Put up some more trials pics of NAUCC 2007 here.
I like the stacked loose block idea, looks techy.
I agree. Big trials moves and higher risk lines work for videos but trials comps should focus on technical challenge. There is a major similarity between setting trials comps and climbing comps - with climbing comps the route setters have to set routes that work well for a variety of competitor heights (e.g. making something hard just by making the holds far apart is a cop out, just like making trials sections hard just by making big basic moves). Plus, climbing comp course setters also need to have a good sense of the ability level or the competitors so they can set an appropriate range of difficulty.
The number one best thing about major trials comps, IMO, is the opportunity to put a major amount of work and resources into making some of the the coolest trials lines that anyone will ever get to ride, simply because awesome trials lines sometimes take a lot of work to build.
I think you almost can’t make too many balance lines - forcing riders to roll makes for more creativity and you can make super hard lines close to the ground where wipeouts are more of an oops than a big fall. So gathering lots of resources for beams and railings would be a good idea.
Cheers,
Kris