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Bearclaw’s One Man Show And The Airprenticeship of Neil Meier |
Competing, filming, building and living the life of arguably the most famous name in mountain biking wasn’t enough for Darren Berrecloth; he needed to get even busier taking on the monumental task of producing his own slopestyle event. The concept was simple - invite 24 top pro riders to Mount Washington near his home, build a solid course that would showcase these riders’ styles, get enough sponsorship money to put it all together then have a great time riding. Everything went according to plan, except for the part about getting the top riders to compete.
To fill some of the spots reserved for the big name riders who could not make it Darren invited a number of up and coming B.C. riders; among them was nsmb.com team rider and 2005 AIRprentice winner Neil Meier - making his first appearance in the big show. After lacerating his spleen in mid July while showing the 2006 nsmb.com AIRprentice contestants how to go big, Neil was healthy, rested and excited to prove himself.
Darren Berrecloth kicking off his own contest. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
I spoke to Darren ten minutes after his final run of the day. While we spoke he was sidetracked with posing for photos, signing T-shirts, getting free beer wristbands to competitors, media, and friends. He was relaxed – a stark contrast to the start of the event when he was lugging a fire hose to the jumps to moisten them, giving TV crews one minute max interviews, talking to sponsors, pushing his bike up for practice runs, helping his brother Ryan get over the hitching post log, setting up shots for Sterling Lorence and New World Disorder cameramen and then sorting out the final details with his judges, Mt. Washington staff and riders. I was amazed that he could do all this and still ride with so much confidence.
Bearclaw told me he got permission from Mt. Washington a couple of months ago. From then it’s been a mad scramble to get the event going. Darren's sponsors came up with the money for the event even though their budgets were already spent. He said the reason he got this was the loyalty his sponsors had for him. Ken Maude, Marketing Director for RaceFace one of Darren’s major sponsors, told me that Race Face wanted to get behind this event to help Darren make it a success in his own backyard. Race Face helped by contributing cash towards the $9000 prize purse. Adidas, Specialized, bike Magazine, Kokanee, Hayes, Dakine and Manitou rounded out the rest of the cash support.
"Where are you taking me and what's with the gloves?" Ryder Kasprick is escorted off the course after going down hard attempting a double whip. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
With the financing in place Darren put the call out to all the big names in the bike business. Ryder Kasprick, Cam McCaul, Eric Porter and Jordie Lunn were all there to compete but there were many conspicuous absences. Darren told me that the Europeans couldn’t make it because they had to attend Euro Bike to work on their sponsorship arrangements. A number of other guys couldn’t show because they still had to get their video segments completed; and in DB’s words, "All the other riders are either too lazy or they were filming." In addition, injuries kept the likes of Zink, Kinrade, Boyko (who wrecked his wrist in practice), Romaniuk, Gulevich (who came along to judge) and Vanderham away. During my interview Darren was disappointed that more big names didn’t turn out but he was optimistic about the future; “ Next year more guys will see the benefits in turning up for a big event in a relaxed end of season chill environment.”
Whistler's Alex Prochazka letting go. Photo ~ Tom Cliffe
The upside of pro absences was the opportunity it presented for the young up and comers to make their names. In addition to Neil Meier some of these hopefuls included Ross McMaster and Kyle McDonald (respectively coming off 15th and 17th place finishes at Crankworx), Ross Measures (13th Adidas Slopestyle), 16-year old Alex Pro, Nick Meyer of the brothers Meyer (Ryan Meyer 19th Crankworx withdrew after dislocating his jaw in practice), Evan Holmgren, Ryan Berrecloth, older brother to the great one and Sheldon Kennedy. The last time I saw Sheldon he had to drive Neil’s broken down truck back to Naniamo after Neil cut his spleen. The truck made it 70 km then broke down just like its owner. Neil was laying in the Whistler hospital trying to convince the nurses that he should be released to drive home because he was OK and he could take the pain. The nurses laughed and told him his morphine cocktail was doing the talking and the helicopter would be arriving to fly him to Vancouver.
Neil Meier contemplates his run at the top of the course and takes a moment to thank nsmb.com team's sponsors. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
I'd heard stories about Bearclaw’s work ethic, his strength and his ability to build jumps but seeing it live was so much more impressive. I spoke to freeride biking’s premier photographer Sterling Lorence who has been covering all the other slopestyle events around the world. He said,” I can’t believe what Bearclaw’s put together in a matter of a week. It’s a testament to the craftsman of a course when the riders show up and none of them grabs a shovel. They all went and grabbed their bikes which means it was ready to go. There weren’t any weird angles on the lips because Bearclaw just knows everything which is the great thing about getting a rider to build a course. It’s top notch. Bearclaw loves to use machines, he knows how to excavate, he’s pro, he’s got a job waiting for him when he retires. He’s amazing to watch.”
Darren told me that he and friend Jim Deas worked on the course from 6:30 am to dusk every day for a week. They struck gold on their run using dirt from the mountain for the stunts. According to Sterling, most Slopestyle courses have to ship dirt in to build. Darren had $3000 worth of dirt piled and ready in case he needed it but it just sat there because the existing soil was so good. According to Darren, the course was designed to “not be too crazy, not too gnarly, where people aren’t too scared to ride.”
Neil Meier no-foot can on his new bike. Photo ~ Tom Cliffe
I asked Cam McCaul what this event was like coming off the big events he’s been at this year. He said, "This is just as good. It’s pretty much the funnest(sic) event you can imagine. It’s just like just chill. You get 5 runs (editors note: 5 runs for qualifiers, 3 runs for finals) so everybody’s just hangin’ out. The course isn’t scary…the course is just perfect to trick. We were just havin’ a great time the whole day. It’s not like we’re stressing or anything - it was sick. All those other courses, Crankworx, Monster Park particularly, there’s so many different line choices, it’s so hard to judge. This is one line - everyone rides the same line. It’s all about the riding and tricks instead of the line choices - it’s really cool. This is the shutdown party for the slopestyle season. After this we’re all just kickin’ it. I’m going to Interbike then Cowan’s Jump Jam.”
From a spectator’s point of view - well mine really - I found the format a little tedious after a couple of hours. Most of the riders were doing the exact same tricks every run. It’s obviously a compromise (isn’t it always?) between riders, judges and spectators. The same line did allow the judges and probably us the opportunity to evaluate riders against one another instead of having to factor in a line score as well.
Ryder Kasprick was on his game. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
At this point I should confess to not having attended a single Slopestyle event before this. When it came down to it I always chose riding with my bros over watching the pros. I figured that I could hang out with thousands of spectators or rip my favourite trails. Presently I’m healing a broken hand and ribs so I figured this would be a perfect chance to see a slopestyle comp without worrying about missing out on some riding. I was instantly grooving on the laid-back island vibe. There were close to a thousand spectators, the weather was clear and sunny, announcer Brad Ewen was creating a fun and relaxed vibe, the Kokanee beer garden was contributing to the aforementioned vibe and the riders’ big moves were all combining to make the atmosphere enjoyable.
Neil Meier doing us proud. Photo ~ Tom Cliffe
I was driving up to Mt. Washington thinking about how I wanted the focus of this story to be on our nsmb rider Neil Meier and his trip to the show – a mountain bike version of the minor league baseball player getting the call to play in the major leagues. My biggest worry was that he would not be able to throw down in order to make the finals. When I watched Neil in practice it seemed that my fears were going to be realized. He complained about not being able to scrub off speed with only a back brake. I thought, "What? You’re coming to an event put on by Bearclaw riding a hardtail with only one brake? You sir are still an apprentice.” I noticed that most of the riders were on duallies (to Neil’s credit he was doing his new sponsor, Rocky, proud by riding the only frame they had in stock) however a number of the boys were going big on their hardtails with single brakes so he wasn’t too far out of his league. I did think that the 3 biggest names there, Berrecloth, McCaul, Porter, all had duallies so there might be something their experience is telling them. Neil took his time sessioning each of the ten hits slowly working his quiver of tricks on to the stunts. I was a little worried that he might be back too early from his spleen injury but he assured me that he was 100%. This statement came from the kid who wanted to walk out of the Whistler hospital with a lacerated spleen.
Neil launches a huge one-foot x-up drop. Most riders just straight aired this. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
Cam McCaul, Darren Berrecloth and Ryder Kasprick were going huge, flowing every stunt, pulling big moves like tail whips, back flips, Indian Airs, 360’s off the step down all the while going so much bigger than anyone else that it seemed like there were two different qualifiers going on - one for these three and one for everyone else. The finals would be another story.
Bearclaw can three a drop like nobody else. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
While we waited for the finals to start Jordie Lunn was encouraged to attempt his 360 back flip (inverted 7) that he kept bailing on in qualifiers. More on that below but let's just say he set the stage for the finals perfectly with his efforts.
The qualifiers in order for the finals were:
| 1 | Darren Berrecloth |
| 2 | Cam McCaul |
| 3 | Ryder Kasprick |
| 4 | Ross McMaster |
| 5 | Eric Porter |
| 6 | Neil Meier |
| 7 | Alex Pro |
| 8 | Ross Measures |
Sterling Lorence and all the riders were impressed by the course Darren managed to put together with the help of Jim Deas. Here's Sheldon Kennedy sampling the goods. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
Alex Pro looked impressive on his first run with back flips, no foot cans, big tables and no handers. Neil had a great first run until the last stunt when he went down. The crowd loved announcer Brad Ewen’s call for a proctologist to report to his wipe out. Eric Porter looked good for half of his stunts with a back flip, x-up, one foot tabled foot plant on the hitching post and a big one foot plant on the final wall ride but he dead sailored the other half of the jumps except for one where he did the lamest no hander I’ve seen since my buddy Jerry Willows tried one. Both Rosses went down on their finals but they managed to walk up to the next stunt to try to salvage their runs. During the opening runs of the finals Bearclaw, Ryder and Cam all had major mechanicals to deal with. Other riders and spectators chipped in to help them – a stark contrast to the crews of mechanics fixing racers’ bikes. After the first runs McCaul had the best run pulling a big no foot can off the opening drop, a nice foot plant table off the hitching post, a big no hander, a bar spin onto the table with a 360 off. His run was varied, he hit everything big, did it with style and flow. His was the run to beat.
A nosedive three performed by Cam McCaul. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
We had to wait 15 minutes for McCaul’s second run to start so he could fix his wheel and chain. The comp was drawing out too much for my liking. From the qualifiers to the start of the second final runs we were at 5 hours. I’m surprised so many people stuck around. So much for attention deficit disorder among the biking crowd. Most of the riders did the same tricks for their second runs. McCaul and Bearclaw were looking very close after their final runs. I thought McCaul had more amplitude and he seemed a little smoother than the Claw. Kasprick was performing big moves with a lot of style but he kept wiping out on the last double attempting his double whip thereby missing out on two out of a possible ten moves. I had McCaul first, Bearclaw second, Kasprick third, Pro fourth and Meier fifth. Therefore when the results were finally announced and Porter got third over Kasprick I was shocked. Porter jumped straight on 2 of the jumps but even worse he did the lame no-hander off the hip jump. It was an embarrassing attempt every time he did it. His hands came a foot off the bars. He did well on his other 7 moves but those 3 misses didn’t place him ahead of Ryder in my uneducated opinion; but I’m not a judge and I’m sure veteran judge Paul Rak and his crew had a good reason. McCaul took first and Bearclaw got second.
It was all smiles on the Brodium. Left to right Eric Porter, Cam McCaul, Jordie Lunn (who won best trick) and Darren Berrecloth. Photo ~ Tom Cliffe
Neil’s trip to the show ended well with a sixth place finish behind Alex Pro. He was quite pleased with his result saying that he did everything he set out to do. This should give him the confidence to start working his flips, whips and 360’s into next year’s events.
The Claw shows Mc Cam how to drink a Kokanee while inverted. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
Perhaps next year’s event will draw an even bigger selection of the world’s top pros when they hear about how their peer puts on a great show and that they can get in on the Claw’s vision of the “cool, fun wind down event of the season.’ Whether they showed up or not didn’t matter to the approximately one thousand spectators who saw a great show regardless.
| 1 | Cam McCaul |
| 2 | Darren Berrecloth |
| 3 | Eric Porter |
| 4 | Ryder Kasprick |
| 5 | Alex Pro |
| 6 | Neil Meier |
| 7 | Ross Measures |
| 8 | Ross McMaster |
Jordie Lunn became the first man on 26" wheels to perform a three flip/inverted 720. Photo ~ Doug McMillan
| Jordie and the three flip - or is it an inverted 720? While we waited for the finals to start Jordie Lunn was goaded into attempting his 360 back flip (inverted 7) that he kept bailing on in qualifiers. The crowd had swelled to about a thousand by this point and they were cheering Jordie on. He climbed up to the transition leading into the step-up, waited for a huge cheer, rolled up onto the step-up table, dropped in and hit the big double with a tonne of speed. He spun 360 degrees while back flipping. It was incredible to watch. I was surprised to see him stick it because he seemed so far from landing it on previous attempts. The crowd went crazy, Jordie threw his helmet into the sea of fans and the vibe for the finals was set at a new height. It reminded me of the time Tony Hawk landed his 900 at the X Games; the failed attempts only spurred the crowds to get behind both these guys and when they got the tricks the collective enthusiasm was awesome to watch. |
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