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Crankworx drawing a crowd

Waiting list for slopestyle, other events are selling fast

The competitive field for Crankworx is at last taking shape, and once again the Kokanee Slopestyle promises to be the biggest draw of the festivals for riders and spectators. All spots in the Kokanee Slopestyle that are open to the public have already sold out, and there is a growing waiting list.

“Everything is going really well, one of the greatest crops of athletes in the world is going to be here,” said event director Jeremy Roche. “A lot of the names are going to be recognizable from past years, but it’s basically all the top names from freeriding and downhill. It’s a real who’s who of mountain biking, and we’re glad to have them.”

The Kokanee Crankworx freeride mountain bike festival runs from July 20 to 29, with a mix of pro and amateur events, demonstrations, an industry expo, and live music and entertainment in the village.

According to Roche, registration is strong for all of the sports events, and many of the competitions, such as the Air Downhill and Garbanzo Downhill, are expected to sell out as in past years.

The new WomenzWorx event is also attracting a lot of attention, with free lift passes and discounts for women riding the park, a pro-am slopestyle, and a social.

For the slopestyle, confirmed riders include Cameron Zink, Cameron McCaul, Paul Basagoitia, Kyle Strait, Andreu Lacondeguy, Wade Simmons, Thomas Vanderham, and local rider Alex Prochazka. Prochazka is having a banner year, landing the second ever double backflip on a mountain bike, in a European contest, and placing fifth overall at Crankworx Colorado.

Confirmed downhill riders include Steve Peat, Nathan Rennie, Cedric Gracia, and Brian Lopes, among others, all of whom are competing in multiple events.

With pro and amateur categories broken down into age groups for most events, riders can test themselves against the top mountain bikers in the world. The are also junior categories, with a minimum age of 13.

Organizers are still looking for volunteers to help out, and have spots available on the sports crew, stage crew, competitor relations, media and VIP accreditation, expo crew, and logistics to organize other volunteers. All participants who can contribute a minimum of two six hour shifts will receive a T-shirt, tickets to the volunteer party, and be entered to win daily draws for prizes donated by industry sponsors.

To register as a competitor or to volunteer, visit www.crankworx.com.

 

Events

Volkswagen Biker Cross — July 20-21

This event opens this year’s Crankworx festival with competitors being seeded by their qualifying times, and racing against three other riders in each heat of the finals. All the action takes place on the Biker Cross course at the base of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, with lots of room spectators.

Athletes can train from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, July 20, and the course will be closed for training from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Athletes will get two runs, with only the best run counting from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the finals will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Awards will follow.

 

Garbanzo Enduro Downhill — July 21-22

The course for this race has not been picked, but competitors will race from the top of the Garbanzo Express chair to the valley for a vertical drop of close to 1,100 metres. The fastest competitors take just under 15 minutes to complete the course.

There will be training on Saturday, July 21, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on an open course (sharing with the public), and a closed course training session from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Sunday. Racers will run from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 6 p.m.

 

WomenzWorx — July 23-24

There are a lot of different components to the inaugural WomenzWorx event, including free lift passes for the first 100 women to ride the bike park, discounted clinics, the Gala Women’s Only Freeride event, and the Dirty Girls Gala semi formal awards ceremony.

The freeride event will include four judging stations set up at various features. The features include the jump sequence at the start of Freight Train to Goat’s Gully, the Schleyer ladder bridge drop, selected features in the Boneyard, and the last three jumps of A-Line. The Boneyard features are optional, and there are both pro and amateur categories.

Riders will be judged on line selection, technique, fluidity, control and air time.

 

Jim Beam Air Downhill — July 24-25

This is one of the most popular races of Crankworx, and is in its fifth year. The race takes place on A-Line, from top to bottom, with more than a hundred jumps, berms, and other features from top to bottom.

There will be training on Tuesday, July 24 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on an open course, and closed course training from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday. The race takes place from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., with the awards at 6:40 p.m. on the stage.

 

Telus Dual Slalom — July 26-27

In the early days of mountain biking, dual slalom races were popular for their ability to test riders and wow crowds. These days the format is making a comeback, as riders navigate a series of gates on a sloping course. Riders will be seeded during the time trials, and riders qualifying for the finals will race head to head against another rider for two runs, one run on each course, with the winner determined by the combine time. The winner from each bracket will advance to the next round.

The course, which is being built part-way up the biker cross track, will be open for training from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, and will be closed to registered racers on Friday for more training from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The time trials will take place from noon to 2:30 p.m., and the finals from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by the awards.

 

Canadian Open DH — July 28-29

The course is being kept under wraps for now, but this will be a World Cup-style downhill event on a selection of trails that test a variety of skills.

Participants can train on the open course from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, and on a closed course from 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday. The race will run from noon to 5:30 p.m., followed by the awards at 6 p.m.

 

Kokanee Slopestyle — July 25-28

The Kokanee Slopestyle format, invented in Whistler, combines the skills of dirt jumping and freeriding into one event, and has taken off around the world. There are more than a dozen pro events on the circuit in Europe and in North America, including the inaugural Crankworx Colorado this past weekend, but Whistler’s remains the biggest event for the sport. The contest takes place in the Boneyard at the base of Whistler Mountain on a course that includes wooden stunts, wall rides, drops, dirt jumps, and other features. Expect a crowd of 15,000 spectators to line to the course.

The training for qualifiers will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by the qualifier heats from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday. The top five finishers from each heat, and the top three overall riders from all three heats will advance to the finals, where they will face the top six finishers from the 2006 event. The finals take place on Saturday, with training from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and the contest from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.