Hot off a major success at Crankworx in Colorado, Brandon Semenuk is set to claim victory on home soil.
The 18-year-old cyclist won the Slopestyle competition at last weekend's Crankworx Colorado event at Winter Park Resort, coming in with a rating of 95.67, well above his closest competitor. It's the latest accolade in a young-but-successful career for the Whistler-born athlete who's now set to compete among the world's rest in Slopestyle on home soil.
He'll be one of 10 finalists competing in the Monster Energy Slopestyle event at Whistler on Aug. 14. The event will see extreme bikers start a little ways up Whistler Mountain and conquer a number of obstacles along the way. The first feature in the race has bikers bounding off a ramp, pleasing the crowd with a front flip or otherwise then landing for the next one.
The second feature has bikers flying as high as they can up a ramp with a long platform on the other side. From there they hit varying versions of similar features and try to come in with the highest ratings. Creative jumps along the way determine the winners.
Other competitors will include Graham Agassiz of Kamloops, who came fifth in Slopestyle at Crankworx Colorado with a score of 81.33. Darren Berrecloth from Qualicum Beach came seventh at the Colorado Slopestyle event.
Beyond Slopestyle, there will be several downhill events. The Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill goes down Sunday, Aug. 8. It starts way up the mountain, where the Crankworx website claims riders have to tackle "anaconda-thick" root systems, then traverse over slickrock and "natural hits" along the way before finally landing at the finish, 3,400 vertical feet later.
The course starts officially at the Garbanzo lift hut, going through Original Sin, past the tree island on the Dave Murray flats, down Blue Velvet, proceeding into Deep, then after a rock face turns left towards Container and then into No Joke/Duffman. Riders will remain on Duffman until it merges with Golden Triangle, then continue on the World Cup Singletrack, into Ho Chi Min, Longhorn and Monkey Hands to the finish.
Tackling this course will be Squamish's Miranda Miller, who most recently competed in the six-race Phat Wednesday Downhill Series and came fourth with a time of 4:31.15.
Prior to that event, she placed second among Elite Women at the 2010 Downhill National Championships and won the Elite Women category at the Bear Mountain Challenge in early July. She won the Garbanzo Downhill at the 2009 Crankworx event.
Also in the race is Canadian champion Micayla Gatto. She won the Elite Women category at the Downhill National Championships with a time of 3:55.13, beating out Miller by seven seconds.
The junior category will see Whistler stalwart Tyler Allison competing, as well as locals Ian Morrison and Nick and Zander Geddes. Allison came second out of 112 riders in his category at the Phat Wednesday series with a time of 3:57.87. He was edged out of the lead by Tyler Morland who won with a time of 3:55.86.
Downhill Events:
Miranda Millar-Squamish
Micayla Gatto-Cdn Champion
Stevie Smith-Van Island (Just placed 5th @ World Cup event in Italy)
Tyler Allison-Whistler Junior
Ian Morrison-Whistler Junior
Nick & Zander Geddes-Whistler Juniors
Slopestyle :
Brandon Semenuk-Whistler
Graham Agassiz-Kamloops
Enduro :
The Canadian Open Enduro is going to be one of the hottest events at Crankworx this year! The course has been tweaked to perfection and we've got an awesome crop of international athletes ready to compete including Remy Absalon, Anne Caro Chausson, Fionn Griffiths and Emmeline Ragot.
