Predicting the weather in the Coast Mountains is a precarious thing. With so many diverging forces at play, the ocean, mountains and jet streams that can come in from Hawaii, Alaska and even Japan it is a monumental task to figure out what is going to happen most days. Lets hope that is the case for the next ten days. Looking at the long range forecast a dismal cloud of rain seems to be pretty much hovering over the Whistler area. Heck yesterday there was 20cm of fresh snow on the Blackcomb Glacier. Pow shredding mid-July, absolutely ridiculous.
A heavy, dense, grey cloud has descended on the town and is just sitting there. Luckily so far this week the rain has been holding off during the day and only rushing down in force at night.
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| Under cloudy skies it begins. Kokanee Crankworx 2011. |
It was under this cloud layer that the first day of Kokanee Crankworx 2011 rolled in. The trucks and trailers have magically appeared with the requisite tents, stands and scaffolding structures. The circus is in town and it is time to indulge in all things mountain bike.
For those who are not mountain bikers things probably don't seem out of the ordinary, but for those in the know there is a palpable energy in the air. An electrical current that makes your hair stand on end with the anticipation of what is to come. Fresh, excited faces mill about in Skiers plaza as they slap hands and pound knuckles with bros that have appeared from all corners of the earth to take part in one of the greatest shows of the summer.
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| Pro bro Brett Tippie shows you the first preview for "Just the Tip" |
For the past few years Friday night has seen racers straddling their steeds to hit up some practice laps on the Dual Slalom Course and this year was no different. In the late hours of the afternoon it was game on and time for everyone to start figuring out their lines in preparation for tomorrow's action.
Dual Slalom is exciting for many reasons but one of them has to be the rider turn-out. It attracts Four Cross specialists and those that are only ever seen on a long travel bike. The big dawgs were out finding the lines which means lots of laps down and hikes back to the top. In an environment like Crankworx were it seems a good time is as important (maybe more important) then results it was great to see everyone working together to figure out the fastest way down both sides of the course.
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| Kyle Strait and Cam Zink discuss the course on the hike up. Kyle went from racing to slopestyle and back to racing while Cam has won the Monster Energy Slopestyle twice. Both will be lining up tomorrow for the Dual Slalom. |
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| Danny Hart gets his scrub on. |
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| One year ago this week Dan Atherton was in the hospital with a broken neck and now here he is finding the line in the moguls. |
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| Brian Lopes, always a contender in everything he enters at Crankworx. He is probably the closest to an odds on favourite for the Dual Slalom. |
After Dual practice the first event of Crankworx was on. 2011 saw the return of a couple things that have been missing since 2003. One of those is Paddy Kaye who is back and heading up the construction of the Redbull Joyride Slopestyle course and the other was the resurrection of the Fat Tire Crit.
Back in the days of yore the Fat Tire Crit wound its way through the Village Stroll, but with the increase in foot traffic over the past nine years it would have been almost impossible to pull this off. This time around the course consisted of an 800m loop around Olympic Plaza. The course may have been flat, but it is demanding racing as riders have to go full out to help prevent the dreaded lapping which will knock them out.
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| Kevin Calhoun lead the final heat for several laps until Lopes made a pass near the end of the race. |
When the dust had settled it was Brian Lopes who stood on top of the podium as he made a crucial pass on North Vancouver native Kevin Calhoun in the dying laps of the race to take the win and put another Crankworx notch on his belt. On the women's side it was Cove rider Katherine Short, someone who is normally associated with downhill racing that showed she had the legs and the lungs to take down the field and go home with the gold.
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| Lopes has won almost everything at Crankworx. He can now add the Fat Tire Crit to the resume. |
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| This guy has the right idea. Sweep had to use a motor to keep up with the riders. |
After all was said and done the return of the
Fat Tire Crit was a resounding success. Not only did it get a great rider turn out but it attracted people who quite often don't participate in Crankworx. Everyone from the gravity crowd to the lycra wearing XC dudes were out cheering as they packed in along the barriers to watch the tight, high paced racing action. With such a positive response lets just hope we see the Crit return in 2012.
