8-7-07 // Online Exclusive: Bearclaw Invitational Results

If Bearclaw builds it, they will come.

For a complete gallery of images from this event go HERE

Darren Berrecloth is one of the world’s most successful mountain bike slopestyle competitors. Whether he’s winning the Qashqai Challenge in Europe or mixing it up at Crankworx, Bearclaw is setting the bar for what it means to be a professional athlete. The second Bearclaw Invitational further cemented his standing as an ambassador for the sport. He’s shown us how to ride, exposed the sport to the masses and now is showing future generations of riders just how slopestyle course and events should be built and run.

The Bearclaw Invitational was located at Mt. Washington resort on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Out of the way for most, the resort is an easy trip from Whistler where the discipline’s best riders had assembled only a week earlier for Crankworx. Bearclaw promised a course with more flow, fun and creativity than seen at recent contests and riders showed up en masse.

The Bearclaw course was well sheltered from wind and sculpted for months for optimal flow. Two parallel lines began from an initial ladder drop. After arcing through some buttery berms and over one of two hitching posts, riders encountered a four-way tabletop allowing them to chose between a right or left wall ride. The next obstacles, repeatedly referred to as “boners” by announcer B-Rad, were long tree trunks sunk into the ground at a shallow angle and finished off with some ladder work to make two huge 25-foot ladder drops. Next, riders tackled a series of dirt jumps before a big quarter pipe and wallride at the bottom. The course was creative and fun, topped with forgiving dirt and dotted with nicely sculpted transitions.

Berrecloth wanted the contest to be as rider and spectator friendly as possible. Riders took only two judged runs and the highest score counted. Competitors had several days to practice and when the contest began, several riders were already favorites for the podium. Andreu Lacondeguy was going huge throughout practice, tossing tabletop-backflips and superman whips. Cam McCaul, Berrecloth, Brandon Semenuk, Ben Boyko, Kyle Strait and Alex Prochazka were charging hard too, and would prove to be fierce competitors.

Launching off a "boner"