Words & Photos: Wes McGrath
Every year of Simple Session comes and goes, seemingly in the blink of an eye; but it's the strength of the energy conjured up in just a few days that sticks with you all year long...
This flagship event of Estonian roots celebrates its 25th year of life, upholding a special chapter within the history books of not only BMX, but the story of Tallinn and the culture of Estonia. Every year I make my way across the world to Simple Session, I can't help but be moved by the efforts and execution of this massive event and all the while I ask myself, "What keeps this going and why does everyone keep coming back?" Well, this year I finally summed it up into one Simple word, ENERGY! From the riders to the attendees, the fans and the organizers, to the word on the course and on the dance floor, everyone kept talking about the energy! Throughout this display of photography, over 125 to be exact, I try to capture just that, the feeling that keeps us all coming back to the cold days and long sleepless nights of Tallinn, Estonia. For those who may or may not have had the chance to experience this spectacle firsthand.
Boyd Hilder cant' keep away from the excitement of his friends, Joe Jarvis and Stu Chisholm as the scores come in from the judges!
Stu Chisholm always brings the heat for England during his time on the course and Jarvis is there in true supportive form.
Santiago Laverde and Stephan Atencio wrap up Ezequiel Helmreich after landing a huge tailwhip gap in qualifiers!
Best Trick / Rail Jam
Taking place on Thursday night inside the Krulli Repair Shop, Simple Session kicked off the weekend events with an unassuming Best Trick obstacle and Flat Rail jam. The set up was a simple design; a 4 foot tall transition with 4 sides and a 12 foot long flat rail. Basically, one spot for fly out trick creative burliness and the other for the tech-savy street riding insanity! The warehouse was packed full of fans and the vibes were extremely high as soon as we walked-in while the skate jam was in full swing! Over an hour of assembly line style savagery on both set ups, riders attacked each piece like their lives depended on it! At the end of it all Sasha Cambo from France ended up with Best Trick win after showing off some serious maneuvers with style and finesse well past his age of only 16 years.
In March of 1865 a coppersmith Franz Krull rented this workshop in Tallinn, Estonia and began to manufacture a variety of equipment for sugar, beer, coffee, and other factories and pharmaceutical laboratories. Krull quickly became famous throughout Russia with the first modern vodka distillation apparatus built in 1870, which was more productive, more economical.
Stephan Atencio comes in from Barcelona, originally from Costa Rica. This manual 180 started off the rail jam with steeze.
Santiago Laverde swings around a lofty 180 downwhip over the "Bell".
The camaraderie between BMX and Skate is strong at Simple Session, this event unites athletes from both disciplines on and off the contest course. Creating a new bond within this culture of ours and amongst the top pros of both sides.
Santiago Laverde was on it all weekend with proper power, speed and style. This was a 180 double barspin!
Joe Jarvis whips around this over pegs to hard 360 back over with some serious authority!
Sasha Comban is very surprised and super grateful to receive the win for Best Trick!
Sister Session
Every year the Sisters get better and better and offer new flavors as they situate themselves around the table that is Women's BMX. The list of riders consisted of the like; Perris Benegas, Teresa Fernandez-Miranda, Nikita Ducarroz, Bethany Hendrick, Angie Marino, Kim Lea Müller, Lara Lessman, Linda Grabner, Macarena Perez, Miharu Ozawa and Sasha Pardoe. These ladies never cease to step up their game!
Nikita Ducarroz in the right place at the right time carving through her 60 seconds.
Kim Lea Müller, Angie Mario, Maca Perez and the crew ready to take the course!
Lara Lessman, Kim Lea Müller ad Bethany Hendrick during practice.
All the sisters in attendance for finals on International Women's day The rapidly growing presence and impact of women's BMX is undeniable!
-WM
Bethany Hendrick is full of tricks and style, this tailwhip was at the end of her run and landed pedals clean AF each time.
Angie Marino was one of the only women to ride this sub box during a run.
Teresa Fernandez-Miranda rides pegless, which allows her to focus more on transition and blesses her with an original and smooth style.
Macarena Perez hails from Chile all the way to Tallinn to represent her country and Women's BMX.
It's easy to tell from Maca's helmet, that she is one serious contender; riding X-Games and multiple other contests worldwide, she means business!
Teresa Fernandez-Miranda comes over to Estonia from Spain where she is no stranger to big transition. Big corner pocket air during practice!
Perris Benegas is ripping around brakeless now and it really adds to her overall flow through the park. Big 1 jaded x-up over the box!
Linda Grabner really held it down for the street heads during Simple Session. Linda rode multiple obstacles that no other women rode during the competition
Miharu Ozawa from Japan takes home 2nd place in her first Simple Session debut!
Kim Lea Müller takes 3rd place at Sister Session 2025!
All love and excitement with announcer Andy Zeiss joining the celebrations in the Sister Session winners circle.
Perris Benegas, Miharu Ozawa and Kim Lea Müller and Liis Lokk taking the podium to close out Saturday night inside the arena!
Trust me, the celebration continued for a couple of days...
THE BUS
The tradition of the shuttle bus to and from the arena and the hotel is always a jam packed mess of sweaty pads, spilled beer cans and cursory recaps of the happenings past... Shouting the whole time and becoming a lot closer to Joe Jarvis then you'd really ever want to be. Yet, no matter the situation this bus ride can change you, for the better mostly. Let's just say, you DON'T want to miss this bus!
It's a tradition, an inauguration if you will... all aboard the bus of mayhem!
You have to be careful once the pile gets overhead, bikes shift and lenses are in jeopardy.
Oe last rider stuffs their bike in as the doors close and catch the final bus back to the hotel.
Austin Augie brings his NYC subway attitudes with him, "get in where you fit in"!... continues to settle down with a nice read on the floor.
We managed to stay away from the snow this year and when the sky opened up in the evening, we were blessed with a rare Estonian winter sunset.
Qualifiers and Finals
So much talent and so much determination from these riders, pushing their personal limits and the limits of the riders around them. This is what finals are all about, leave nothing on the table and bring up your friends in the process; to make yourself better and watch your friends do the same... This year of Simple Session Finals there was a lot of surprises and new faces which turned up the volume throughout the entire event, on and off the bike.
Joe Jarvis is one of my favorites to see at Simple Session and honestly anywhere to be frank. He always charges setups with full force and this uprail was perfect for him to spin his heart out. Pegs hard 360.
Daryl Nau was in full affect per usual bringing all the ENERGY to the course and to the spirit of Simple Session.
Jarvis was our impromptu interviewer on the deck during finals warm up and let's just saw he made some friends and some foes.
Stu Chisholm is a repeat visitor of Estonia and always pulls off great runs during his stay, and this truck driver was on point!
Courage Adams is a power house and a crowd favorite here in Tallinn, a slipped hand sent him from the top of the deck to the concrete floor, directly on his shoulder.
Austin Augie is so excited to be at Simple Session he couldn't contain his joy!
Tuuli and Rim Nakamura react to Rim's first run during finals, which blew us all away!
Courage Adams took only a couple minutes to catch his breath and access the pain levels. Walked it off and headed too the dance floor...
Ernests Zebolds from Latvia gave the finals a run for their money and really held it down for his country!
Masaki Terabayashi from Japan 360 whip to barspin.
There is something special happening in Japan!
-WM
Joji Mizogaki from Japan throws a huge 360 triple barspin over the box to open his run, his power was undeniable!
Santiago Laverde has such an impressive signature style on the park and in the streets, I love to shoot these one-handed tables.
Jordan Godwin made it into finals with moves like this nollie to hanger, but he ended up getting a severe migraine and had to forfeit riding in finals.
Jose Cedano rode so well but during his last run he ended up getting too hurt to return to the course and was taken to the hospital to get stitched up.
Santiago Laverde was on fire all week long! One-footed invert over the hip.
Jordan Godwin always smiling and making us laugh.
Ash Finley has a deep bag of tricks and he's not afraid to reach in there and use them at will. Backflip double whip over the box.
Boyd Hilder shark fin 360 one-handed X-up.
Boyd Hilder's tricks are just a bit more fun to watch!
-WM
Boyd toyed around with this backflip setup all week but in his final run he went for the flip to smith and nailed it!
Boyd is from Australia but really loves Canadian foot-jams and he always finds the biggest spot in the park to do it on!
Boyd raises his hand in response to the crowd roaring for him as he took the first place position on the score board.
Soo much talent in one little photo.
A precursor to what was to come, Boyd wins another Simple Session!
Rim Nakamura takes home 3rd back to Japan with a smile.
Tuuli, Boyd and Jordan Clark talk it out and anxiously await Jordans score.
Soaked in beer Boyd soaks up the sweet taste of victory.
The President of Estonia was in attendance for Finals and presented Boyd with his SS25 medal and a handshake.
Boyd Hilder 1st place. Jordan Clark 2nd place. Rim Nakamura 3rd place.
...and my favorite tradition, the champagne shower to end it!
Simple Session 2025 held up to its reputation again this year and definitely didn't disappoint! Once again bringing together a piece of the industry which represents the rest of us and resonates throughout the year with admiration and an energy that cannot be ignored!
Congratulations to all the riders, organizers and fans who made it through another year and to the efforts oof everyone who made this happen, 25 years strong!
Watch all the Simple Session coverage add HIGHLIGHTS right HERE on DIGBMX.com
