Working all day and staying up all night has made me happy that crankworx is finally over. One of the most memorable moments over the last week of festivities had to be the Saint Deep Mountain Photo Challenge. This contest is modelled after the Arc'teryx Deep Winter Challenge which has been around for a few years now. 6 photographers are given 3 days to shot around Whistler with whomever they please and create a slideshow capturing each sport and the corresponding lifestyle. I have to say that I was completely blown away by the quality, creativity, and diversity of all the slideshows, but in my mind Jordan Manley (http://ww.jordanmanley.com/) was clearly the winner and the judges agreed awarding him first place. His show focused on the dedication of the whistler bike park trail crew and their tireless efforts to keep the worlds most ridden trails running day in and day out all season long. It was truly moving and perfectly captured the soul of what mountain biking means to me. I will post a link to the slide show when it becomes available. We were also able to catch the best trick and air DH competitions.
This guy got back up and tried whatever this was supposed to be again! But just ended up with the same result... oh the pain.
On the riding front I haven't touched my DH bike since it ate my shin last week, although I went on a sweet adventure the other morning. We are leaving for a 3 day camping trip in the Chilcotins Thursday morning, so in order to get some major vertical climbing on the legs I decided to re-ride The Khyber Pass. The only difference this time was instead of taking the 2 lifts most of the way up, I climbed from our front door. As one is not allowed to climb up the access roads through the park, I got an early 7 am start. It was a damp morning with fog engulfing the mountain. I made it all the way to the park boundary before a truck emerged from the fog telling me I wasn't allowed to be up there, although he wasn't going to make me go back down the mountain…. like I was going to ride down the fire road after hours of climbing! The fog was thick with at best 10 m of visibility. As I made my way out of the bike park, I started singing out loud along with my Ipod to alert the bear who frequents the area to my presence as I climbed. By the time I reached the trailhead the fog had burnt off and the visibility was much better. After a PB and J sandwich (with Island strawberry jam thanks to Alice and Emily) at the "The Stu Inn" I began the decent. The trail was in perfect shape with the damp dirt providing limitless traction. I proceeded to flow downhill with a big shit eating grin for the next 2 hours. I don't often go for solo rides but there is something special to be said for just being alone far off in the forest.
Matt recently got the new HD gopro helmet cam and here is a video we put together of us playing on the lost lake trails. In the video I'm riding a demo 2011 giant anthem 29er, i have to say that although those wagon wheels took a little getting used to on the corners. Once you got them up to speed it just devoured whatever the trail through at it. Was nice to finally get a chance to try out a 29er.
loSt lake loop from Ben Crook-Hanna on Vimeo.
The list of injuries is in no way slowing down with Tyler being the unsuspecting victim this time. I think I mentioned Tyler had crashed about a week back and had hurt his hand. Well it turns out he broke a bone in it so make sure you send all your healing vibes his way as the Chilcotin trip is fast approaching. I had a customer at the shop today baffled that everywhere she went you see people in casts and slings. Its getting late in the season and the dry conditions have claimed many a tired rider. A quick walk through the village is a good reminder to remain on your a game when out on the trials.
No comments:
Post a Comment