Crankworx: the view

It is unquestionably the Super Bowl of Slopestyle. While the Red Bull Rampage crowns a freeride champion every year, the Monster Energy Slopestyle at Kokanee Crankworx is no doubt the feather in any slopestyler’s full face. And like the Superbowl, in the week leading up to the event, one of the big questions besides “who have ya got to win” was “where are you gonna watch from?”

You used to be confined to camping out on the deck of the GLC, throwing elbows down on the Plaza, or hoofing it up the course. Now, there are a myriad of VIP viewing decks (and the more there are, the greater a lot of our chances become for VIP-worthiness) and – new to me this year – watching the event from a suite in the Pan Pacific, which overlooks the course perfectly. I’ve been lucky enough to see the event from inside the ropes – albeit mostly from behind a camera lens – as well as on top of the SRAM deck. Both were great in their own way. When you’re on the course you are in the middle of the action. It’s better than 50 yard line seats because you’re closer to the riders and they usually start above you and then hurl their bodies down the course and finish below you. Nothing makes you feel like a part of the event more than hearing the wind created by a rider as they blow by you.

This year we were invited by Chris Gagan of Fox Racing to watch from two side-by-side suites in the Pan. Easy decision to take him up on that one, and when we walked in it was clear we’d made a good choice. Sofas stacked stadium style in one suite let twice the number of people watch while sitting and sipping drinks while both balconies were also full and gave great views. We had a relatively unobstructed view of the course and although we couldn’t see the top all that well, the screen filled in the gaps for us. All that was missing was a bowl of chili. Maybe next year.

One couch low, one high. High marks for execution and originality.

What you get for watching from back there is a feeling for the event as a whole. It feels louder when you’re in the middle of it but from afar you can take in just how big this event has become.

The course had more people on it later once the finals started. Yes that is a pool in the foreground and yes, there were bikinis in it when the sun came out. Gorious.

The other benefit of watching from afar is that you see some things unfold that you wouldn’t normally. Take the now famous streaker. We all saw him on the big screen (if not in the… flesh) but Nelson Mouellic was shooting stills from our suite and he caught a funny sequence – check it out:

Here you can clearly see the security guard trying to end the fun- I mean do his job. Note how most of the photographers are looking away but one guy kept shooting – with a telephoto no less.

 

We thought it was over at this point but just look at that stealthy move! Sneaky streaker.

 

Like he just won Best Trick. Even the security guard had to smile at that one.

Aside from streakers pulling inside out moves, there really is always a lot to look out for from up there and I don’t just mean the talent on the course.

Watching from the side of the course gives you by far the best perspective – this is not news as any sports fan will tell you. I felt like Gareth Dyer was back-flipping right over me in 03 (04?) when he tried to gap a spine that no one else had even cleared with a straight air. He didn’t make it and went down hard and that’s the other thing: we all hate to see a rider get hurt but it also drives home what these guys are putting on the line when they compete. I’m not sure if Gareth ever really competed in slopestyle much after that crash (I think it was a concussion and disco shoulder but might have been worse). Ditto with Bearclaw 3’ing that drop that used to come out of the woods on rider’s right on the course in 05 and 06. No matter where you watch from, make sure you spend some time on the side of the course for part of the time – it really does bring home just how big these guys are going and how fast a flip whip or double tail whip has to be thrown in order to be landed.

No matter where you take it in from, the Slopestyle is always great to watch, and this year’s was one of the best for spectators in recent years.

As for next year? I probably won’t spill the beans until it’s said and done, but we’re working on our options as we speak…