From May 30th to June 2nd 2013, the Austrian Erzberg will once again become the offroad communitys epicentre. The Erzbergrodeo not only offers breathtaking motorsports for each dirtbike enthusiast, it also serves spectacular side events and lots of possibilities, to create your very own individual experience at the Iron Giant. The organisatoric and logistic efforts behind the unique event are truly impressing and illustrate the dimension of the worlds most renowned enduro race.
Erzbergrodeo: Building a small town up on the Iron Mountain
A crew of 800 people is working behind the Erzbergrodeos curtain to make sure that things run smoothly during the 4-days of the event. One of the main challenges is to build up the Erzbergrodeo-Arena right from the scratch. The pulsing centre of the event is located right at the foot of the Erzberg and offers spectators, riders and media professionals numerous food & beverage booths, the race- and press/media-offices, the headquarters for security and medical services, the Special Guest Lounge, a large vendor area, the extended live-TV headquarters - and of course the gigantic Erzbergrodeo beer tent, which will be the home of the infamous rider parties on each night of the event.
A large sanitary zone inside the arena offers showers and toilets. A specially designed endurocross track in the middle of the arena hosts the spectacular Mitas One-On-One rider presentations on Friday and Saturday, displaying the impressive riding skills of all Erzbergrodeo top-riders and factory stars. On Sunday, only the toughest dirtbike riders will reach this endurocross track - as itll be the finish line of the notorious Red Bull Hare Scramble, the worlds gnarliest single day xtreme enduro. Each year, only a handful of riders manage to cross the Red Bull arch after 4 hours of pain and torture.
Outside the Arena, the crew has to build up 3 different paddock-areas for the more than 4500 participants and their entourage, as well as parking areas for tens of thousands of visitors including a very own traffic regulation sytem with connecting roads for cars, motorcycles and the mighty Hauly mining-trucks.
The Erzbergrodeos sophisticated garbage disposal concept takes care of about 40 tons of trash left behind each year by visitors and riders. The visitor shuttle bus service is just another unique service offered by the race promotors for all guests visiting the Erzbergrodeo.
Up to 15 public service busses commute between the arena, the rider paddocks, the parking areas and parts of the GENERALI Iron Road Prologue and Red Bull Hare Scramble racetracks - for free! Just hop on the bus and get out in the middle of the action...
The Erzbergrodeos own Camping-Area right at the foot of the mountain is another important service for all visitors. Anyone who wants to experience the event on more than one day and wants to include the infamous rider parties to their schedule can conveniently build up their tent, caravan or RV right in front of the mighty mountain. The Camping-Area offers sanitary facilities and can be easily reached from the Erzbergrodeo-Arena with the visitor shuttle busses.
Not to forget the Erzbergrodeos infamous racetracks. A rather small group of selected and highly experienced track builders take care that each competitor gets his fare share of action - and a maximum of safety. It takes months to select and prepare the different parts of the racetracks, as the Erzberg is still an active mining area. The fearce mountain changes his (sur)face each year, providing lots of unawaited challenges to the track building crew. During the race itself, hundreds of track-marshals, paramedics and motorized race-marshals are working on every corner of the mountain to ensure the Erzbergrodeos renowned safety concept for all riders.
If you think that the erection of the small town called Erzbergrodeo lasts for several months, youre actually completely wrong. The Erzberg being an active mining area gives us less than a week to build up the whole infrastructure. The deconstruction of all facilities lasts only a few days as well. The big challenge is to perfectly coordinate the separate working groups in each area over a very short period of time. Our crew delivers an outstanding performance before and after the actual event, thats why each and every crew member is truly relieved when everything runs smoothly., the Erzbergrodeos head of organisation Mark Schilling explains the logistic efforts behind the worlds most renowned Xtreme Enduro.
The Erzbergrodeos main challenge: high-class motorcycle offroad racing
The Erzbergrodeo is all about four days of breathtaking, stunning dirt bike racing featuring the worlds elite racers from Enduro, Motocross, Trials and even Rally. It all starts with the KÄRCHER Rocket Ride uphill race on Thursday. More than 300 riders challenge a mighty, threepart gravel uphill, only the fastest 48 of them emerge to the spectacular Superfinals in the late evening.
Friday and Saturday will see the worlds biggest and probably craziest field of offroad competitors as more than 1500 riders from 35 nations take on the GENERALI Iron Road Prologues high-speed race. Each rider has two timed trials upon the 13 kilometer long gravel road up to the Erzbergs peak at 1466 meter beyond sea level. Determination, skills and full throttle without compromises will get you amongst the 500 fastest riders of the Iron Road Prologue - and into the starting grid of the Erzbergrodeos true highlight: the Red Bull Hare Scramble on Sunday.
The worlds most famous Xtreme Enduro starts at high noon when the first of ten waves of each 50 riders is unleashed to race the Iron Giant.
Erzbergrodeo mastermind Karl Katoch serves a gruel and selective menu to his guests: 35 kilometers of unforgiving offroad terrain, featuring endless uphills, scary downhills, tight forest sections and car-sized rocks. The riders need to pass 20 checkpoints on their way to the finish line within four hours. The full dimension of the challenges provided by this unique race are obvious if you look at the results year after year: only a handful of the 500 starters sees the checkered flag in the end...
The adventures of Erzbergrodeo: non-stop action and entertainment
The Erzbergrodeo offers loads of action and entertainment to his visitors - no matter if they twist the throttle of their race bikes, cheer alongside the racetrack for their favourite rider or cover the event for international magazines and media networks.
Theres exciting side-events for everyone, like the Mitas One-On-One rider presentation (Friday & Saturday) or the traditional Sturm auf Eisenerz (Friday evening) which gathers more than 3000 dirt bikes on a parade through the tiny town of Eisenerz and back on the mountain. Another true highlight is the breathtaking Freestyle-MX Show (Saturday evening), which lifts international top FMX-riders up in the air over the Erzbergrodeo Arena. On Sunday, right before the start of the Red Bull Hare Scramble, motorsports enthusiasts can look forward to a Jet-Ski Freestyle Show inside the Erzbergs lake.
Theres also the possibility to watch the action from above by booking an Erzbergrodeo Heli-Ride. This helicopter flight offers an amazing view on the unique mining area as well as a close look at the racing action. From Thrursday to Saturday, visitors can try another speciality of Erzberg: the Hauly-Ride gets you on board of one of the huge, 860-horsepower mining trucks to explore the enormous site sitting in first floor...
Erzbergrodeo insiders know, that the action doesnt stop when the sun goes down behind the Iron Giant. The legendary Rider Parties inside the big festival marquee offers DJs, great atmosphere and cool drinks until the early morning. Each party night starts with trophy ceremonies and the daily highlights, broadcasted on the big screen inside the tent. The atmosphere is truly amazing, featuring party people from all over the world... even factory riders and world champions dont want to miss out on these unique celebrations.
The first-class experience: Special Guest at Erzbergrodeo
If you want to combine all Erzbergrodeo highlights with excellent catering and individual shuttle-services, then its time to choose one of the Special Guest Packages for a memorable experience. Hauly-Ride, Heli-Ride, Special Guest Action-Tour, Iron-Explorer Tour, Red Bull Hare Scramble Insider... the exclusive tours and specially arranged incentives all start directly from the chilly Special Guest Lounge inside the Erzbergrodeo-Arena.
