Practice was taking place today so I took a couple moments to update you guys on what the Slopestyle course is like this year. Without further ado I present the 2009 Crankworx Slopestyle course.
Click here for pictures of the Slopestyle course...
Designed by John Cowan, the Kokanee Crankworx Slopestyle course has a pretty neat layout this year. Consisting of drops, wall rides, gaps, booters, hips, and one big hucker gap. All being displayed on the megatron and filmed for a live feed for your viewing pleasure.
Slopestyle Course Overview
Starting at the top riders have to drop in from a kicker roll in assembly. Its got one heck of a gnarly lip on it and a couple of riders have already tricked off of it. This is the first part of the course, which lines riders up directly into a big step up jump.
Drop in
After dropping in you ride into a big setup up jump, arguably one of the first jumps to throw big tricks on. Its got one big wooden lip on it, and a massive landing for people throwing tricks.
Darren Berrecloth Spinning the Second Jump
After the second jump riders are prompted with a couple different line choices. The Kokanee wall ride provides two options, one is to hit the wall ride and carry over to the Giro box line which is the riders choice right now. The second is to air the wall ride like a quarter pipe, something I saw a couple riders doing.
Wall ride and Quarter
Airing it
Optional step down line
Wooden kicker after step down line to get on Giro box
After the wall ride you're setup for the Giro box. The Giro box is a big step up and drop off setup that features some gnarly print on the side of it! This setup puts you into a perfect position for the next line, which is into either a hip jump or the Kona wall ride, both with big potential for awesome tricks.
Giro Box
Bar Spin by Cam
After you drop off the Giro box you're setup inline with a hip jump option and the Kona wall ride. The Kona wall ride this year features some gnarly graphics, and is perfect for some flairs, flips, or possibly whips. Directly behind the quarter pipe section of the Kona wall ride is the landing for the hip gap, a perfect landing for flip tricks. Keep your eyes peeled, saw a couple riders hitting this line today.
Kona wall ride and quarter
Front side
Once you're done on the Kona wall ride you move down the mountain towards the red booter jump. This red booter jump consists of two specific lines. The easier option is a step up to ladder ride to drop off, a pretty basic line for professional riders. The second option is to just send the complete gap, and hope to slow down in time for the next stunt. I didn't see a single rider hit the gap today, but they could be holding out for qualifying!
Crowd side
Rider side
Once you're done on the SRAM death booter or ladder drop you slow it down big time for a combination of three lines. 1 being the Mavic in and out jump (think bowl), and the other two are sniper drops setup on the Race Face box. These three jumps are not big by any means, but are nice style jumps or small trick jumps, in the setup for the two big last stunts.
Thinking about lines
Lacondeguy styling it out
After you get past the triple option set up you are into the biggest dirt jump on the course. This is a massive step up jump that sets you up for the big Kokanee end drop. This step up jump has a super steep lip, tame landing, designed for busting big tricks on it right in front of the crowd. A ton of riders were going off on this jump today, but Cam threw down a butter smooth Backflip for the lens!
Rider's side
Backflip by Cam McCaul
The final stunt is a step up, step down jump that is the crowd pleaser. With the landing coming right out into the crowd's hands, this stunt was designed to strike fear into the eyes of us viewers, while still being a reasonable size for these professionals to hit. It's going to be interesting to see what happens on this jump, however no one could do anything on it today as the landing was blocked off.
Step up and step down
The crowd pleaser
From what I have heard the course is a little bit more tame compared to last year, but still reasonably sized gaps, and unique obstacles. Tomorrow is supposed to bring rain, rain, and more rain, so hopefully we will get a chance to shoot some riding shots without getting soaked!
Cheers!
Jordan.
!
