US Gravity Nationals 2012 - DH Finals Photos
Jul 23, 2012
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 It rained again the night before finals, and in the morning the dirt was soft, really soft... |
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| The tree that took out Gwin and Ropelato last year, and the view of the track beyond it. That's where the rock garden splits, high line on the left, and the lower, slower line to the right |
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| Patriotic spirit was out in abundance at National Champs. |
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| There was a dj in the rock garden, blasting music for the spectators, and people with horns and cowbells and all sorts of other noisemakers. But the chainsaw was not allowed. Seems to be a bit of a double standard at play, when he started it up I could barely hear it over the other noise. |
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| Quick, grab your children, there's a giant bunny on the loose! It doesn't get much better than real tree camo and and an American flag... |
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| The rock garden at Beech Mountain is a bit on the gnarly side, and not just because of the rocks. It's also fairly flat. That means it's easy to loose your speed, and if you come to a stop there is no easy way to start pedaling, running is probably your best option. |
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| Once you got out of the main part of the rock garden there were still a lot of obstacles, and multiple lines to get through them. |
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| Lauren Daney never seems to look that fast in practice, but she always seems to pull something out for the final. Fourth place, on the podium, just short of a medal. Here she takes the left hand line. |
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| Jaime Rees, third place for the NW rider, maybe the right hand line is faster? |
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| Melissa Buhl won the slalom, but hasn't been training DH quite as much lately. She still managed to pull out a 2nd place finish behind Jackie Harmony. |
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| Jacqueline Harmony, taking the National Title and winning by over 9 seconds in Pro Women. |
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| Cole Picchiottino blasting out of the woods. Cole crashed in qualis, but kept it together in the final and finished up in second spot in JrX. |
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| Specialized rider Cody Kelley, 4th place in Pro Slalom, and 2nd in JrX DH |
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| Alexander Willie won the JrX DH class with a time that would have placed him 13th in Pro Men. |
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| Jay Fesperman, Jr 15-16 winner, with a time that would have won JrX 17-18 and placed him 13th overall in pro men. Watch out for this kid! |
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| Austin Warren got a little too much off the hip in qualifying and went otb to his head. Not a total KO, but definitely a little shaky afterwards. Bubba definitely didn't make the same mistake in the final. |
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| Eliot Jackson crashed in qualifying and started mid pack in the final. His run put in the hot seat up until Neko Mulally came down, he ended up in third overall behind Neko and Gwin. |
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| Kevin Littlefield has been training hard and it shows. The Evil rider ended up in fifth spot here. |
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| The 2011 National Champ Logan Binggeli put in a great effort, but couldn't repeat this year. Fourth place |
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| Neko Mulally had really wanted to beat Gwin here, and put in a lot of extra time on the course looking for every possible second. After his third place chainless qualifier it looked like finals might be a bit of a battle, but it wasn't to be. Second place, and 3 seconds behind Gwin. |
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| I'm not sure what kind of intuition made me step out of the main photographers area at the podium and shoot from the side when Gwin grabbed the champagne, but I'm glad I did. Full on frontal attack... |
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| Chris Herndon, former national slalom champ, and the man responsible for the DH and slalom tracks at Beech Mountain. |
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| Budweiser and Real Tree, 'Merica! Cody Warren represents. |
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| Ryan Condrashoff flew out from the west coast on Friday night after work. He only had time for 5 or 6 practice runs before qualifying, and ended up in 35th spot overall. Redemption came in the form of a photo. Big whip over the hip... |
