The best 4 bike days of the year

The iXS Dirt Masters is worthwhile in many ways, whether as an active competitor or as a spectator. As a visitor of the large expo area, you will also get a lot to see. Once again, many of the leading brands of the gravity scene will be present, so there will be plenty to admire, test and discuss. The festival is the perfect opportunity to test the various product innovations of the manufacturers, as they usually bring a huge test fleet. You will have perfect conditions for testing, as many tracks will be open on a regular basis during the festival as well. Among the more than 100 brands, YT Industries, Propain, Orbea, Santa Cruz and SRAM will be there this year.

The expo area will again be full of well-known manufacturers, so there will be plenty to admire, test and discuss.

Of course, like it is traditional for the iXS Dirt Masters Festival, there will be numerous sports highlights again:

Orbea Enduro Challenge

For the German Enduro Championship, new trails are being built in Winterberg. This job is done by none other than Benjamin "Pavel" Herold, together with the Dirtworks crew. In addition, the schedule has been adapted so that there is a high degree of excitement: On the final stage the riders will start in reverse order of the intermediate standings. This means that when the last rider crosses the finish line, it is immediately clear who is the German champion. In addition to the German championship, the race will also serve as a qualifier event for the Enduro World Series.

A new format and varied trails will make the German Enduro Championship extremely exciting.

FMB World Tour Gold Event

After 10 years, a slopestyle event with FMB Gold status will come back to the festival again, which makes it one of the top ten slopestyle events in the world. This means that you can expect the very best riders of the scene, such as Erik Fedko, Lukas Knopf and Szymon Godziek, who will astonish you with their incredible tricks and top-notch style. The course already got a first overhaul and will be finally prepared in spring for the event. In addition, there will be an extra contest for women as an FMB Bronze Event. Already in the past years the slopestyle contest has been one of the events with the best atmosphere and the highest number of spectators at the iXS Dirt Masters Festival. This year we're going one step further!

The FMB Gold status can only mean one thing: The icons of the sport will amaze you with their legendary tricks and style.

TSG Whip Off Contest presented by Spank

Not many words are needed here. The Whip Off contest is always a real atmospheric highlight. The riders go to their limits here, or often even beyond. Everyone wants to throw a bigger whip than the other. The crowd supports the action with a lot of noise.

The Whip Off are always an absolute highlight in terms of the atmosphere. Can the twelve-year-old Brit Harry Schofield defend his title against the big boys?

Downhill Races

Downhill races belong as much to the iXS Dirt Masters Festival as a jump does to a landing. Without it, there would simply be no point. Therefore, various international race series will be held again during the festival, for riders of all ages: the iXS Downhill Cup, the PROPAIN Rookies Cup, and the VPACE Kids Cup. Here the riders will again try to secure the last hundredths of a second. The CUBE Factory Team has already announced that they will come to the festival with their team truck. That's why Danny Hart and Max Hartenstern will be on the starting line. But these two probably will not be the only pro riders at this years downhill race.

Tracey Hannah won the elite women's class last year. Also this year, international stars can be expected at the downhill races.

Other exciting events:

• Best Trick Contest - Rose Best of Ten
• Slopestyle Wettbewerb für Kids - Rookies Jam
• Enduro Nachwuchsrennen - Orbea Rookies Enduro
• E-MTB Uphill Race - Schwalbe Uphill Flash
• Fourcross Race - BMO 4X Rumble | Fourcross ProTour

At the pop-up events, such as the Bunny Hop Contest, there is always excitement and good vibes, too.

With so many exciting events, it's easy to lose track of what's going on. So that this doesn't happen to you, you can find the preliminary program plan for this year's festival here.

And as it is expected from a proper festival, there will be an attractive night program from thursday until saturday. Like this, this years program is topped off nicely.

This year you can also expect an attractive night program and a good party.

You think that this sounds great? So do we! The excitement is already very high and we can't wait to get on the road to Winterberg. For more info, check our website regularly and subscribe to the @ixsdirtmasters channel on Instagram.

Text: Jonas Mucha / Racement GmbH

Images: Sebastian Gruber, Patrick Weiss, Boris Beyer, Frank Wipperfürth