Video: Winning Run from the Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle 2023

Mar 26, 2023
by Ed Spratt  

bigquotesEmil Johansson is no stranger to the top step of the Crankworx Slopestyle podium, having a total of 9 gold medals to his name, 8 of which were won in a row. At the start of the new season, he dropped in on the Maxxis Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza course with fresh energy and went for his 10th.— Crankworx


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68 Comments
  • 50 1
 Guy is just casually building his retirement fund. No one seems to be able to compete with him.
  • 50 1
 How much longer until he’s a rally driver that just rides for fun and just is really good at biking also
  • 26 0
 Why is this geo blocked in NZ??? it was live for FREE on redbull tv... SKY back to its old tricks again
  • 45 0
 Here's a textual break-down of the run for you since you can't watch it:
Flippy.
Spinny bike spinny.
Spinny bike spinny spinny.
Wall-ey bike spinny.
Flippy.
Sidey.
Spinny sidey.
Spinny bike spinny spinny.
Backwards Spinny bike spinny spinny.

Hope that helps.
  • 1 2
 @bigtim: You forgot about his flippy spinny spinny flippy which was my favourite.
  • 13 1
 Comments on this post alone explain why pinkbike is letting slopestyle down, a bunch of enduro nerds complaining about the most talented biker in history because they can't comprhend the difficulty of the run. Same things is happening in bmx...
  • 35 23
 I’m gonna put it out there. I don’t give a shit about Oppo tricks.
All the best
  • 16 2
 There is something to this and it applies to skateboarding all the snow sports as well. It's cool when it's obvious, like doing oppo tailwhips on two successive jumps, but otherwise it can be remarkably obscure to all but the most knowledgeable.
  • 26 3
 why is it that when double down whips and bar tails and other combos are used people in here feel like they need to wax poetic about how they dont like oppo tricks, but when cash rolls and cork 7's are used in literally every contest now no one bats an eye ?

no handed twisters or tailwhip cashrolls just look like some nitro circus trick personally i dont care much for those. watching emil and fedko ride is fun cause they're being precision surgeons with their riding and making it look easy, not like they're trying to win a best trick contest. dirt jump communities seem to be where the trick culture stems from, whereas godzeik/rogatkin appear to have brought over some nitro circus caliber stuff from bmx. the folks in dirtjump circles dont seem to have issue with scoring, yet folks on pinkbike who ride enduro bikes have a lot to say about it while contributing nothing to this sect of the sport.
  • 12 0
 @anchoricex: this 100%. I’m impressed by Godziak’s run, but no way it was better than Emil’s. It wasn’t overly clean. Impressive af, but bucking big tricks, but then having to do a 1foot table, that he cased, just to keep speed doesn’t overly impress me. I wish Bringer had landed his run. He’s such a good mix of hucking some tricks, while keeping things mostly really clean
  • 4 0
 @mackster23: bringer has to be one of my absolute favourite riders to watch these days, you don't normally see riders of that size in slopestyle very often
  • 3 1
 I'm guessing you've never done a switch or opposite spin or tailwhip let alone both at the same time. It's incredibly difficult to get that good at doing things your unnatural way.
  • 3 0
 @nsmithbmx: Even an oppo bar is like learning all over again, when you think you already know how to throw a bar. It's a very humbling experience.

For the doubters: are you a world-class baseball/basketball/hockey player? switch stances/hands or sticks and try to compete, see how that goes.
  • 1 0
 It’s a lot harder, that’s all you need to know about “oppo” tricks.

Making something harder may not matter to someone whose biggest trick involves hoisting twelve ounces after a hard day in the cubicle.

Emil is killing it!
  • 1 3
 I agree with the initial post. If the announcer has to tell you that it's "oppo and you should appreciate it"...then the trick isn't unique enough for you to tell on your own. I get that it's technically harder but for the entertainment purpose of the run (and isn't that why action sports exist?) it doesn't do it for me either.
  • 2 0
 @preach: it is a competition and a competition should reward harder tricks even if you personally can't tell them apart
  • 2 0
 @preach: Again, you don't grasp the difficulty. It doesn't matter if you can't appreciate it or don't recognize it, it's insanely difficult. If he makes it look that easy that just goes to show how perfected his riding is.
  • 1 0
 @nsmithbmx: no, that's exactly my point. I get that it's harder, it's just not any aesthetically more pleasing to the eye to see...that's all I'm saying. (since we're judging on how the tricks look anyway)
  • 1 0
 @anchoricex: cork 7 and cashy hella undervalued
  • 17 7
 Id say Emil needs a handicap at this point to make it fair, but he's already riding a TREK...so I dunno..
  • 5 0
 Is BCJ leaking?
  • 9 2
 I know yesterday I said that Godziek got robbed, but after watching both runs back to back, it's kind of a toss up, and the scores make sense to me. Both runs were nuts, and I think that the oppo 3 barspin to double down whip was a pretty nutty way to end it.
  • 10 1
 emil crammed more tricks into every feature than godziek did. dawid had a one foot trick mid run over a feature that shouldve been something more. if judging was to look at each feature its clear emil out-danced him thru the course. this is actually a testiment to emils precision and athleticism, like being able to hit every single feature and not be wobbly from your previous feature as well as having the endurance to toss something in again and again and again really does show how hard emil trains for this. sometimes i watch these runs and it feels like people go for a backflip on a notably sized feature because they're either gassed a little or got a little too squirrely on the previous feature and a backflip is sort of a relaxing send (relative to the other tricks) where you can compose yourself a little
  • 2 8
flag ciechan (Mar 27, 2023 at 0:16) (Below Threshold)
 @anchoricex: and that exactly is the reason why slopestyle is becoming more of a 'meh' to me... squeezing as many tricks as possible, everywhere. I kind of miss seeing 'simple' tricks but with proper extension or slow rotations
  • 9 1
 @ciechan: i mean thats just standard dirt jumping. this same discussion is had with snowboard and ski slopestyle. turns out riders who like to compete and take part in the sport dont really indulge themselves in this sentiment, this isnt a jam session event, its a competition its where sponsorship money is and its how top athletes make a career for themselves. wanting slow rotations and all that, thats not a discussion that hasnt been had a million times before but theres really no way to judge that. slopestyle mountainbiking has always been about getting tricks in on features since the very beginning, people just werent as good at it back then as they are now. of course the sports evolved but its going a direction that riders are pushing it, not a direction that commenters think it should go. this is the same flavor different day of the discussions that happen at redbull rampage every year.
  • 6 0
 @ciechan: this is why it's great when Emil wins with his first run score: you get to see him do a second run just for the fun of it with no trick pressure.
  • 2 0
 P.S. if you want to see the victory lap it's here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=P4REO92zJCY&t=8286s
  • 1 0
 @ciechan:
  • 4 2
 @ciechan: gotta agree. I total understand the balls to the wall tricks for competition and cash prizes on the line. And at times it is insane to see like world's first. But as a viewer I find the steezier, tweaked out tricks to be more enjoyable. That's why I really enjoy riders like Nicholi and Jaxson Riddle.
  • 1 0
 Emil is a non-nutty Tiger Woods in his prime; Godziek is John Daly in a long drive contest (probably not as drunk though)
  • 3 1
 @yoimaninja: There's nothing steezy about Nicholi's runs though, and I don't know how you could look at Emil or Fedko and say that's not steezy?
  • 1 2
 @plyawn: oh Emil is def steezy when he wants to be. His edit in TGR's Esperanto is a good example of that. I guess the point I'm agreeing with Slopestyle comps now are like how Snowboarding was by the 2010s. All the tricks and shit have mostly been done at this point so its just how many "spin its to win it" and combos can we do. Is it impressive? absolutely! Is it the most fun to watch? idk.
  • 3 0
 @yoimaninja: but how is doing twisters and cashrolls and cork 7's not spin to win? to me this is much more akin to the triple-corks that took over snowboarding in the last decade than emils bag is. no one else does the tricks in emils bag, while several riders do twisters and cashrolls and cork 7's now.

if anything when someone does combos on rail features or air tricks in snowboard slopestyle, it's not scored as high as the bigger aerial tricks but people prefer seeing it on online discussions because they're steezier.

my point being is this feels like backwards stance: emil's stuff IS the debatably steezier of the mix when it comes to tricks, whereas godziek and rogatkin are more akin to the "spin to win" "huck to win" that we see in snowboard slopestyle that people complain about online
  • 8 4
 Emils run: Flip x-up pretty sure that's a world first in comp, 450 barspin to double downside tailwhip, switch 360 switch double tailwhip, barspin onto the wall, reg tailwhip off, flip bar, nose to inward table, 360 barspin to unturndown, 360 double tailwhip, switch 360 barspin to double downside tailwhip which was also a worlds first in comp. Emil deserved this win for sure.
  • 3 14
flag bikeparkmemes (Mar 26, 2023 at 17:23) (Below Threshold)
 We gotta stop saying switch, its spinning left vs right. Its not like they go in backwards, or change with foot they have forward in their stance.
  • 2 7
flag scott-townes (Mar 27, 2023 at 2:24) (Below Threshold)
 @bikeparkmemes: actually they do change their foot stance so you're wrong.
  • 1 0
 @scott-townes: emil doesnt change his foot stance some riders do but emil doesnt
  • 1 1
 @bikeparkmemes: Switch is just a term used to describe an opposite rotation. why you so pressed about a word hahaha
  • 7 0
 Godziek*
  • 3 0
 Godzilla*
  • 9 9
 Contrary to what the commentary suggests, you definitely DO see NBA players shooting with their off hand all the time, including in the NBA finals. Maybe not jump shots (I mean, why would you?) but layups, scoop shots, and dunks? You betcha. Anything to get past the defense close to the basket. Nevermind all the other amazing things the pros can do with their off hand when it comes to ball handling.
  • 9 4
 Cool story
  • 5 3
 @machaut: cool cool story
  • 11 1
 New rule: free throws are worth an extra half point if you use your non-dominant hand.
  • 9 6
 Godlike was robbed but I do have to say Emil had a very clean run
  • 11 1
 If Godziek had done an actual trick instead of that one foot table in the middle of the run then Emil would have had to try and improve his run, cause Godziek would hav overtaken Emil's score
  • 3 1
 10x medals? Holy smokes dude is on fire
  • 2 2
 It’s crazy how good Emil is. No one really in sight to slow his winning down either. Maybe time for a rheeder / semenuk comeback
  • 1 2
 neither can compete with him now, and I say this with much respect for both of them. Emil today is better than Semenuk was in his prime. If the dude doesn't crash he wins.
  • 1 2
 @plyawn: sememuk or rheeder are still better than this kid doing bars and whips on every feature.
  • 2 2
 Godziek got robbed! He stomped few bangers like cashrolls or twister combos but swede made by doing tailwhips on every feature.
  • 5 8
 Johansson is so much overrated. Such boring run, this dude only knows 2 tricks: barspin and whip, nothing else. You will not give attention to this sport if such bs runs as johansson would be count as the best!! I see no one who says: wow so much 360 combo whips this dude sends. Its always was tricks that Rogatkin, Rheeder or Godziek do!!
  • 1 1
 You clearly don't know anything about trick difficulty. Go ride an airbag, and see if you get closer to a 720 or a tech combo. From my experience (I have a decent trick bag), rotation tricks are a lot more about hucking than the tech combos. A single 360 downwhip is MUCH harder than a 720 in my opinion (I've been trying 3 downwhips for a while on airbags, but 720s almost work first go without any practice). Not to say Rogatkin and Godziek doing cashy combos and twisters isn't ridiculous, because it is, but Emil is on another level with his precision and technicality.
  • 2 1
 I don't understand how you think his runs are boring there is so much to appreciate about his runs. He is cleaner than anyone else on the field and has a way bigger bag of tricks. I bet you didn't know the last trick he did was a wf and opposite as well.
  • 1 2
 @leon-forfar: ahahah say me something new about trick difficulty, lol.
I've seen enough riders on the spots who can do 3down, but only meet two or three who can do cashroll for example. Statistic speaks for itself... And i dont even speak about twisters on mtb, which can do maybe less than 5 people on whole earth
  • 3 1
 @roma12: "Lots" of people can 360 downwhip, and "lots" of people can cashroll. 3 people in Rotorua Slopestyle alone did Twisters, yet only 1 can or did oppo 360 barspin to double downside whip, or oppo 3 double whip etc.
  • 2 2
 Did I just watch gymnastics?
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