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Marcelo Gutierrez (Giant) keeping his speed over the tabletops. Gutierrez finished 6th in pro men’s. Photo by Matt Miller.
Although not as popular as a standard downhill mountain bike race, an air DH race may be even more fun to watch. It’s less about style, less about gnarly rocks and tricky lines, and more about speed, speed, speed.
It’s a downhill race in the sense that the objective is to get from point A to point B as fast as possible, but on a flowy jump trail, sans technical sections.
The event draws out pro downhillers, EWS racers, freeriders, dual slalomers, dirt jumpers, and just about every type of mountain bike athlete imaginable.
What spectators get is serious speed, sliced corners, and tabletop jumps scrubbed so hard that it would make a suitable plate for dinner.
Here’s a visual low-down on some of the pro athletes who raced it.
Bernard Kerr (Pivot) airs out a berm, somehow. He placed 17th. Photo by Matt Miller.Casey Brown (Trek) is so fast that she can’t keep her front tire down around turns. She placed 3rd. Photo by Matt Miller.Danielle Beecroft (Pivot) scrubs speed on an upper A-line jump. She placed 7th in pro women’s. Photo by Matt Miller.Eddy “the eagle” Masters (Pivot) airs out. He placed 12th. Photo by Matt Miller.Fabio Wibmer (Specialized) wraps around a berm. He placed 66th. Photo by Matt Miller.Jackson Frew blasting down a landing. Photo by Matt Miller.Manon Carpenter (Radon) shoots across a fire road from one section of A-line to the other. She placed 6th in pro women’s. Photo by Matt Miller.Noga Korem (GT) sets up for a scrub on upper A-line. She placed 13th in pro women’s. Photo by Matt Miller.EWS racer Remi Gauvin (Rocky Mountain/RaceFace) catching some speed. He placed 18th. Photo by Matt Miller.Sam Blenkinsop (Norco) also known as Blenky goes high on his scrub. He placed 4th in pro men’s. Photo by Matt Miller.The scenery off the trail is hard to beat. There are a lot of fires burning in BC right now, but Whistler remains green at the moment. Photo by Matt Miller.Mitch Ropelato (Santa Cruz/SRAM) setting up through A-line. He placed 11th. Photo by Matt Miller.In between jumps, riders pedal to get more speed. Photo by Matt Miller.There was only one mountain biker in the 4-wheel class, and Stacy Kohut (Maxxis) killed it. Photo by Matt Miller.
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Aug 16, 2018
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