This is the first year for the CrankWorx Freeride Mountain Bike Festival, but in many ways it’s just the next incarnation of a string of Whistler summer mountain bike festivals that have helped to push the sport to a whole new level.
Some of cornerstone events, like the Air Downhill down A-Line, are already in their third year. Events like the Provincial Downhill Mountain Bike Championships and the Garbanzo Downhill are new, but only because this is the first year that B.C. Cycling has sanctioned provincial championships and the first year of the Garbanzo expansion to the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.
The CrankWorx weekend gets underway on Thursday, July 22 and runs until Sunday with five major events, trials and freeride mountain bike demos in the village, concerts and movie showings in the evenings, and a huge expo at the base of the mountain.
All of the events and demos are designed to be as spectator-friendly as possible, and visitors to the resort will know from the moment they arrive that they’ve landed in the middle of a massive mountain bike festival – and that you don’t have to ride yourself to appreciate it. More than 5,000 fans are expected to turn out for the slopestyle event, which Whistler was the first to host last year.
For mountain bike fans, the events will highlight the progression in the sport and the fact that riders are going faster, hucking bigger, tackling harder obstacles and learning new tricks every year. Some of the biggest names in freeride mountain biking – many of whom now choose to live in Whistler – will be the ones pushing the progression as they compete for $30,000 in cash and prizes over the five events.
It’s an exciting time for the sport, and CrankWorx – and the festivals that came before it – is one of the reasons why.
Competitions
Of the five freeride and downhill competitions held during CrankWorx, four are open to the public and in some cases there are a variety of different competitive categories to choose from.
The first event of the weekend is the third annual Air Downhill, a race down Whistler’s renowned A-Line trail which features more than 60 tabletop jumps, step-ups, berms, drops and other obstacles.
The Nissan Boneyard Biker-X takes place on Friday, with heats of four riders taking on the biker-cross course at the base of Whistler Mountain. The course itself will be a little more difficult as work crews add new features.
The day starts with a timed qualifier, to establish seeding. In the evening the competitions will begin with the top two riders in each bracket moving on to the next round.
That evening there will be a slopestyle qualifier event, where a dozen riders will compete for five spots in Saturday night’s Slope Expression Session.
On Saturday the Whistler Mountain Bike Park will host the first ever Garbanzo Downhill, a run from the top of the Garbanzo chair to the base of Whistler Mountain. With a 3,400 vertical foot drop and almost eight kilometres of trail to cover, the faster riders are expected to take approximately 15 minutes from top to bottom.
All three of these events are open to the public, all offer professional, amateur and junior categories for men and women.
Saturday night will see crowds gather at the base of the mountain for the invitation-only Slopestyle Expression Session. New stunts, including dirt jumps, gaps and drops are being built in the Boneyard area, and the top mountain bikers in the world have been invited to come out and ride the biggest lines with the best tricks. Last year’s champion, Darren Berrecloth, is expected to defend his title, and the field will include riders like Richie Schley, Dave Watson, Wade Simmons and Thomas Vanderham. A total of 20 pro riders will compete, as well as five riders that make it through Friday’s qualifier.
The final event of the weekend is the first ever B.C. Downhill Championships on Sunday, with 18 different competitive categories from Sport to Senior Pro-Elite. The event should be a huge draw for mountain bikers around the province with prize money and provincial titles on the line. At some B.C. Cups this season, the downhill field has included more than 250 riders.
The plan is to run the event on the World Cup Downhill course, although there may be changes as the event gets closer.
Entertainment
CrankWorx has also put together a wide range of concerts and demonstrations to keep people entertained throughout the weekend.
The Baia Brothers Trials Team will be putting on demonstrations and clinics throughout the festival with four 30-minute sets each day between noon and 7 p.m. in Mountain Square and Village Square. Jason Baia is one of the top pro trials riders in Canada and his younger brother Steve, only 11, is the under 12 world champion.
Dangerous Dan and the Flowshow will return to Whistler this year, and set up an insane array of bike stunts that were inspired by North Shore riding in the Town Plaza Gazebo area. They also plan to do four 30-minute sets a day during the festival, although last year’s schedule was altered slightly because of all the broken bikes.
To get the younger fans involved there will be a race course in the village on Saturday for kids 6-12.
On Sunday there will be a cruiser bike ride through the village with prizes for the best decorated bike and the best custom ride.
There will also be Pro-Rider Shows, a CrankWorx expo at the base of the mountain and a concert series. Details on these events are still being confirmed.
To learn more about Crankworx, visit the official Web site at www.crankworx.com.
