August 15, 2012 (Whistler, BC) – An exciting new addition to Crankworx Whistler’s event calendar is the Un Official Whip Off World Championships. The event took place on the Whistler Mountain Bike Park’s gigantic Crabapple Hits. There are no rules in this event; the biggest, most stylish whip takes home the $1,000 cash prize and American Tyler McCaul was the man to do it on Tuesday.
“I learned how to do whips by watching Thomas Vanderham’s video parts in New World Disorder so it was cool that we were together in the finals,” says McCaul. “I was in my comfort zone all day and then on the last run I got out of my comfort zone, got real sideways and luckily it straightened out so I could ride away.”
Thomas Vanderham pulled the second best whip, MVP went to Brendan Fairclough and Cam Zink got an honourable mention. The “best whip not brought back” was Bernard Kerr and on the women’s side Lorraine Brancher came away with kudos. Other titles included in the grassroots event was “best AM whip” pulled by Chris Young, highest air to Jamie Goldman and “best scrub” to Ian Morrison.
Riders were inspired by the perfect line of Crabapple Hits booters and were pulling tricks beyond the whip including a flip by Nicola Pascetto and Andreu Lacondeguy’s huge superman.
The event was developed by Sven Martin, a mountain bike photographer who knows his whips. The whip is a revered move inspired by moto where the rider airs and throws the rear of the bike to one side; getting the bike flat, sideways and dragged out earns major style points.
Next up for August 15 is the longest running Crankworx event, the Air DH. The event will be live webcast 3:30-5:30pm PDT. Then that evening the iconic Deep Summer Photo Challenge will see six photographers compete for the prestige and the cash. The slideshow event will take place at Whistler Olympic Plaza and has VIP seating available for $20, or spectators can enjoy the show for free on the lawn. The event gets underway at nightfall, around 8:30pm.
Current event photography HERE.
Live Streaming Webcast Schedule for Crankworx Whistler 2012
The webcasts, powered by Red Bull Media House, are live streamed at www.crankworx.com, www.redbull.com/bike .
Saturday August 11
– REPLAY – Canadian Open Enduro
– REPLAY – Dual Speed & Style presented by AVID
Sunday August 12
– REPLAY – Garbanzo DH
Wednesday August 15
– Air DH – 3:30pm-5:30pm
Thursday August 16
– Teva Best Trick – 4:00pm-6:00pm
– Ultimate Pump Track Challenge presented by Rock Shox – 8:00pm-9:00pm
Friday August 17
– Red Bull Joyride Qualifiers – 1:30pm-3:00pm
– GIANT Dual Slalom Amateur – 3:30pm-5:30pm
– GIANT Dual Slalom Pro – 6:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday August 18
– Red Bull Joyride Finals – 5:30pm-7:30pm
Sunday August 19
– Jeep Canadian Open DH – 3:00pm-5:00pm
The ninth annual Crankworx Whistler is presented by Whistler Blackcomb and the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. Crankworx Whistler is the biggest annual event held in Whistler and is also the largest freeride mountain bike festival in the world. Crankworx Les 2 Alpes took place for the first time July 9-15, 2012 and was the first Crankworx event to take place outside of North America. This new event will build on Crankworx’s legendary legacy in the arena of freeride mountain biking.