This weekend saw action sports fans and athletes converge on the Bath & West Showground near Shepton Mallet for the Relentless NASS 2011 Action Sports & Music Festival.  Not just content to bring us a mass of high octane stunting, NASS is also famous for its pumping beats late into the night.  This years festival didn’t disappoint, featuring an epic lineup including this weeks number one artist DJ Fresh and the always awesome Tinie Tempa, who helped to draw in a diverse crowd of rave enthusiasts and extreme sports junkies.

We arrived early on Friday morning and setup camp, having to fight  against wind that had every intention of whipping up my ridiculously large tent and carrying all the way to Oz.  Of course I was never going to let that happen – for those of you who don’t know me, I am pretty into tents!  Somehow we pitched securely, and it was time to explore.  Me and Nadine wandered aimlessly (with the purpose of seeing everything) around the festival site, while Girlylegs skater Stef Nurding headed to the Pro Park to familiarize herself with the course.  Being that Friday is traditionally arrival day, everyone was keen to catch up with the continuous stream of mates who turned up on site.  I honestly am not sure where the rest of the day went, its a blur of giggles and gossip, but I can tell you it was fun!

We were woken early on Saturday morning by the sun heating our tent to an uncomfortable temperature, driving us from our covers and into the breeze.  Unfortunately the glorious morning soon faded behind the rain clouds, who emptied themselves onto the early risers. The downpour didn’t last too long and we were soon back on track with the tanning!  We spent the day watching the BMX, Skate, and Inline boys throw down in their qualifying and semi final rounds, as well as  X-Games Silver medalist and 10x British Champion Inline Skater Jenna Downing who showed off her skills in the Pro Park.

As the day drew on, more and more people flooded the showground in search of a wild party.  The music started up again, with beats pouring out into the late afternoon sunshine, and the roar of various crowds could be heard coming from all the tents and areanas.  In the Pro Park the girls were gearing up for the Girlzilla Skate Competition, practicing and warming up behind the scenes, as the BMX semi-finals got the crowd amped.  Unfortunately, as the start time for the Girls Skate Comp came and went, it became clear that it would turn out to be a late night for the ladies.  Just how late no one would have been able to predict, with the girls eventually being able to get on course almost three hours behind schedule.

I will admit that while we waited for the girls competition to start, I ducked off to a neighboring shed to watch one of my favorite bands Cancer Bats, play the Kerrang! Stage.  As always I got straight to the front, where I thoroughly rocked out!

Despite having to hang around, as soon as the girls rolled onto the course they showed they meant business.  With even more girls entered this year, and from a wider range of nationalities, it was set to be an exciting competition, and with an even bigger prize purse up for grabs ($1,600) the ladies were hungry for it!  The skating was ridiculous!  Girls were throwing down some epic stunts, pushing themselves over and over to land their tricks, with the crowd going absolutely wild when they landed it!

Massive props go out to all the organizers for their efforts, and of course to all the girls who ripped up the course!  The results of the 2011 Rubicon Girlzilla Skate Competition at Relentless NASS are:

1st Lacey Baker (US) – $1,000
2nd Alexis Sablone (US) – $400
3rd Letici Bufoni (Brazil) – $200
4th Jessica Florencio (Brazil)
5th Lucy Adams (UK)
6th Ester Perussi (Brazil)
7th Eliana Sosco (Brazil)
8th Marta Nery (Portugal)

The remaining positions along with official scores and videos will be on the site soon.

Despite being thoroughly shattered from such a long day, we somehow found enough energy to hit up the late night entertainment, rolling back to the tent in the early hours!

Sunday was the final day and we woke to more sunshine. Most of the crowd who had come purely for the music left the site in the morning looking more or less broken and a shell of their former selves, which left only the hardcore sports fans who wanted to watch the skate and BMX finals.  The Pro Park was packed out with fans, as the top skaters and BMXers threw down fast and loose, fearlessly tearing the course apart in ways unimaginable.

We had a great weekend, and were stoked to get to be part of it.  Bring on next year, and here’s to it somehow being even bigger and better!  See you there!