 Farm Jam in New Zealand was by far the biggest , most successful installment in the event ’ s 11-year history … and that ’ s just talking about the moto side of things .

It ’ s no secret that Southland , at the bottom of New Zealand , is one of the wildest , weather-prone areas of the mountainous country . Big Antarctic storms can rage northward and unleash on the coastline at any time , yet it can also bake in weeks of sunshine and fine conditions . Planning any sort of action sports event here is always a gamble .

The weather chips came oh-soclose to falling the wrong way in 2018 . Two days before the 2018 Farm Jam was due to be held , an ex-tropical cyclone clashed with one of those burly Antarctic fronts and dropped close to 80mm of rain on the picturesque Frew Farm in just over 24 hours . Dirt jumps and that much rain don ’ t mix , but with such a massive contingent of world-class riders – including American freeriding and whip master Tyler Bereman and 2012 Red Bull X-Fighters champion Josh Sheehan – descending on the 2018 event , the pressure was on to get the courses dried and ready in a matter of hours .

Large swathes of polythene covered the jumps and protected the fragile , carefully manicured lips , but the

water run-off turned the transitions into a sloppy goop that could only be fixed by scraping the mud away with a tractor and replacing it with loads of fresh soil .

Pesky heavy showers continued to maraud the Farm until 2pm on Friday , meaning the rider ( and photographer ) favourite freeride contest had to be delayed until late in the day to give the jumps as much time as possible to dry out .

But as luck would have it , the clouds gave away to fine breaks , and the wind dropped to a whisper just before golden hour set in . It was game on .

Upping the States

As hefty as the Farm Jam FMX line-up has always been , the field has almost always been limited to Australian and Kiwi riders , with the exception of Spanish wildman Andreu Lacondeguy in 2013 and Brazil ’ s Freddy Kyrillos in 2014 . There has never been an American rider until 2018 , when the Frews managed to attract one of the biggest names in freeriding , Tyler Bereman , to their little corner of the world .

“ Tyler ’ s been following us on social media for a while and we got chatting to him to see if he ’ d be keen to come out for 2018 ,” Dan explains . “ He was super-keen , and managed to make it work with his sponsors to come out for it . He ’ d never been to the Southern Hemisphere before , so it was a great opportunity for him to visit a new part of the world .”

Natural terrain mini-flip specialist , Jimmy Hill was also initially confirmed to fly over , but a viral illness landed him in hospital just days before getting on the plane .

He wasn ’ t the only last-minute scratching from the line-up . Longtime Farm Jam competitor , Kiwi hero and 2017 champion-of-everything , Levi Sherwood unfortunately had a clash of dates with another commitment at the other end of the country , and with only one complete FMX bike , there was no way he could get to both events .

Countering that , Double Backflip king , Josh Sheehan – who hadn ’ t ridden Farm Jam since winning the event in 2011 – locked himself in for a return to the green rolling hills , and brought his perfect array of tricks to the comp .

When you added Australian racer Lewis Woods , fellow Aussie FMX OG Jake Bowen , and Kiwi shredders Callum Shaw , Stephen Smith and Andrew Jackson to the mix , the roster was bulging with talent .

Head for the Hills

With the summer afternoon sun drying the hills , it didn ’ t take much encouragement for the boys to get geared up and head for the two freeride areas : the first consisted of a reshaped natural quarter-pipe and an all-new gigantic hip at least 25ft larger and a lot steeper than what was offered in 2016 , and the second was the iconic cone-shaped hill with an assortment of hits to a completely revamped , smoother landing area .

With a who ’ s who of MTB and BMX a-listers watching on , it didn ’ t take long for Tyler Bereman to have everyone scooping their jaws out of their socks as he threw the biggest turned-up and upside-down whips that have probably ever been thrown in the entire country , while valvebouncing the bejeezus out of his borrowed bike .

As if that wasn ’ t enough , the 24-year-old Californian proceeded to boost into the stratosphere out of the near-vertical quarter-pipe , snap his bike 180 degrees and land just metres from the up-ramp .

The tone was set for the rest of the session as Woods , Bowen and Sheehan tried their best to match Bereman on the big hip jump . Meanwhile fearless Kiwi freerider Caleb Delacy more than held his own in a head-to-head session with Bereman , where the pair tried to outboost each other out of the quarter .

With the sun starting to set and a whole other area still to ride , the riders reluctantly left the first location and headed further into the Frew farm hills .

The hour-and-a-half session that followed is one that won ’ t be forgotten anytime soon . The wind had dropped completely and golden evening sunlight bathed the area as every rider threw a mixture of whips and tricks off the plethora of dirt hits surrounding the conical hill . Footage of Bereman ’ s ridiculous goldenhour turn-ups have literally gained millions of views on social media , but towards the end of the session local Suzuki rider u