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Whistler Crankworx 2012

Aug 10, 2012

It’s the first day of Whistler Crankworx 2012, the biggest, most progressive freeride festival in the world.

Crankworx gathers the world’s best to throw down in their respective biking disciplines from the pump track to the DH course. There’s a hell of a lot to look forward to over the next 9 days, and BLISTER photographer Dan Finn is there to capture the highlights and give you a sense of what Crankworx is all about.

Today things start with the Fat Tire Crit race and ramp up into more gravity-driven events in the coming days.

Avid is sponsoring a cool new event this year that’s largely influenced by the moto world: Dual Speed and Style. Take a timed, dual slalom competition, and combine it with a judged freestyle session. Tomorrow, riders will race against one another on a slalom course that’s dotted with jumps and features, earning credit against their total time for tricks thrown in the middle of the race.

On Sunday, the marathon-style, 12km long Garbanzo Downhill kicks off with a 3400′ descent, sections of which will run through Whistler’s bike park. Downhill continues on Wednesday with Air Downhill (think speed & style, but on a DH course), and the Canadian Open DH on the 19th. Sponsored by Jeep with a $10,000 purse this year, the Open is shaping up to be very competitive, and something we definitely look forward to watching.

Things at Crankworx should really get interesting once the slopestlyle events get started. We’ll see Teva’s Best Trick contest go down on Thursday of next week, and the Red Bull Joyride Finals on Sunday, the 18th. A true freeride competition, the Joyride is a fusion of slopestyle, dirt jumping, and North Shore mountain biking. If you’re going to tune in to one thing from Crankworx, this ought to be it.

No matter what discipline you relate to most in the biking world, it’s tough not to get excited about something going on at Crankworx. Stay Tuned.