SEMENUK
As Brandon Semenuk rolled into his run during the 2017 Red Bull Joyride slopestyle competition at Crankworx Whistler, fans, industry insiders, and competitors all watched to see what the hometown rider would do. Semenuk had been absent from competition for most of 2017, focusing instead on video and photo shoots.
The first rider to drop into the course, Semenuk stomped a half cab on the first feature, a trick that caused him to crash out the year prior. A backflip double tailwhip came next with a corked 720 in one direction, then a second in the opposite. A backflip candybar closed out the 12-feature run. Semenuk bent over his bars to catch his breath as fans surrounding the finish area screamed in excitement over the performance. Semenuk waited as the riders in rest of the field attempted their runs – 17 athletes in all. Final scores were tabulated, and in front of his home crowd, Semenuk was crowned winner for the fifth time, having scored 89.8 on that August day.
Brett Tippie came forward holding a microphone to interview Semenuk, congratulating the rider on his fifth title before signing off with a mad crescendo punctuated by a loud, “Whooo.”
Tippie’s voice has become synonymous with freeride mountain biking, coming full circle from his role in the foundation of the sport more than 20 years ago. During that time, he garnered fame riding steep pitches around Kamloops, B.C., becoming known as one of the Godfathers of Freeride, before losing so much of what he’d built to addiction. He traces a line in his life that connects Crankworx directly with his return to the industry, culture and sport he so clearly loves. He now hosts the boisterous Pink-bike coverage of Crankworx.
“Crankworx is this amazing event that mixes all the different types of riders together for all forms of gravity mountain biking,” said Tippie, talking excitedly. “It’s everything that’s good in mountain biking. You can race with your heroes; you can ride Top of the World, this epic alpine ride – it’s an arm-burner; you can ride A-line and Dirt Merchant in the bike park.