Fat Tire Crit
When the dirt-adorned descend into Whistler Village with their mountain bikes for the Fat Tire Crit, it’s the nearest thing Whistler has to a Running of the Bulls – crowds pressed into a cobble-stoned circuit enlivened with unpredictable sprints, the snort of wild things out of their native environment being flushed through winding chicanes, and everyone’s pulses racing. Winning the Crit requires more tactical and technical mastery than savagery, making the Fat Tire Crit a crowd-pleaser, as racers fall prey to the “lap or be lapped and tapped out” law of rider Darwinism and fight right to the finish.
Jeep Canadian Open DH
A technical test-piece - one run of Whistler’s rooty single-track, steep rock drops and air features, straight down, no mercy. The Canadian Open DH course demands blazing guns and laser focus, especially as riders encounter the stoke-soaked atmosphere of Heckler’s Rock. The loud rowdy half-naked fans stage their Occupation, making this premiere downhill race truly a course or character and renown. Will this year’s riders break the three minute mark?
Garbanzo Downhill
A vertical marathon. The Garbanzo DH is a gruel-fest, a magnet for masochists, a 3400’ top-to-bottom toll-taking test of mountain biking legitimacy. The unrelenting 12km descent requires sustained intensity, as riders match stamina, smoothness and strategy to stay on their game for one long lonely ride through 3 bioclimactic zones and shifting conditions, with only pain and the mountain’s mood swings to accompany them. A killer link-up, the Garbanzo DH course snakes through some of the most aggressive terrain the Whistler Mountain Bike Park has. The Garbanzo DH is a leg-busting stand-up-and-pedal test-piece.
Deep Summer Photo Challenge
Six renowned invited photographers will choose the Crankworx competitor of their choice and shoot reams of Bike Park action over a set number of days. The challenge is to compile a slide show to impress a judging panel and the spectators at the big finale.
Air Downhill
Imagine a herd of gazelle hopping through the Serengeti with a pride of lions in pursuit. Drop it into the forest and ramp up speed and style and you’ve got one of the wildest downhill races on the planet. 100 jumps, just as many berms and tail whipping samurai like Brian Lopes skipping to victory.
Ultimate Pump Track Challenge presented by Rock Shox
At the dirt laboratory, 85 flow-rats master the maze, a 20 second course chock full of berms, doubles and gaps. The ultimate stripped-down skill showcase, riders duel back-to-back without making a single pedal stroke, in a test to harness horizontal momentum with speed, flow and flair. The first 60 pro men and 25 pro women to register will hustle through a time trials elimination round to form the finals field of 32 men and 8 women. Style points translate into cold hard cash from a $500 pot to reward best antics and $1000 cash will crown the fastest female and male rider. Will reigning title-holders Mitch Ropelato (US) and Jill Kintner (US) rock-and-roll their way to three in a row, or is 2012 their time to be outpumped?
Teva Best Trick Showdown
Riders bring out their best tricks including double tailwhips, 720’s, flipwhips, and 360 lookbacks. A mouthful? Sure. But wait until you see it. With 25 of the world’s best slopestyle riders invited to participate, and a rider judged two-line jam format, the Teva Best Trick Showdown has but one purpose: drive riders to bend the known universe of mountain bike possibility.
Giant Dual Slalom
Rivalry at its most naked, the Dual Slalom’s crowd-pleasing format pits two competitors, side by side, with the clock’s second hand as the guillotine dropping to eliminate one rider per round. A bike-handling battleground, the finely sculpted track of jumps, berms, rhythm sections and drops pits fourcross specialists against gnar-chasing downhillers. Riders take one run down each side of the course. The fastest combined time wins. Each lap through the track raises the stakes and works up everyone’s appetite to win.
Red Bull Joyride
Prepare for Red Bull Joyride, fusing elements of slopestyle, dirt jump and North Shore mountain biking. Joyride will culminate into one gravity-fed, season-defining freeride mountain bike competition. The course, which is 100 per cent inspired and designed by professional mountain bike athletes, incorporates as much of the natural terrain as possible, lined with gargantuan man-made features.
Canadian Open Enduro
If variety is the spice of life, then 2011’s redesigned Canadian Open Enduro is Crankworx’ garam masala. A blend of five Whistler trails, the rally-style mash-up of DH and XC riding creates a flavoursome event that rewards the generalist over the specialist. A sampler of the sweetest singletrack in Whistler, where racers must choose one bike to serve for all legs, ride without any outside assistance, and link up stages within a specific time allocation, but are only timed during the five competition stages. A 3 hour event, with just 30 minutes on the clock, the Canadian Open Enduro, a feature stop on the North American Enduro Tour, is a test of endurance and versatility and all-round mastery.
Canadian Cheese Rolling Championships
The only official non-biking event is another gravity fed experience, back for its 4th year! This UK-style, century old tradition has contestants running and tripping down a mountain chasing an 11-pound cheese wheel to win the cheese (and Whistler Blackcomb season passes)
Access the site via the Excalibur Gondola in the Whistler Village Skier’s Plaza to watch or compete in the hilarious races, sample Canadian cheeses at the farmers’ market and chill out as the kids let off some steam with plenty of entertainment. FREE event.