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All-star field invited to Slopestyle

Registration numbers climbing for CrankWorx events
berrecloth
Last years slopestye winner Darren Berrecloth.

With a week to go before the CrankWorx Freeride Mountain Bike Festival, registration is strong for the four open events – the Air Downhill down A-Line, the Garbanzo Downhill from the top of the Garbanzo zone to the village, the Nissan Boneyard Biker X, and the B.C. Downhill Championships.

"We expect to get most of our registrations in a day or an hour before the events, but we were surprised to see how many we did get in advance this year, probably because it was cheaper to register," said Karen Hoover, the event administrator for IMG Action Sports. "Right now we’re looking at close to a hundred riders in each event, so we’re off to a good start."

The only invitational event in the CrankWorx Festival, which runs from July 22 to 25, is the Siemens Mobile Slopestyle Expression Session, which will take place at the base of Whistler Mountain on a wide range of jumps and stunts – including what could only be described as the world’s largest teeter-totter.

Construction on the jumps and stunts for the slopestyle is already underway, and work began this week on the biker cross course to add new sections.

"We like to think that we’re on schedule, which is good," said Rob McSkimming, the managing director of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

"We’re pretty focused on getting all of the various courses ready because we know we’re working on a very tight schedule to pull off five events in four days. We have to get courses marked, cleared, set up timing, put up barriers, there are a lot of logistics."

Trail crews are also building a new section of trail for the downhill course that will be used in the B.C. Championships "to help it flow better," said McSkimming.

The bikercross and slopestyle courses are also getting some input from pro riders with World 4X Champion Brian Lopes of the U.S. helping set up the bikercross and freeriders Richie Schley and Wade Simmons advising on the design and construction of stunts for the slopestyle.

"Some of the best guys in the world are working to get this ready," McSkimming said.

Twenty-one riders pre-qualified for the main event on Saturday night, and at least five more riders will be added to that list from the qualifier on Friday.

Prequalified Riders

Cedric Gracia

Timo Prizel

John Cowan

Aaron Chase

Eric Porter

Wade Simmons

Richie Schley

Kyle Strait

Thomas Vanderham

Kirt Voreis

Jeff Lenosky

Gareth Dyer

Randy Spangler

Shaums March

Cameron McCaul

Matt Hunter

Robbie Bourdon

Andrew Shandro

Kyle Ritchie

Cameron Zink

Tyler Klassen

Riders in Qualifier

Ryder Kasprick

Wayne Goss

Ryan Schnepf

Chris Donahue

Aaron Kemps

Carter Holland

Kyle Scully

Mike Laudrum

Ross Measures

Steve Popma

Richard Gasperotti

Mike Kinrade

Geoff Golevich

Ryan Hayes

Joe Schwartz

Steve Rominick

Jordie Lunn

Scott Wirch

Jay Hoots

Paul Basagoitia

Brent Floyd

Some of the athletes that competed last year, including past champion Darren Berrecloth of Vancouver, can’t compete this year due to injuries.

Hoover says strong fields are registering for the other events in CrankWorx. Cedric Gracia, the winner of last year’s bikercross events, will be here to defend his title.

For schedules, registration and more details, visit the Web site at www.crankworx.com.