2022 Pinkbike Awards: Send of the Year Nominees - The Most Committed 360 & 2 HUGE Straight Airs

The biggest award of the year, quite literally, sees nominees from exactly where you might exact: Red Bull Rampage, Whistler Crankworx, and a random pile of rocks just off the highway in BC. There's only one trick to see here in Godziek's 360, while Lemoine and Holonko throw it back to the good ol' days of freeride with massive straight airs and some out-of-the-box thinking. Which is your favorite?

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Why he's nominated

We probably don't need to explain this one, but I do need to have at least a few sentences here. Rampage was rowdy in all the different ways possible, from Semenuk's drop-in to Rheeder's entire run to the builders carving lines in the side of legit cliffs, but Godziek's spin above the canyon gap - and right above another massive drop - seemed to be the highlight for many people watching. As if doing a 360 off a cliff isn't scary enough, there was another cliff that he needed to deal with right after landing; the level of commitment from Godziek was insane. Let's forget about the overall results, his 86.33 score, and whether he was robbed or not, and just appreciate this bit of craziness for what it is.

Godziek's POV footage of his Rampage run

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Why he's nominated

You know it was big when everyone's favorite move from Crankworx was a straight air. Lemoine was on a good run regardless, but tens of thousands of people lining the course exploded when he jumped over the entire step-up platform at the bottom of the course, much like Timo Pritzel's attempt way back in 2004. The flying German had a massive crash, but Lemoine, who was also on a hardtail, rolled away as smoothly as anyone could hope for. We all know the technical tricks riders are doing are incredibly difficult and dangerous, but there will always be something more relatable about simply trying to go big. He said this about his second run: "I can't believe I had the courage to do it in the second run, because I was almost going to be happy with fourth. But Joyride doesn't happen every week, you know? I said, 'You're here, you have a second chance, try your best, we'll see what happens.'"

2022 Crankworx Joyride Photo Epic

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Why he's nominated

It's only 1:28 long but Kona's Caleb Holonko kicks it off with one of the sends of the year when he gaps the entire double step-down move from an old New World Disorder video just outside of Pemberton, BC. Filmed by Ollie Jones, Holonko comes into the first drop and, from what I can tell, commits with a massive pull off the lip and still just barely makes it to the wooden landing that looks a bit surprised to see him. It's the kind of move where you're simply just trying to make it to the other side, and it feels about as "freeride" as you can get.

Caleb Holonko Turns the Lights Out

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