2024 Event Rider Information
Location
FTH24 takes place at Glencoe Mountain Resort in the Highlands of Scotland. It’s a remote location and other than for those staying at Kingshouse it’s not possible to get there by Onewheel.
If arriving by car, our off the main road up to the mountain and you can park in the car park on the left. If you’re bringing your camper van and haven’t booked one of the hookups then you can camp up on the right below the cordoned off area right next to our event village.
If you’ve booked a micro lodge, camping pitch or campervan hookup at the mountain resort be sure to check in at the cafe on arrival and make sure you’ve vacated your spot by 11am on the day of departure. If you need to store gear we can help you out with that.
If staying at Kingshouse you can ride to the mountain by taking the small trail beside the bunkhouse, watch the cattle grid and when you get to the road crossing go straight over to the mountain access road. Be careful crossing the main road, it’s busy and traffic tends to fly down there in excess of 60mph!
If arriving by coach from Glasgow you’ll need to get off at the bottom of the access road, it’s a short walk or ride up to the mountain resort from there but there’ll likely be a few people around who can give you a lift so drop a message in the whatsapp chat (more about that later).
There are shower, changing and toilet facilities in the base area of the resort. The showers take a £1 coin for 5 minutes operation, top tip: if you’re first in run the hot water in the sink until it comes out warm before putting your coin in the shower slot.
Food & Drink
The cafe at Glencoe Mountain Resort opens at 8am daily and serve’s food until 4pm with an extension just for us to 8pm on the Friday and Saturday.
On Friday 28th in addition to the normal menu the cafe will be offering a meal for FTH participants, this will consist of a choice of main course and a soft drink or hot drink for a set price. Menu choices are yet to be finalised but you’ll be able to find out more and purchase a voucher for this from the main FTH tent in our event village.
On Saturday 29th there will be a wood fired pizza vendor in the event village during the afternoon and evening.
There is a licensed bar in the cafe that will be serving until 11pm on the Friday and Saturday, there will also be a pop-up outside bar in the main FTH tent in our event village.
Registration
Event Registration will open early for a one hour period in the FTH tent on Thursday 27th at 6pm. If you’re able to register in this period out will save us and you some time the following morning when we’ll be getting everything going for the downhill race. Please bring a digital or paper copy of your ticket including the QR code, we’ll scan it in and then give you your event goodie bag.
Inside your goodie bag amongst other items you’ll find a wristband that we need you to wear for the entire event, the fastener on this doesn’t re-open so don’t do it up too tight! There’s also a laminated and numbered ticket for the Craft & Ride giveaway, keep this safe as you may win some Demon United Safety gear in the draw at prize giving on Saturday night!
At registration you’ll also be required to fill in a risk acknowledgement waiver, please read this carefully, complete the details, sign it and return it to the registration team.
Downhill Racer’s after completing Event Registration will need to go to the race tent between 8am and 8:45 on the Friday morning to collect your race numbers and timing chip.
Charging & Board Storage
We’ll have a charging tent in the event village which can take up to 20 boards, there’ll also be additional charging available on the car park side of the cafe building. Both these locations are under cover and will offer 13amp sockets that can take UK and EU plugs. Please bring your own charger though.
Our social rides and our downhill course all start going downhill so if you do charge to 100% be sure to run off some battery before riding out.
If you’re in the cafe please don’t leave your board anywhere it might cause an obstruction such as next to exits or in the middle of the floor.
Chairlift Access
Those who have purchased a Downhill Race Ticket will get a race number to pin onto their front hip on the Friday and Saturday (we’ll supply the pins). This race number will also be your chairlift access ticket so don’t lose it.
If you’re not taking part in the downhill race but want to ride the 15 minute scenic chairlift to the mountain plateau the you can purchase a ticket directly from the Ticket Office opposite the cafe building.
When riding the chairlift with your board please sit on one side and put your board on the seat next to you but keep a hold on it the whole way up. You also need to bring the safety bar down once you set off and lift it up again when instructed before getting off at the top.
Downhill Race
The downhill race will be split over Friday and Saturday
FTH is a European One Wheel League Tier 1 event and as such racers will get the full amount of points for the race. Racer’s MUST wear a helmet and wrist guards as a minimum, your equipment will be checked at the start and if you’re not wearing the required gear you will not be permitted to start.
Qualifying
On Friday racers will need to attend race registration between 8am and 8:45 where you’ll confirm your board type, name, category as well as collect your race number and timing chip.
At 9am racers will board the chairlift and wait at the top for our guides to slowly ride you through the course so you can get an overview of what you’ll be riding. You’ll be split into groups for this and will be riding at a very slow pace, you MUST NOT overtake your guide and remain with your group the whole time.
After this Course Inspection you’ll then do your practice and qualifying runs depending on your group.
You will have the opportunity to do 1 practice run followed by 2 timed qualifying runs, if for any reason you do now want to go back up for one of these runs please let the finish marshal know at the bottom of the course.
After the practice and 1st run you must go immediately back up the chairlift. Don’t worry, its a scenic 15 minute ride back to the top to give you some rest and time for your legs to recover.
You will regen most of your used battery during the course so there will be no need to recharge between runs. We recommend you start the course with no more than 80% battery to save regenerating beyond 100% and causing a nosedive.
Once you have completed your run’s you won’t need to go back up the mountain.
There are some features on the course including small ramps, a tabletop, rollers and steps. There will be “chicken run’s” around the more challenging features made with barrier tape, the chicken run will take considerably longer than riding the feature. You MUST either ride the feature or go through the chicken run, if you ride past avoiding these you will be disqualified on that run.
Finals
The top 16 (or smaller multiple of 4) will qualify for the head-to-head finals on the Saturday. Each heat will be seeded according to you qualification time and the first and second place riders will progress to the next round.
It’s extremely important that if you come in first or second you immediately board the chairlift to go back up and compete in the next round. If you fail to attend the start of the course within reasonable time of your last race you will not be permitted to start and therefore forfeit your place in the competition. It takes approximately 20 minutes from boarding the chair to arriving at the start of the course. We will allow ample time for you to present yourself.
Please not that due to the terrain at the start or this year’s course, during the finals riders will start in a “grid” with the top 2 seeded in front of the lower 2. This start method has been approved for this race by the EOL Committee.
Single Track Challenge
The Single Track Challenge is open all, it will take place on Sunday morning on the section of red mountain bike single track lose to the finish from the downhill race.
Freestyle Comp
The Freestyle competition run by Max Cramer will take place on Sunday afternoon in the event village. It is split in to 2 categories:- Amateur which will be a judged competition and Pro which will be a big game of FLOAT.
Flight Fins Flying Comp
This will take place on Friday evening in the Event Village. It’s open to all and will feature riders hitting a jump ramp and trying to get as high as they can over a high jump style rail. FlightFins are not required for this but any form of lifter may help you. Sponsored by Flight Fins.
Mass Start Uphill Race
This will begin in the event village where everyone starts at the same time. First rider to the top of the access chair wins. Who says OneWheel racing can’t be uphill?
Rumble
We’ll have two games of rumble, the first os regular rumble where the last rider standing on their board wins. If you put a foot down or come off your board then you’re out.
Later on we’ll have a special game of Goat Rumble, this is open to all VESC riders. We don’t allow you to use off board controllers such as tilt remotes in the race but for this game you’ll handing them to the audience. Just like regular rumble but those watching will be using your remote (or VESC App) to try and throw you off too. When we get to the last 2 riders they’ll take each others remote for a final show down.
Chair Race
This year we’re going to see how stable you are riding your chair! We’ll have a race for all chair riders, it doesn’t even have to be a chair, off you’ve got a hobby horse, crate or drinks cooler like the OG chair rider Chris Tullio then that’s all good too.
Social Rides
We’ve got a couple of local social rides starting and finishing at the event village. If you’re riding a pint with original battery you might want to get yourself to Kingshouse first and charge up, both our rides will go past Kingshouse.
Whatsapp Community
We want you to be able to discuss the event, ask questions, report problems and be kept up to date with any schedule changes so we’ve created a WhatsApp Community. Please join this as soon as you can ahead of the event to be kept informed.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/D4pFBBzjaf6GXt4jNISsPY
Live Q&A Session
Have more questions to ask us? Come along to our Live Instagram Q&A Session on Sunday June 23rd at 8pm (2100CET, 3pm ET)
https://www.instagram.com/floatthehighlands?upcoming_event_id=18284324077206233
EOL Rules and Regulations
The following rules for competitors apply at all EOL events, please have a read of these before attending. For more information see www.europeanonewheelleague.com
All racers must be able to control their board at all times and ride safely. This includes starting, stopping, standing still, and dismounting. The event organiser or an EOL Official has the authority to disqualify a rider who they decide cannot safely control their board.
No “off-board” controllers or devices (e.g. remote tilt controller) will be allowed in EOL sanctioned races, any rider found using one of these devices will be disqualified.
During qualifications by time trials, any rider has the right to overtake other riders by saying "On your left" or "On your right". In this situation, the rider in front shall let the other overtake by their called path. During the bracket stage, no rider shall ask for permission to overtake.
All racers must wear a properly secured helmet.
Wrist/hand protection must be worn at all times whilst racing.
Racers must be on their board when crossing the finish line.
All racers must sign any waiver required by the race organiser/venue.
Participants must adhere to the EOL Code of Conduct.
Participants are chiefly responsible for their well-being and safety.