1 Semenuk Brandon 96.33 2 Rheeder Brett 91.33 3 Messere Anthony 89.67 4 Granieri Yannick 87.33 5 Soderstrom Martin 82.67 6 Berrecloth Darren 81.67 7 Fogelquist Jack 76.00 8 Genon Thomas 73.67 9 Watts Greg 71.00 10 Genovese Paul 70.33 11 Zink Cam 68.33 12 Wyper Justin 67.67 13 Mccaul Tyler 64.67 14 Wallace Reece 64.00 15 Groves Casey 62.00 16 Howard Ryan 57.33 17 Strait Kyle 56.33 18 Lunn Jordie 55.00 19 McGarry Kelly 52.33 20 Hunziker Ramon 46.67 21 Taylor Andrew 37.33 22 Goldman Jamie 0.00
Jamie Goldman front flipped the big double on his V10, but went a little deep and ended up rattling his head pretty hard, taking himself out of the competition and leaving Ramon Hunziker to rock the DH bike solo. Hunziger with a nac over the hip on his Session.
Andrew Taylor launching off the canon
Kelly McGarry, flip table over the big one.
Casey Groves with big tuck over the hip
The step up/down wasn't overly tricky, and if you got stuck on top it was possible to still take a few pedals and ride off, but not necessarily on your first run. Jordie Lunn lowers his bike off the top...
This is what an over the shoulder with Jordie looks like...
Brett Rheeder
Kyle Strait put together a few decent runs. Barspin on the step up.
Tyler McCaul
Cam McCaul commented on the mic that if there was a contest where no tricks were allowed, Ryan Howard would win hands down. R-dog with a huge whip over the big double.
McCaul and Pilgrim were both still unable to compete, but both have said they'll be ready and on their bikes at Crankworx. Instead of just hanging out here, they gave Brad a hand with the commentary during the event.
Even Anthony asks for autographs from very swaggerous guys.
Thomas Genon was riding a hardtail at the comp, with only a rear brake. No problem though, he was looking really good in practice and throwing a lot of good tech tricks. Come contest day however he ended up being really sick, enough that he didn't do a practice run and most thought he wasn't going to compete. But then he threw down a run good enough for 8th spot. I can't wait to see what he'll do when he's feeling healthy.
Jack Fogelquist and Reece Wallace both had to qualify for this event by podiuming in the amateur event. Fogel had no problem dealing with the course and tailwhipped almost everything, while Reece was the first to three off the step down in a run. Neither of these guys should have to compete in amateur after this. In the shots above Watt's suicides and Soderstrom threes
Anthony and Wyper both tried to front flip up the step up, but there just wasn't enough speed to be had after the hip.
Wyper
Cam Zink, an Army of One. With Pilgrim and Reynolds out, and Goldman hitting his head in practice, Zink had to represent team Monster alone.
Cam Zink had a decent first run, but not the one he wanted. He under rotated a little flaring the quarter, and didn't land cleanly. Then on his next two runs he made run ending mistakes part way through, so while he's riding really well, he didn't end up nearly where he'd hoped to be.
Claw with a 360 off the start skinny, while Messere chose to barspin it.
Darren Berrecloth built this course, and he rides it with a great familiarity. He was the only one that I saw three off of the start skinny, and he had no problems tailwhipping onto and 360'ing off of the step up/down. On his last run he threw a huge one handed three table over the big double.
Martin had a sick run lined up, but he never quite got through it the way he wanted. One foot table off the canon.
Yannick crashed a couple of times and his knee was bothering him a bit, but he still put down a sick run good enough for fourth place. Flip barspin up the step up, tailwhip off.
Messere, tailwhipping off the step down on his way to 3rd place and $5000
Rheeder with a 360 off the step down.
and a giant flipwhip over the big double...
Once again Brandon Semenuk has won a slopestyle on his first run. Tailwhip on the hip like nobody else...
Semenuk, truckdriver up the step up. As a photographer you'd be best to shoot Brandon's first run, you probably won't get a second. He rode an almost perfect first run, then just played around on his second, and chose to forego the third altogether.
Brandon tricked every jump on his first run. Tailwhip over the long low.
A lot of the riders couldn't quite figure out the second double, it was tight, almost a spine. When it became known that it would be the jump for the big air comp, the riders almost unanimously agreed to skip it and not risk injury before Crankworx. Brandon Semunuk boosted a giant flip over it on his run.
Its kind of wild that DH isn't in there yet but slope is FAR away from being included. Hell ski slope was only recently accepted this past year and that was after some major changes and many more years of "development" than mtb slope. I don't doubt that it will one day be in there and hopefully it'll be to replace power walking aka laser tag without the guns.
Having slope and dh in the olympics wouldn't be that sick... Part of the what makes these events so cool is the atmosphere and mentality- a far difference from typical olympic sports. Can you imagine these guys in leotards sending jumps and then throwing their hands up? A bunch of old guys in suits standing around throwing flags around? It just doesn't seem like it would mesh well with the olympics.
I think his comment was more generalized about the life threatening etc. But if it's going to replace anything, for gods sake let it take out the Equestrian! Seriously WTF, how is it in the Olympics.
I totally forgot that.. I feel very stupid now.. :S
But, I think MTBing CAN be in the Olympics in 2016, only problem is (i think) the popularity. If somehow MTBing (specially FR, DH, ..) can be promoted there is a chance that it will be an Olympic sport.
I don't want you to feel really bad now but MTB is in the Olympics, however it is only xc. Other 'genres' of mountain biking are not yet represented. The Olympic races are on the 11th and 12th August at the London games. I believe that DH will never be included as the course potentially changes too much during the racing (timed racing as opposed to v's like xc) to offer a 'level playing field' for competitors. Personally I am not sure that DH should be an olympic sport, or indeed other ares of riding suck as dj, ss and trials. Slope style should be in the X-games though!
^ The only possible changes are the judging system, the points system as it would be separate from the AFP, or possibly, the AFP could be adopted as events that count toward the Olympics as "qualifier" events, which is what the UCI (I think) does already for XC. The only issue right now with skiing is scheduling. The qualifier events for the Olympics were falling on the same weekends as the X-Games and other bigger events that already existed. Other than that, the Olympics wouldn't affect current events if there were not any scheduling issues.
ping pong might be "dope" but its a drinking sport, not an Olympic sport. its like darts, are they in the olympics? or curling, wtf is that doing in the olympics?
It seems to me that the Winter Olypmics are a lot more 'extreme' than the summer olympics - 1/2 the events are basically throwing yourself down a mountain! We need some of that at the summer games! (on bikes obviously!)
That's because the Winter Olympics is much newer than the Summer Olympics leaving many more spots open for other sports/disciplines, which happen to be more current and relate-able to us. One of the big problems of getting a new sport/discipline into the Summer Olympics is that has to take another's spot but that's hard to do with most being well established for quite a while and the last thing the IOC wants to do is rotate sports in and out as they become popular. They want the Olympics to be as set and as ritualistic as possible... if that makes sense. In other words they do not want to be like the X-Games where a new sport/discipline comes and goes every couple of years so that mentality makes them very apprehensive/cautious. Although I think the X-Games should have kept shovel racing
its damn stupid...but at the same time mountain biking is young...and i sure as hell wouldnt want to subject these guys with the awesome community and chill vibes they have going to the rigor and stiff-collar bullshit and regulations of the IOC. the more i think about it...the more i believe that the olympics should be highly regarded...but not as big a deal as they are. countries go overboard with preparations and find themselves with a net loss (despite the tourism boost!) and some big venue that they wont be able to do much with. i love the olympics, i support the judo athletes i know who have worked towards the games or competed in the olympics...but it just aint the right thing for MTB... who wants to see the big names sitting on their trainer bikes 24 hours a day and having their personal lives subject to scrutiny?
Why does anyone give a shit about the lame assed Olympics? It might be good for all the XC spandex weenies but I don't think any extreme action sport belongs there. We belong in the X-Games. Screw the Olympics, it's just embarassing.
exactly! why dont they sell the trek ss? they expect us to salivate over cam mccaul, brandon semenuk, and brett rheeder's bikes without giving us a chance to buy one? come on, it must be the bike making them so good at what they do....
@Its not about the bike, its the fact that the world's best is riding a TREK therefore they get the exposure to sell more bikes. But I don't think they would ever sell many slope bikes. How many people actually ride slopestyle to create the need to mass produce a bike like these?
Actually in Cam McCauls bike check this year I think I remember him saying that the frame is finally dialed in, and will be in production soon. Don't quote me on it.
I wouldn't count on them releasing it, they axed the ticket signature and replaced it with the ticket exchange and stub that have long chainstays. I think the last run of tickets became rentals at Rays MKE. All the hard work producing the ticket signature is done, if they continued to sell the frame for 400-500 (while still making a profit) they would have sold a lot.
That's the thing.......I think you prob hit the nail on the head there. Trek sells bikes to make money. If it's not profitable for them to see a frame or bike they wont. If it is they will. They know what they are doing. The truth is, despite the high interest shown here in the pinkbike community, interest in a top shelf slope-style bike is pretty limited. The frame would likely cost two grand and nobody would actually go out and buy one....it's a niche bike. There just isn't really a big market for it.
"...interest in a top shelf slope-style bike is pretty limited." I disagree. The Specialized SX Supercross, Giant Reign X, Commencal VIP Absolut SX, Black Market Killswitch, and Banshee Rampant continue to sell despite your claim. I think that Trek is losing out on a budding market by not releasing the Remedy SS. I find it especially strange since Trek repeatedly has their pros talking about how great the frame is and how it's the best bike they have ever ridden. If Trek were truly interested in making as much money as possible, they would take advantage of this quickly growing MTB niche.
I fully understand what you are saying. When I say limited, It is in relative terms to the other markets Trek does very well in. They may be making a mistake here... or they are waiting untill the market is big enough for them to really profit off such a design. Im not sure. But take a look at the bikes you mention - The Reign X is a much more versitile free-ride kind of platform. The Killswitch, the Rampant and the Commencal all come in around $1500- $1700.... I guarantee that the Trek would be much more. The Specialized, well, I give credit to Specialized for them making that bike .. Im not sure how many they actually sell. These other bike companies (other than Specialized) are not Trek.... the business model is different. That's all Im saying. It could be around the bend for all I know........after all this segment grows everyday.
My problem isn't the lack of Slopestyle equipment- it's the lack of courses!!! I believe if there were more slopestyle lines about more people would want a bike to ride them. Pretty much every bike park here in the UK has had to lose their wooden constructions. Unless you own your own land- you ain't riding slopetyle in the UK.
what the dude above meant is that they are such amazing riders that they could ride well on just about any comparable fame. also, trek has huge pockets and can afford the world's best....they also have an army of great engineers and designers....so they can afford to put out amazing bikes.
"Trek have the top two riders, in the most well known categories of mountain biking. They must be really freaking stoked." Right and let's not forget that Lance Armstrong rode for Trek also.
I only WISH that slopestyle was one of the most well known categories of mountain biking. It's hugely popular with our generation and on Pinkbike, but as far as the general public is concerned it doesn't exist compared to XC riding.
Rheeder is awesome,hes killing it this year,i remember not to long ago pinkbike put his backyard edit up on the home page,i knew from then he was gonna be big on the Circuit,i can see him being a problem for semenuk next year if he continues at this pace
To whoever said there are no life threatening sports: I'm not sure how long ago but a man died while diving by hitting his head on the board, and also countless concussions from diving.
on another note...its absolutely breadful to think that aggy wasn't able to ride, what did he bake again? anyways, im quite quinoa to see how the rest of the riders progress... semenuk especially...he's rye-ding like a maniac....most of these guys can barley compete.
Yes, all of the riders have mushroom for improvement except semenuk, I knead to know how he does it I cant believe he has the skillet takes to win that many thymes
Ha ha! I know man just jesting... some dude turned up at the trails wearing co-ordinated skinny jeans, shirt, gloves, shoes, lid and bike- all purple, white and grey. I know it's not quite the same level as just wearing tighter trousers but it's a slippery slope!!
I'm not going to say he's not, but when considering the greatest mountain biker of all time, you want to consider DH and XC as well which have some absolute legends. Also don't forget the original free riders that were just as creative, and rode crazy stuff on bikes we wouldn't even dream of riding today. Tough call to name just one the greatest, but Semenuks name definitely belongs on the list.
I would like to see him win a timed race so i can agree with you. A guy like Brian Lopes won races in various events but probably never won a judged contest. Its hard to compare but with a win in a race i would be with you...
Have you not seen his DH sections in movies? Though he may not be Aaron Gwin, he can certainly hold his own on a downhill bike. He grew up in whistler, if he had of went towards DH he could have probably been the best, but how many $20 000 prize purses are up for grabs in DH?
Yes I have, and he's amazing, but he still rides DH trails like a freerider, whipping and moving the bike around a lot. He's a great all round rider, really fun to watch, but those DH guys are another step up again in regards to strict DH (remember some of them can do some pretty cool freeride stuff (Gee got 2nd in Rampage if I remember right), but not as good as Semenuk). No questioning his greatness for a second, just saying it's almost impossible to say one rider is better than another unless they compete head to head in the same discipline.
If winning was the only criteria to be considered as the "greatest mountainbiker ever" then I would go for people like John Tomac (XC, 4X, DH...even Road and BMX), Nicolas Vouilloz (DH, Enduro), Anne Caroline Chausson (DH, 4X, Enduro,...and BMX on top of that).
not to mention his style is pretty similar to semenuk's, so hey if you want to support a dialed/sick rider but are tired of Semenuk, throw your weight behind Rheeder!
I knew Brandon won before i even seen the results. he is just unstoppable, Such a beast in the biking world. I just worry for him because when everything seems to be going perfect, something wrong happens, wether its an injury or whatever. Happens to me alot
On that truck up the step-up, Semenuk appears to be left foot forward, I swear he's normally right foot forward (see picture of hip whip), I'm getting so confused by his level of switch/oppo/ridiculousness. Crazy man!
One of the highlights from our vantge point was when yaanick came into that big double after the drop with both feet off pedals but still went for the flip tuck. Sooo gnarly!!
Brett Rheeder and Anthony Messere are definitely going to be giving Semenuk a run for his money in the coming years. I think the competition is getting closer than ever.
great coverage of a killer backwoods event thats a do not miss in my books... great course, small crowd, up close w' the pros sending it huge... a spectators dream
On the one hand it´s fantastic how unstoppable Semenuk is, but on the other hand it´s boring to see him on the top of the podium again and again. I want to see more thrilling battle for 1st place ! :-)
your drunk!!!it was gnarly the course is so tight and tech and flows it is built like a set of trails which makes it way harder to trick and keep goin you have to land perfect on everything... everyone was throwing down clearly you need to get some glasses or some riding skill to respect what they were doing on that course
Unless your gona stud some tires and race down some ice.
But, I think MTBing CAN be in the Olympics in 2016, only problem is (i think) the popularity. If somehow MTBing (specially FR, DH, ..) can be promoted there is a chance that it will be an Olympic sport.
www.facebook.com/pages/Trek-Slopestyle-Bike/292077854141747
Maybe its not the bike, maybe its the goggles?
I only WISH that slopestyle was one of the most well known categories of mountain biking. It's hugely popular with our generation and on Pinkbike, but as far as the general public is concerned it doesn't exist compared to XC riding.
Well no one really likes Lance because of his steroids use and I am sure Trek are not exactly pumped either.
If so Soderstrom and Messere meet!