Jordy Scott would not be denied.
On a cloudy, blustery Thursday afternoon, Scott maneuvered down the Boneyard's intimidating dual slalom course time after time with greater speed and skill than any of her opponents. She made vanquishing Martha Gill, last year's Queen of Crankworx, appear easy in the gold medal final. Julia Lofqvist Traum beat Alaina Henderson to take bronze.
The men's big final was an all-American affair between Dante Silva and Austin "Bubba" Warren. Even though Warren had put together a monumental outing with victories over two-time Whistler slalom champ Jackson Frew and Kiwi veteran Samuel Blenkinsop, he slid out when it mattered most to give Silva an insurmountable 1.5-second edge by rule.
Sea to Sky fans cheered loud and proud for Tegan Cruz all day. He rewarded their faith, holding off a tenacious Ryder Lawrence in the quarterfinals and dropping his semifinal matchup to Silva by just over two one-hundredths of a second. Not to be kept down for long, Cruz achieved his first podium of the week (third place) by dominating Blenkinsop.
While the curtain has yet to fall on Crankworx Whistler 2025, two things are already immutable: Scott is the new overall series Queen, while Ryan Gilchrist retains his crown as King despite a sixth-place dual slalom result.
"This is my first big win in slalom of the year, so I'm really happy to get that and I think it'll boost my confidence a lot going forward," Scott remarked. "I think I've progressed so much since last year, and it's really nice to see the hard work paying off. I hope I can keep progressing into next year."
An ecstatic Silva had this to say about winning his first dual slalom in Whistler: "I think I did it almost flawlessly. It was some tight racing all throughout the round of eight, round of four. I feel like I just was able to edge everyone out a little bit every single round and bring it home."
Shark-fin attack
Gated mountain bike racing is normally Scott's happy place, but this year's track boasted a shark-fin feature that did not make anyone smile.
"It was scaring a lot of the guys in practice. It was scaring all of us," admitted the top-seeded rider. "There were, like, seriously 12 or 13 crashes in practice, just constant course holds so pretty hard to stay with it mentally…but I knew I could do it and I just kept going."
Caroline Buchanan and Sabina Košárková were among those who wiped out hard and subsequently withdrew from contention. Observing them go down was "pretty off-putting" to Gill, who decided to ride within her abilities instead of chancing the kind of crash she'd already experienced in Rotorua and Cairns earlier this season.
Even so, Gill defeated Maylei Leaneagh and then rolled past Henderson, who lost control of her front wheel in Semifinal No. 1 before tumbling off her bike during Semifinal No. 2. The Brit's good fortune would end against Scott, who bested her in what might be considered a passing-of-the-torch moment.
"Jordy is awesome. She's been killing it all this year," Gill said. "She's really stepped up in the downhill, which is really cool to see. She's always so smiley and happy. Even when we're racing, it's still all smiles and we're still friends. It's really fun to be able to race with people like that."
Scott now owns 945 Queen of Crankworx points with an opportunity to break 1,000 before the week is over. Košárková hasn't managed higher than eighth in Whistler (634) and Buchanan is close behind (621). Gill (593) states that she did not aim to defend her throne in favour of focusing on her preferred disciplines.
More specifically, the dual slalom overall ranking goes: Scott (340), Buchanan (260) and Gill (165) in that order.
'The pinnacles of slalom'
Drama abounded on the men's side of the bracket, with reigning silver medallist Brady Stone (16th), bronze medallist Nikolas Nestoroff (13th) and two-time Crankworx King Bas van Steenbergen (22nd) all having short days at the office. Dane Jewett, who rode to third in the OG Canadian Open Downhill and Air DH, was 10th.
Warren defeated Frew in a thrilling quarterfinal matchup with each man taking a heat, but Frew lost on overall time and settled into eighth. Gilchrist was eliminated in his own quarterfinal by Blenkinsop, falling 0.135 seconds behind across two runs.
Onlookers were ultimately shocked to see No. 1 seed Warren fall against No. 6 Silva, a rider who still looks up to him.
"I have so much respect for Bubba," revealed Silva. "I actually grew up riding with Kyle Strait, Bubba Warren, Luca Cometti and I've got to give a lot of credit to them for helping me gain my skills over the years. I just had to put some pressure on him, and I knew that's how I [was going] to get Bubba because he's usually quicker than me, but I was able to make it happen.
"Crankworx slalom is definitely one of the pinnacles of slalom in general, so to be able to get the gold this week and on the 20th anniversary…I'm just so stoked and honoured."
Cruz described Thursday as "one of the hardest days of racing" he's ever experienced—which is saying a lot given he's survived the Garbanzo DH more than once. The King award is out of reach, but he added: "It's amazing just having the whole family here and so many friends. Nothing like racing at home."
Gilchrist has now put together his second consecutive 1,000-point campaign (1,024), but runner-up rights in the overall are very much up for grabs with Cruz (821) barely ahead of Frew (811).
Pemberton's Cruz (285) also came within a hair's breadth of equalling Gilchrist (290) for top spot in the dual slalom standings as Blenkinsop remained behind them (206).
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