Thu, 11/18/2010 - 12:55amNike 6.0 Stairset Battle Tour

Voting for the Nike 6.0 Stairset Battle Tour is underway and the UK's rail is about to be built – we caught up with Damian Doyle who is charged with creating the masterpiece.

Damian's made a name for himself around the UK over recent years. First known as shredder unafraid to step up in some serious situations, he then masterminded the Standing Sideways Productions' movies and more recently he has been constructing immaculate terrain parks up and down Britain.

He's been handed the Nike 6.0 golden ticket to build the stairset that will be staying in the UK and we thought it an opportune time to find out what this competition is all about.

DCMT: So tell us about the Nike 6.0 Stairset Battle Tour Damo, what is this event?
DD: It's a European-wide competition where a jib feature, the stairset, is doing the rounds in nine countries. Each country has a selection of slopes pitched against each other to try and win the tour stop for their country. In the UK the battle is between SNO!zone Castleford, SNO!zone Scotland and SNO!zone Milton Keynes.
The Stairset will go to the winning slope and the event will take place there – it's be a big competition revolving around a knockout battle. One rider, who does the best trick, will win the event and get an invite to the super final at currently undisclosed location.

DCMT: You don't know the location?
DD: No, that's been kept super secret. The best thing for UK riders though, is that the slope that hosts the competition will get to keep the stairset and recreational riders will be able to session those on freestyle nights and park days.

DCMT: So there will be one stairset staying in each of the nine countries?
DD: Yeah that's right, so here the SNO!zones will all be battling to get the most votes.

DCMT: And I hear you're building the stairset? How do you do that?
DD: Well, there's a European company who have designed the stairset, and they've given us the concept and the ideal dimensions but instead of shipping it over from Europe we wanted to build it ourselves in the UK.
We've had to adapt it slightly to work better with size of the UK slopes – we don't have the big piste bashers like the other slopes and it's pretty big which puts pressures on the rest of the park. So we've made it into sections that can be carried out individually and put together on the slope.

DCMT: How do you actually build it?
DD: Well just a lot of manual labour – there's a lot of welding, which I have someone else doing, but then boarding it all out and painting. Ideally we need a month to build something like this but we've just got three weeks so we're working around the clock.
Once it's built, the way we've designed it, it should be easy to put into place. We just need the snow base and the right angle and we can shape around it. It should fit really nicely and its going to be really good to ride with the down-ledge kink and the down-rail.

DCMT: So how much would one cost then?
DD: I don't know…

DCMT: Thousands?
DD: Yeah, thousands.

DCMT: So it's a pretty good deal for whichever slope gets to keep it?
DD: Yeah to get one for free is amazing!

DCMT: And this is just down to popularity, so SNO!zone Castleford doesn't have an insider advantage?
DD: No, no – I wish! It'd be ace to have it at my home slope but it's all about the riders and the votes. Whoever gets behind their slope the most will get it.

DCMT: So what do riders actually have to do to try and win the stairset for their slope?
DD: It's all down to voting, get your vote on Facebook! Then just get the word out, get your friends to do it as well. Spread the word.

DCMT: So what tricks are gonna make it to the super final this year?
DD: That's tough one, I think it's all gonna go a bit mental, but I definitely reckon we've got some riders in the UK who will hold there own at the super final!

The Nike 6.0 Stairset Battle Tour is running from 4th December 2010 to 15th February 2011 in nine different countries, there will be a Stairset Battle every single weekend and it’s up to you and your crew to vote for your stop.
Simply get over to facebook.com/nike6 and vote for your park to get this real street piece on your mountain.

Voting is open now but closes at the end of November!