Of the 27 athletes invited to compete in the sixth annual Monster Energy Slopestyle on Saturday — the premier event of the Crankworx mountain bike festival — three were born and raised in Whistler, while another spends a lot of his free time here riding and training.
Up to 15,000 people are expected to be on hand to watch the competition, where competitors pick their own lines through the Boneyard at the base of Whistler Mountain in a showdown of style, skill and guts. This year the course was designed by John Cowan, and includes step-ups, step-downs, drops, dirt jumps, wall rides, the satellite dish boxes for spin tricks, and the grand finale that looks like a giant anvil with a ramp at the end.
The judges are looking for line choice, speed, the variety of tricks, the degree of difficulty for those tricks, style, air time, fluidity and flow — the ability to link up tricks on the different Boneyard features while making it look easy.
All of the top freeriders in the world are taking part, including the winners from all the past years since Whistler held the first mountain bike slopestyle more than five years ago — Darren Berrecloth (2003), Paul Basagoitia (2004, 2005), Cameron Zink (2006) and Ben Boyko (2007). More than $30,000 is up for grabs in the competition.
Some of that award money could be staying in Whistler this year, as Whistler’s young freeriders are in the field — Brandon Semenuk, Alex Prochazka, and Kyle McDonald, all 17 years old. Also competing is 19-year-old Mitch Chubey, who lives in Langley but spends a lot of time riding and training in Whistler.
Other B.C. riders to watch for include Darren Berrcloth, who lives on Vancouver Island, and North Vancouver’s Ben Boyko.
Semenuk is coming into the competition on a roll after winning the Crankworx Colorado slopestyle just two weeks before Saturday’s event. Support from his sponsors, Trek, Nike, Camelbak, Sram, and Smith Optics, helped him to compete in the Quashquai challenge in Europe earlier in the summer. He had mixed results in Europe, finishing third in the first event and then missing the finals in the second.
Semenuk grew up racing cross-country, then made the switch to dirt jumping several years ago. He’s spent the past two winters in Aptos, California where he can train year round with other top riders. The move has paid off, as Semenuk has moved up the pro ranks.
When asked whether he was coming into Crankworx with a target on his back after winning Colorado, Semenuk said maybe, but that it wasn’t painted there by the other competitors.
“People are saying ‘you have a good chance now’ and you know people are going to be watching you a little more closely after you win an event, but the truth is nobody really cares who’s competing, we’re all friends, we like to see each other do well,” he said. “We all just do our own thing and hope for the best.”
Semenuk has already trained on the Boneyard course, and likes what he sees.
“It’s all pretty good, I feel I can get a good trick on every stunt,” he said. “I have to practice and play around a bit more to get it dialed in, but I really like it. It’s on a steeper grade than Colorado so it’s a bit faster and more technical.
“Normally when you pre-ride the course you think about what tricks will be good on which jump, and then you plan the run you want in your head and go out and practice it, but there are always random mess ups that turn one thing into another that’s spontaneous.”
Semenuk says he will likely have a few lines planned — a more conservative run where he can land every trick and qualify for the finals, and a bigger run in the finals that should get him onto the podium.
“People have different strategies. Some people take safety runs in the finals, while others try to go for the big run they want that can get them on the podium. The good thing is you get two chops at it, so you can do a safer run and then a big run at the finish,” he said.
“The athletes will make it a tough competition, but we’re all friends. It’s a friendly competition.”
Alex Prochazka placed 10 th in Colorado, and is coming in to Crankworx Whistler without spending much time training for slopestyle. Earlier this summer he raced in the UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Italy, where he placed fourth in the Junior Expert category against an international field.
“I’ve spent most of the season racing, and haven’t done much slopestyle this year except for Colorado,” he said. “Brandon (Semenuk) and I rode the course the other day, what was open, and we tested it out and it seems like it’s a good, fun course.
“Colorado was really, really fun, it had a few different features and a lot of flow, but it wasn’t as big as anything here and it wasn’t as fast. You’re going to need two brakes here, front and back.”
The bottom jump wasn’t open as of Monday, and Prochazka opted to skip training on Tuesday with the rain. So far his favourite feature is the Gyro box.
“It’s really good, there’s a nice tranny (transition), a really nice lip to get on it, and it’s a really good drop off the end. Nobody has hit (the anvil) yet, but it looks like you can really trick off of it.”
Prochazka’s goal is to make the finals this year, which he says is possible despite his lack of slopestyle competitions this season. To qualify, he’ll have to finish in the top eight with one of his first two runs. Riders in the final get two more runs, as well as a share of the prize purse — $15,000 for first, $8,000 for second, $4,500 for third and $500 for fourth through eighth.
Prochazka signed with Commencal bikes, a European company that sponsors top downhillers like the Athertons (Gee, Rachel and Dan) and Cedric Gracia. Canadian downhiller Micayla Gatto is also with their factory team. Other sponsors are Oakley, Target and Marzocchi.
Kyle McDonald also competed in Colorado, where he finished 17 th overall. McDonald didn’t qualify for the super finals last year with Semenuk and Prochazka, but has another year under his belt and is getting better with every competition.
Langley’s Mitch Chubey, 13 th in Colorado, is also on a bit of a roll after winning the recent Red Bull Round Up competition. He also won the Air Dome Jump Jam last fall, and placed in the recent Boneyard Air Affair.
It’s been a big step moving up into the pro level, he says.
“It’s definitely changed, it’s a lot more than just going to local comps,” he said. “Suddenly you’re doing all this travelling to Europe and Colorado and other places, and you don’t get to spend a lot of time at home. Still, I wouldn’t be doing anything else.”
Landing new sponsors helps Chubey get around, and these days he’s riding for NSMB.com, Specialized, 661, Lake Shoes, and Industry 9.
Chubey is also a big fan of the Air Dome at Base II, an indoor bike park that features a ramp into a huge foam pit.
“During the season there’s not enough time to practice new tricks, it’s more about staying off the injured list and staying healthy,” he said. “After the season is over it’s pretty much full time in the foam pit until you get a trick down, then it’s onto the mulch pile, and then you can step it up to dirt training sessions. I also try to go to the gym so my body is running at 100 per cent right from the start.”
Chubey says he’s at about 95 per cent right now with a shoulder injury from the Boneyard Air Affair, and a sore ankle from last season.
His goal is also to make the final, and plans to keep it simple in the qualifier.
“Basically the plan is to hit all of the bigger lines that seem to score better, and not try to throw a huge trick off of everything but a decent trick, and hope that will do it,” he said. “I’ll have to watch what the other guys are doing, but you have to finish your run to get a good score. The last two runs in the final is where everybody throws down, and there’s a lot of money on the line this year.”
The competition gets underway at 6 p.m. while Dana D & South Rakkas Crew provide musical accompaniment from the mainstage.
Other events this week include the Volkswagen Trick Showdown on Thursday, the Giant Slalom on Friday, the trials events — Kidsworx and Trialworx — on Friday and Saturday, and the Canadian Open Downhill on Sunday. For a complete schedule visit www.crankworx.com.
