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09/06/2008
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The Crankworx Slopestyle Expression Session
Part 3 of the report
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Words by Stuart Kernaghan
Photos by David Ferguson, Jay Sinclair, and Stuart Kernaghan
By this point, the competition was really down to a few guys who had a chance
to make it to the third, head-to-head, one-run-takes-it-all round: Paul, Timo,
Kyle, and McCaul.
Paul was proving to be the guy to watch, though, especially after that moment
of sketchiness that turned into brilliance on the scaffolding.
Paul B going over the double and wowing the sizeable crowd || Photo: David
Ferguson
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Timo was coming in for his second run, and he was going absolutely huge,
nailing tricks left and right and blowing everyone away.
He likely knew that he needed something so far above anything else if
he was going to take home the cash, and he stepped it up.
As he got to the bottom half of the course, Timo turned on the gas and
tried to gap the scaffolding.
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Timo in happier times, earlier in the comp || Photo: David
Ferguson |
Timo hit the jump more than twice as fast as anyone else, and the first thing
out of my mouth was, "Holy shit!" Now, I swear a lot (Cam can attest
to that fact), but hardly ever is it in genuine surprise. This was one of
those
rare occasions.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and I wasn't the only one. You could
almost feel the rush of air on the course as everyone sucked in their breath
at the same time when they realized what Timo was doing. And just as quickly
as it had started, it all went bad.
This is not what you want to see || Rider: Timo
Pritzel ** Photo: John
Cameron |
Timo overcooked the launch, and there was no way he could land it. He and
the bike parted company about eight to 10 feet above the scaffolding,
and he came down on the dirt tranny on his right leg. Very, very hard.
And with that, the Slopestyle Expression Session came to a sudden end.
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It was painfully obvious to everyone who saw the landing that Timo wasn't
going to walk away from it.
First aid personnel were there almost right away, and everybody held
their breath while they checked him out.
Thankfully, he was conscious and moving, which ruled out anything immediately
life-threatening.
Amazingly enough, Timo didn't look totally destroyed by the experience
- even though a video of the crash showed his right leg completely buckling
and twisting in a decidedly unnatural manner.
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The other pros, doing their job - Timo is in black, between
the two blue shirts || Photo: Stuart Kernaghan |
After setting a dislocated ankle in the field and bandaging the compound fracture,
Timo was carried off the course and organizers were left trying to decide what
the hell to do.
Timo and Paul were the two highest scoring riders in the second round and they
were the ones who would have gone on to the third round. But Timo wasn't in
any condition to sit upright, let alone ride a bike.
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Paul had the highest score of the two, and much to the crowd's confusion,
he was proclaimed the winner.
Chalk that up to the chaos that followed Timo's crash, no updates during
the event as to who was leading, organizers scrambling, and the announcers
not really doing a good job of informing people what was happening.
A final victory lap proved to be too much for Paul's bike to take (the
back wheel was jammed by what looked like a bent seatpost), but the crowd
loved their new king.
More importantly, they knew they had seen something special unfold in
front of their eyes.
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Ladies and gentlemen, your winner - Paul B || Photo: David
Ferguson |
Paul got $3,000 for first prize, while Timo took home a fancy new cast and
$1,500 for his pain and suffering and Kyle Strait picked up $750 for third place.
Paul decides to go to Monster Park || Photo: Stuart Kernaghan |
There's a rather famous quote that says, "Writing about music is
like dancing about architecture." Depending on who you ask, it either
Elvis Costello, Frank Zappa, or Laurie Anderson who said it.
In the end, though, who says it doesn't really matter as much as the
message: there are times when words simply are not enough.
These photos, this story of the competition - hell, even the videos that
will come out in the next few months - will give you an idea of what happened
on that Saturday night in the Boneyard. But there is no substitute for
seeing it with your own eyes. Sometimes it is simply better to experience
things for yourself.
And when it comes to watching history unfold, you are far, far better
off to see it through your eyes than on the TV screen or computer monitor.
Crankworx organizers have said they'll be back next year for the '05
event, and I would highly recommend you make the journey to Whistler to
see what goes down. Because if this year was any indication of what's
in store for the sport, next year will be off the charts.
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Just after Paul was announced as the winner, organizers asked him if he was
going to the Monster
Park freeride event this weekend in Marquette, Michigan. His answer was,
"Sure." So don't be surprised if you see Paul's name all over the
Web next week.
We'll be posting more of David Ferguson's amazing photos from Crankworx next
week, so stay tuned for those.
Stuart Kernaghan
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