7-30-07 // Online Exclusive: 2007 Crankworx Slopestyle

The course began with a committed gap roll-in, followed by a 30-foot step down, here Boyko demonstrates. Alan L. Davis

And then Ben Boyko dropped in. The North Vancouver bred carpenter turned pro threw down a competitive and beautifully smooth run, hitting backflips, tailwhips and 360s all the way down until the 18 foot to super gnarly tranny Jumbotron drop. Until Boyko approached it, the only significant trick it had seen was Tyler McCaul’s suicide no-hander. Boyko, who rides for Norco, hucks a big ol’ 360 and sticks it. The crowd of 15,000 goes nuts for the first time. The gauntlet had just been thrown.

The 360 would inspire Paul B’s failed attempt at a tailwhip and had, as Bike Mag correspondent Greg “Chopper” Randolph said at the time, “Put another level on the scaffolding.” Boyko would take the hot seat with the top score so far in the competition. It also became readily apparent that to win Crankworx, you’d have to throw something significant off the bottom drop.

Other riders put in good enough runs on the top of the course. Andreu Lacondeguy had two awesome runs in the Super Finals, but didn’t bust a move on the bottom drop. He would place second. 16-year-old Whistler-born Trek rider, Brandon Semenuk would also drop a smooth, technically flawless run for third. Paul Bass still managed a high enough score, regardless of his crash off the bottom drop and a DNF on his second run to clench fourth. McCaul, who may have been slightly hurt going into the Super Finals, had an excellent run, but like everyone else except Boyko, wasn’t feeling the final Jumbotron air and straight aired it. He would place fifth.

Boyko, who’s been knocking at the door for quite some time, accepted his first place, $10,000 prize with a genuine stoke that had him stepping on to the stage with his bike raised above his head. Pumped is an understatement. The man deserved the win big time, especially after laying down his second Super Finals run--after a series of more backflips, tailwhips and 360s, he busted another 360 off the final drop, sticking it like a champ.

When it was all said and done, and all 15,000 spectators dispersed to drink Kokanees by the dozen, it was apparent that this was more a changing of the guard more than it was slopestyle progression. The talent is getting deeper in the slopestyle world, which can only benefit the sport as a whole. That and the fact that 15,000 people, mountain bikers and non-mountain bikers alike, had travelled from all corners of the world to watch what has become—in five short years—possibly the most coveted spectacle in the history of our sport.

Crankworx Slopestyle Results

1 Ben Boyko - Norco, Marzocchi, Denny's, Kenda, FSA, Dakine, Mavic
2. Andeu Lacondeguy - KONA, Red Bull, Adidas, O'Neal, Marzocchi
3. Brandon Semenuk - Nike, Trek, Sram, Rock Shox, Truvativ, Avid, Fizik, JBL, Giro
4. Cam McCaul - Trek, Fox Riders Co., Manitou, Shimano, Smith
5. Paul Basagoitia - Kona, Race Face, Giro
6. Alex Prochazka - Rocky Mountain/Heywood Securities
7. Andrew Taylor - Versus cycles, Atomlab, Camelback, Bell, Spyder
8. Kyle McDonald - Rocky Mountain, Troy Lee Designs, Smith, Nike 6.0
9. Kyle Strait - Oakely, Specialized, FOX, Red Bull
10. Ian Nelson - NSMB

Boyko throws down—he 360'd the huge Jumbotron drop and proved his mettle, not once but twice. Alan L. Davis