Replay: Slopestyle - Crankworx Rotorua 2024

 @angryWaki: the people who upvoted the comment made that happen

 Putting an ultimatum to be paid to event organisers at the event is not how this is done. I expect severe blowback for those riders. Event organisers will never trust them, they have burnt their sponsors and burnt their fans too. Now they get to fly back home without getting to ride and without giving their sponsors the exposure they're paid to give. Total loss.

 @samdeatley: personally I totally disagree. I feel like as a viewer the changes their asking for will make watching it more enjoyable. Always frustrating when they cant get two runs do to weather. Also do wonder at times if they could have a better judging system.

 @cowboyray: I’m not saying the points aren’t valid, I’m just pointing out that young people upsetting an establishment happens all the time, in every industry. It’s how things progress. I’m also pointing out that the women had an amazing opportunity to be the entire show because of the walkout, and that’s not a bad thing!

 @samdeatley: I’m not sure history agrees with you. I think anyone in a union would disagree with you. Anyone who died in the triangle shirtwaist factory fire would disagree with you. There was basically a war in the US between factory muscle and workers attempting to unionize who got fired, prosecuted and in some instances shot at and there were even a few suspicious fires that took some lives as well. Doing more for less has gotten us working 14 hours with no bathroom breaks, disfigured from dangerous machines and is still a sentiment exploited by industries willing to take advantage of illegal immigrants. Progress at any cost is just profit for the minority on the backs of the majority, so yeah, unions exist to help us all.

 @Dougal-SC: These are literally the best riders in the world, at a very-specific discipline.

This isn't like a manufacturing job where there are hundreds of scabs waiting in the wings to take over from a unionized workforce.

If you want to have an elite level slopestyle competition, this is the group of riders you need to negotiate with.

Without knowing all the details, I don't have much of a perspective on how "fair" the riders were in their negotiations. But I'm pretty confident they're negotiating from a position of strength, and their "demands" seem pretty reasonable.

 @atourgates: There literally are hundreds of riders waiting in the wings who would love to attend Crankworx. Many of them will end up better than the current crop. That's how competition works.

If you want to be an elite level slopestyle rider you don't burn the slopestyle event company, your fans and your sponsors by threatening to strike with unworkable demands.

The demands were all published. They wanted time-table change for weather reasons (easy), hotel and food (doable) and Euro 2k per rider per event (not ever going to fly).

These dudes forgot the sponsors are their actual employers and they burned them too. This means no exposure for the sponsors who actually funded the trip and these guys lifestyles.

 @Dougal-SC: If Crankworx can't afford to pay $32k/event in rider fees, they're a poorly run series and likely aren't financially viable in any case.

 I might be wrong about the last part, sounds like all the women riders had been given the things the male riders are asking for.

 @luckynugget: To confirm, you are saying women received an appearance fee and food services but not the men? If so, can you please cite your source. Thank you.

 You want to negotiate that, you do it at the time of invite. You do not put ultimatums to event organisers just before the race. That's not how business deals are negotiated. You cannot do business with people who do that. These guys burnt the event organisers, their sponsors, their trust and their fans. They will now fly home without getting to ride.

 @luckynugget: I’m interested in what you’re saying as well.

 @Dougal-SC: strikes happen very regularly across the world in different industries - this very much is indeed how shit gets done when the terms of the deal fail to be met…
They got to ride all week, they just didn’t do the actual contest part of it (their full plan given only 2 of the 3 demands were met)

They all still get the content for social media and their sponsors (which is basically what gets them paid these days anyway)

 @Dougal-SC: how many more comments about the male riders are you going to post?
Stop being a cry baby and accept that not paying for flight, accommodation and food is a true shit show by Crankworx.

 Not a good idea. No offence

 slopestyle needs more jamaicans+jon candy

 @angryWaki: if you do a strike it has to annoy most of the involved people, that's the idea

 @angryWaki: I still think they should have declined way ahead of time. Some unknowns could have taken their place and had a shot on something big. This was super unprofessional Seems like the girls were more then happy to have the opportunity to ride and i bet their accommodations and pay wasn't any better. .

 Yeah, you could totally outscore Emil; the money is the only thing holding you back. Totally.

 @barp: That was the sarcasm you completely missed. The same could be said for most of the riders showing up.

 @Dtower92: Who really *missed*, though?

"Poe's law is an adage of Internet culture which says that, without a clear indicator of the author's intent, any parodic or sarcastic expression of extreme views can be mistaken by some readers for a sincere expression of those views."

 one strong message may be better than many weak messages

 Odds on Crankworx ever trusting or inviting these riders again?

 @Dougal-SC: If the organizers can get the money to meet the demands, I think they will. I'm sure if we look at the numbers, those guys are the biggest draw.

 @Dougal-SC: I agree, I don't think it was handled well. My feelings would be "What's next?"

 @Dougal-SC: If you seriously think Emil isn’t going to be invited again you’re wrong. These are the best riders in slopestyle, not easily replaced.

 @Dougal-SC: you’re seriously ignoring how they’ve been trying to negotiate for a couple years now. This wasn’t a last minute thing, it’s the accumulation of a couple years of back and forth and demands still not being met

 @Dougal-SC: You’ve said this about a dozen times on this thread. Is this from your own personal experience? While there is clearly conflict, crankworx seems motivated to resolve the conflict with this specific group of riders.

 @Dougal-SC: the athletes are the reason the events happen......no one's gonna show up if the top 20 aren't attending.....

 Hopefully they don't just drop slopestyle in the future. Mtb is already niche and SS even more niche. The money may just not be there and they'd be better off putting it into events like DH. Obviously the entire cycling industry and the world is in a bad place financially right now. Or maybe it would be better to drop SS from crankworx and it can go back to more of rider organized events where they set the rules. Little disappointed to see some riders not standing in solidarity with the men..

 @Dougal-SC: I'm sure you estimating numbers like I am.. The riders want travel, lodging and appearance fees for 16 riders at 4 events.. That's 128k in just appearance fees.. Travel and lodging would cost at least that much.. So, about 260k and that's not including the extra purse money that they offered. No problem.. Check between the couch cushions and recycle so empties should cover that... Unfortunately, these guys aren't like the government that can simply add it to the tab... So, grab the popcorn, this movie might get interesting...

 @Dougal-SC: You seen to be only considering the event organizer's point of view. Imagine if the men had been asking for these accommodations for years with no concession, then the first time women are invited they were given the at least some of the accommodations but the men were left out. In the riders' statement they say that they pooled money together themselves to help invitees that couldn't afford to travel to events. It is possible that the men traveled to the event (paying their way) only to find out afterward that the women's travel expenses were covered. Odds on the riders trusting Crankworx again? We don't have all the information.

 @Dougal-SC: so they should continue to bend over and expect things to change in their own?

 @Dougal-SC: "Of the 16 riders I've only heard of 1 so the profile just isn't there."

Lol. "I don't pay any attention to slopestyle, therefore nobody does."

 It’s on YT

 womens is

 @Dougal-SC: The businesses that sponsor these athletes are doing just fine and have taken from the pockets of riders for years and @#$% has hit the fan. These aren't mom and pop companies. The riders and their fanbase are the reason these companies have huge profits.