By JESSE GRAHAM
MOUNT Donna Buang will be a hub of skating, sliding and speed later this year, when an Australian championship for skateboarding comes to the summit.
The Victorian Skateboarding Association’s Yarra Ranges Downhill Festival will be held on Mount Donna Buang in Warburton on 16 November, moving from its regular spot in Baynes Road, Monbulk.
With a track three times the length of Monbulk’s one kilometre road, this year’s event will double as the Australian championships for downhill skating, and state representatives will be competing in races.
Racers will make their way down Donna Buang Road three kilometres from the summit, to the Ten Mile car park, and are expected to reach speeds of up to 85 kilometres per hour.
President of the Victorian Skateboarding Association, Bernard Griffiths, said the main attraction would be an elimination race, and that the festival would run through the morning until around 4pm.
He praised the Yarra Ranges Council for agreeing to close off the road for the event, and said that the last two years of events in Monbulk had been wildly successful.
Mr Griffiths said that safety would be at the forefront of the event, with the road closed off, and participants wearing full motorcycle helmets and leathers while racing.
“It is a bit of an extreme sport, to stay on a skateboard at that speed without wobbling or flying off – they have to be at peak fitness to do that,” he said.
“It’s a good course, both because we can get all the traffic off and manage the safety properly.
“It’s good we’re able to deliver a strong road safety message.”
Yarra Ranges Youth Services will be at the event, and event director, Al VanDenBerg, said a mini-market, slalom competitions and free-rides would take place on the day.
The Yarra Ranges Downhill Festival will be held from 9am-5pm on Donna Buang Road, Warburton.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/yarrarangesdownhillfestival.
