Photo Epic: Port Angeles Underworld Cup

Apr 28, 2015

by Danielle Baker

CUP

PARIS GORE PHOTOS + DANIELLE BAKER WORDS

Driving through Port Angeles yesterday afternoon would have left you none-the-wiser that the 2015 Underworld Cup with over 600 racers was taking place just a few minutes and one dirt road turn out of town. But once you turned off that main road it was like going down the rabbit hole; the narrow road opened up to reveal the Underworld Cup, all your friends, a communal camp fire, and stoke that was palpable. Rather than letting the event's success implode Scott Tucker, NW Cup Race Director, says that their constant improvements and adjustments over the years has operations running smoother than ever, "three years ago we wouldn't have been able to handle this." More importantly, despite the large crowd creating a need for some 'creative' parking solutions, the race has not lost its grassroots vibe - from free (and delicious) BBQ oysters to fans with clanging dildos and taxidermy mountain goats to the active and colourful sprawling pits. The hecklers were out in full force, and while this year's crowd had trouble mastering the silent cheer, they did come through with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday for 3rd place Clair Buchar.

At the end of the weekend, after the rain had threatened, but held off, and the final can had been placed with sloppy purpose on the beer tree the podiums rewarded Pro Women; Jill Kintner (1st), Miranda Miller (2nd), Claire Buchar (3rd), Vaea Verbeeck (4th), and Emilie Siegenthaler (5th). The top five Pro Men were Connor Fearon (1st), Mark Wallace (2nd), Luke Strobel (3rd), Bryn Atkinson (4th), and Remi Gauvin (5th).

More results.

I am very happy with how the weekend went, my favourite stat is the attendance to injuries ratio and it was very low. So everybody had a good time and very few people got hurt, and that's the best part.
-Scott Tucker

I first came two years ago and a lot of the world cup dudes came because it was after Sea Otter. The track is sick, it's probably on of my favourite tracks ever, just all the turns and there's so many people here and the crowd is sick so that's why I cam back, and I'll be back again I'm sure.
-Connor Fearon

This is a National Pro GRT, it's not just your average NW Cup. It's a good way to start the season - on home territory. And they run a good event here; lots of good competition, with Canadians and a lot of international talent this weekend. It's just a good venue, good trails, and good organization. Why wouldn't you come? I've been racing here since 2010!
-Jill Kintner

The crowd was really encouraging this year, usually they kind of heckle you for being Canadian, but this year they were like 'you're doing great'.
-Miranda Miller

Everyone was singing happy birthday to me on my run and that was pretty awesome, it was such a good positive vibe from the crowd and I really appreciated it.
-Claire Buchar

Downhill is the best. There's a lot of enduro races and a lot of them get two or three hundred people, but you can't turn your brain off and rip that hard without downhill bikes. We're hitting brake bumps at 35 miles an hour and hucking big gaps, it's pretty fun!
-Charlie Sponsel

[I am] truly inspired by Miranda's return to riding bikes after a couple years of being broken, and broken again. [She has the] heart of a champion. Nice work! Stronger than ever!
-Jill Kintner

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daniellebaker
Member since May 10, 2007
235 articles

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27 Comments

42 6

gabriel-mission9 (Apr 28, 2015 at 2:36)

27 0

jacobinmugatu (Apr 27, 2015 at 19:08)

I recommend we do this again in two weeks...

wuzupjosh (Apr 28, 2015 at 1:54)

agreed

11 0

BryanBobo (Apr 28, 2015 at 8:50)

We have a great sport. There are not very many other professional sports out there that would allow you to walk into a stadium with a dildo or rams head attached to a cow bell...

17 3

ShreddieMercury (Apr 28, 2015 at 5:50)

Very happy to see that the women had the same pay out!

c25porter (Apr 28, 2015 at 6:46)

I was impressed with the number of youth riding, it was very cool to see all the little ones, from first time racers to rippers and the fleet of little shredders, the future is coming.

russthedog FL (Apr 28, 2015 at 2:02)

awesome photos, cool to see miranda miller shredding again, solid result sheesh!

Freewheel46 (Apr 28, 2015 at 8:22)

Miranda Miller is my fucking hero. She's gonna crush it this year!

troyleedesigns (Apr 28, 2015 at 10:00)

Downhill racing is simply the greatest.

Mg14 (Apr 28, 2015 at 15:33)

I think that prior to any days runs the track should be swept to make sure no over nite sabotage was done by
People who like disaster (train wrecks)!!!!!!
Most professional sports do some kind of safety check, looking at world cup events, you can see bright yellow pads
On trees and other obstructions.
The speeds these guys run puts them in places mere mortals don't tread!

livehardrideharder (Apr 28, 2015 at 1:52)

best photo lay out of an article ever.

MJ4LIFERIDER (Apr 28, 2015 at 6:55)

Now that's coverage! Downhill is the shizznazz! Lovin It all!! Keep up the good work pink bike can't get enough!!

digitalsoul (Apr 28, 2015 at 9:26)

I spent my entire life savings of $2,600 and all I got was an oversized banana.

lacykemp (Apr 28, 2015 at 17:34)

Love this piece. I really wish there were some captions on the photos, though, PB! NW Cup seems to convey the true spirit of DH racing in the PNW. Good job to Scott, Casey, and everyone else involved.

groves42nw (Apr 28, 2015 at 15:10)

It would be cool to see more coverage from the other categories, incredible photos by the way

zion-i (Apr 28, 2015 at 5:14)

Awesome such good vibes reading through and the photos, spot on as always!

da1994canucks (Apr 28, 2015 at 18:31)

I wish @pinkbike would post more pics of the non pro's and other categories.

stripeypants (Apr 28, 2015 at 2:23)

Great Photos, I like the one with the beer cans on the tree aha

flipoffthemonkeys (Apr 28, 2015 at 11:17)

i particularly like the shot of a young ron jeremy giving it a 2 thumbs up

Mg14 (Apr 28, 2015 at 8:14)

Liking dh alot, wondering who looks after the safety of the riders, note: clearing the track of logs that cause severe
Injuries , and could kill someone. Someone at track walk should be noting potential obstructions.!!!

bobsten (Apr 28, 2015 at 8:46)

Were you there?

Mavic101 (Apr 28, 2015 at 9:16)

I think riding over "potential obstructions" is the point of racing an eight+ inch travel bike down the side of a mountain.

Motoracer31 FL (Apr 28, 2015 at 9:32)

I walked the track multiple times and practiced on it for 3 days and raced it and never once noticed that log... I bet kevin didn't either until he was riding at it. The guys that run this race would have cut it out in 2 seconds if someone asked them too, but I bet not 1 person said anything until Kevin crashed.

olympicdirtsociety (Apr 28, 2015 at 10:33)

If you look at the course previews, it wasn't sticking out like that when the race started. The UCI did a course walk on Thursday and would have told us to cut it if it was there. Either someone hit it and it moved, or someone was trying to block the high left line and moved it. We take safety VERY seriously.

oronaut (Apr 28, 2015 at 11:10)

What the hell are you talking about, Mg14?

X-Liam-X (Apr 28, 2015 at 12:03)

There was a log that had been cut off right on the edge of the track and a racer clipped it with his knee causing him to crash

delzerphat (Apr 28, 2015 at 8:46)

Well said robot.