Category: Mountain Biking

Because you can do more than ski and snowboard in Whistler… you can also bike.

Summer Racing on BlackcombSummer Racing on Blackcomb

September 17, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The Whistler Museum’s latest exhibition – Pedal to the Medal: The History of Mountain Bike Events in Whistler – highlights several races and events that took place in the valley, Blackcomb Mountain, and Whistler Mountain. We have written previously on Whistler’s first off-road race in 1982, as well as Whistler Mountain’s Can-Am Challenge. However, we have so far only referred to Blackcomb Mountain’s involvement in the sport.

In 1988, Blackcomb Mountain expanded its summer offerings with summer glacier skiing, hiking, sightseeing, and mountain biking. The latter was growing rapidly in popularity and Blackcomb took the opportunity to host bike competitions that were the highlight of the summer.

Kicking off the racing season was a series of events presented by Bike Riders Choice, known as the BRC races. The first year held five races in June and July, including cross-country, trials, dual slalom, uphill climb, and descent. Riders who entered the series would see their points in each event contribute to their overall score. Major prizes, such as BRC bikes, Blackcomb ski passes or Keg gift cards, were awarded to winners, with draw prizes available to participants of three or more races.

The majority of participants were from the Sea to Sky area and Vancouver, though this changed as the series grew more popular.

Bill Stiles (left) and Geoff “Lumpy” Leidal (right) leading the pack in a 1992 BRC cross-country race. Whistler Question Collection.

The first season saw plenty of punctures, broken bikes, and DNFs (did not finish), but there was also success for many riders. Despite getting eighth in the Mile High Descent, Eric Crowe’s performance in the other races won him the overall title in the men’s expert class. The tightest competition was between Cindy Devine and Diana Ghikas in the women’s expert class, with the former securing the top spot by only three points.

For many riders, the BRC races prepared them for the Labatt’s Can-Am Challenge on Blackcomb Mountain, which took place over a weekend in August. The Can-Am had a similar format to the BRC races, with five events determining riders’ overall score, but contributed $5,000 in prize money. In was described in the Whistler Question as Whistler’s “first full-blown international bike race.” While the 1986 Can-Am Challenge on Whistler Mountain attracted over 70 competitors from across North America, the inaugural year in 1988 on Blackcomb saw 230 Canadian and American riders.

The Can-Ams were also an important part of the local MTB community, as local companies such as Backroads Whistler and Jim McConkey’s Sport Shop used the weekend to advertise their services to a larger audience.

Athletes from the USA dominated the pro categories, but local racers placed well in their respective categories, including Cindy Devine and Diana Ghikas who placed third and fourth in the Women’s Pro. Many experienced racers commented on some organizational blunders, though overall the event was a success with Blackcomb’s dedicated staff and team of volunteers excitedly planning for the next year.

Vail rider Michael Kloser leading the cross-country criterium. He won the overall title in the 1988 Can-Am Challenge. Whistler Question Collection, 1988.

1989 saw some formatting changes, including dropping the trials event for both the BRC races and the Can-Am Challenge. They also nixed local business participation and focussed only on Blackcomb MTB services, such as their retail, which disappointed some local companies.

As Eric Wight of Backroads told the Whistler Question, “It’s a North American event and we should be using it to show mountain bikers from elsewhere what a strong mountain biking community there is here in Whistler.”

Nevertheless, there continued to be a strong showing of local riders and the event attracted more athletes from around the continent. Keep an eye out next week as we recently had a participant from the 1989 Can-Am Challenge share his recollections of racing in the event.

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Replacing Horses with BikesReplacing Horses with Bikes

July 25, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

There are many competitions and races that take place during Crankworx, which is back in Whistler for the end of July, however one bike-related event that you’re unlikely to come across is mountain bike polo. While bike polo is not overwhelmingly popular in the area today, in 1989 there were mountain bike polo championships held in Whistler.

Bike polo is similar to the traditional sport of polo, although the horses are replaced by bikes, in which the aim is to drive a ball through the goal of the opposing team using mallets. Traditionally, bike polo is played on grass courts, but over time hardcourt bike polo has become more popular. Though the rules vary depending on where the game is played, it appears to be consistent that players must hold the mallet in their right hand and their handlebar in the left and have no parts of their body touching the ground in order to touch the ball or attack an opponent.

Eric Crowe (left) and Jim Warren fight for control of the ball during a mountain bike polo game at Myrtle Philip School. Despite its apparent popularity, we could find very few images of mountain bike polo being played in Whistler. Whistler Question Collection, Mike Youds, 1988

The Whistler Question provided two different accounts of how the sport began: in the June 16, 1988 edition it claimed that the sport was invented in 1987 at a mountain bike competition in Colorado; in the August 3, 1989 edition they reported that a group of windsurfers from Quebec created the sport when there was no wind and they came across some friends playing croquet. The more widely accepted history of bike or cycle polo is that it was adapted by a retired cyclist named Richard J. Mecredy in Ireland in 1891. It was a demonstration sport at the 1908 Olympics in London and saw a resurgence in popularity in the 1980s.

Mountain bike polo came to Whistler in the summer of 1988. Games were played on Sunday evenings at Myrtle Philip School (then still located in the Whistler Village) and there were plans to form a local league. That first summer must have gone well because they were still playing in 1989 and even had plans to host a championship tournament.

The “World Mountain Bike Polo Championships” came to Whistler from August 17 to 20, 1989, coinciding with Labatt’s Can-Am Challenge held on Blackcomb Mountain. There was some controversy between the organizers from Quebec, who wanted to hold the matches on a gravel field at the bottom of the Wizard Chair, and the local players, who preferred the grass at Myrtle Philip School where they had been playing each Sunday. The local players won out and eight teams competed for the top spot on the school field. Though most of the teams came from Canada and the US, there was reportedly one team from Australia, kind of – it was made up of Australians who were living in Whistler.

While you won’t find mountain bike polo in this year’s Crankworx line up, other types of events that were included during Labatt’s Can Am Challenge weekend are still included, such as the dual slalom race. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, Unknown Photographer, 1989

In the end, Whistler’s Mountain Mutants placed first, winning various prizes including a mountain bike, a pair of television sets, answering machines, and, of course, Polo-Ralph Lauren gift certificates. According to Neil Collins of the Mountain Mutants, “Everyone had fun, but it was pretty competitive; we trashed a fair number of wheels, bikes and bodies.”

Bike polo is still played in cities around the world today, though its popularity waned again after its 1980s surge. There are currently (as far as we are aware) no mountain bike polo teams in Whistler and it seems unlikely that it will be featured in Crankworx anytime soon.

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Crankworx Numero UnoCrankworx Numero Uno

August 16, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Eighteen years ago the first Crankworx was held in Whistler Village to roaring success. As the Crankworx World Tour is back in town this month we are throwing back to the original Crankworx Mountain Bike Festival, which started in Whistler in 2004.

We cannot talk about the start of Crankworx without first mentioning Joyride and Whistler Summer Gravity Festival. Joyride Bikercross was first organised by Chris Winter and Paddy Kaye in 2001. Four riders simultaneously jockeyed for lead at full speed down the course featuring tight turns and fast jumps. It instantly drew the crowds. Joyride continued in 2002, then was incorporated into the week-long Whistler Gravity Festival in 2003 – combining all the disciplines of gravity-assisted mountain biking including Air Downhill and Slopestyle. In 2004 the Whistler Gravity Festival rebranded to Crankworx.

Crankworx in 2004. Andrew Worth Collection.

Crankworx started as a way to pull together all gravity-assisted mountain bike disciplines and events, bringing all the best mountain bikers together. The idea was also to showcase the bike park. Rob McSkimming who was the managing director of Whistler Mountain Bike Park at the time, approached Mark ‘Skip’ Taylor who had experience working on the World Ski and Snowboard Festival. According to Rob in 2004, “Crankworx was designed so we could strive to be on the progressive edge of mountain biking.”

In 2004, Crankworx took place July 22 to 25, with concerts, pro-rider shows and an expo throughout the four days. Events included the Air Downhill along A-Line which was in its third year. The bike park had newly opened the terrain to the top of Garbanzo and the Garbanzo Downhill was another signature event, along with the BC Downhill Championship and the Biker X.

Definitely the most popular for spectators was the slopestyle. The course, which Richie Schley helped design, featured a road gap, wall ride, massive teeter-totter, step up to scaffolding, and huge gap jumps and drops. Prior to the event Rob McSkimming said of the course, “You should see what they are building for the Slopestyle session. It looks like an Olympic facility. There are some features in there that are hard to imagine riding let alone throwing tricks on.”

There were many memorable moments during the competition. Kirt Voreis left an impression, falling off his bike on top of the teeter-totter. He was able to keep both himself and the bike on the teeter-totter and continue the run after the fall.

Kirt Voreis managed to hang on after falling of his bike on the teeter-totter. Andrew Worth Collection.

Spectators will also remember Timo Pritzel from Germany who went really big, massively overshooting the funbox transition near the bottom of the course and flying over the scaffolding. As the Whistler Question explained, “He did clear the scaffold, but bailed his bike in mid-air and landed the old-fashioned way, which looked to most of the spectators like a guy jumping out of a two story building.” He broke his wrist and ankle in the crash, and placed second in the competition.

In an impressive underdog story, Paul Basagoitia took top honours in the 2004 slopestyle when he was 17 and relatively unknown. He had a background in BMX, no sponsors and no bike, so he borrowed a bike from friend, Cam Zink, and went on to win the contest. In an in interview from Pique Newsmagazine at the time, he said, “It was awesome, it was only like my fifth time on a mountain bike, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Paul Basagoitia during Crankworx 2004 where he came first in the slopestyle. According to an article in The Red Bulletin, following his victory Paul said, “I would like to thank my sponsors, but I don’t have any sponsors, really.” Andrew Worth Collection.

Still on the progressive edge of mountain biking, the evolution of the Crankworx from 2004 to today is evident in the village this week. Whistler has again come alive in celebration of all things mountain biking and no doubt legends will continue to be created.

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Racing into the Summer of 1982Racing into the Summer of 1982

June 21, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 2 Comments

On June 20, 1982, Whistler hosted what may have been its first mountain bike race, the (unofficial) Canadian Off-Road Cycle Championship organized by John Kirk. About three weeks later, the Molson Whistler Bike Race also took place in Whistler. Despite some very marked differences, the two events did have at least one thing in common: Jacob Heilborn.

The year before these two races took place in Whistler, Rocky Mountain Bicycles Ltd. had been incorporated in Vancouver by Grayson Bain, Sam Mak, and Jacob Heilbron. The three had already begun modifying their Nishiki bikes to ride trails in the mountains, adding the wider tires and straight handlebars described as “puffy” and “upright” by the Whistler Question. In 1982, the same year that Whistler hosted its first mountain bike race, Rocky Mountain Bicycles produced the Sherpa, the first mountain bike created in Canada.

Competitors reach their bikes after running down from the Le Mans start under the Village Chair. Whistler Question Collection, 1982.

According to the Question and some of the competitors, the Canadian Off-Road Cycle Championship held in June 1982 may have actually been one of the first mountain bike races in Canada, taking place two years before the Canadian Off-Road Bicycle Association was formed in 1984. Seventeen competitors signed up for the race featuring “puffy over-sized balloon tires and upright handlebars.” It began with a Le Mans start down the lower part of the Village Chair to their bikes in Mountain Square. From there, the course headed out to Lost Lake, along Green Lake, and back from the Wedge Creek turnoff to end up on the Lost Lake trail again.

The racer who took first place, Tony Starck, reportedly bought his first off-road bike just three weeks before the race. Russ Maynard came second and third went to Jacob Heilbron, who remembered switching to a road bike on the one highway section of the course and thus picking up about three places before switching back to his mountain bike for the trails. Prizes were also awarded to the first one-speed to cross the finish line, the competitor who finished closest to an unspecified “mystery time,” and the person who did the best wheelie in the wheelie contest held the day before.

Chaz Romalis, owner of the Deep Cove Bike Shop in North Vancouver, leads the pack during the race. Whistler Question Collection, 1982.

In contrast to the unofficial championship with few rules, the Molson Whistler Bike Race held in July 1982 had 120 competitors with road bikes, a well-marked course with marshalls, and even corporate sponsorship. While mountain biking was still a very new sport, road cycling was well established and 1982 was reportedly the twelfth year the Molson Bike Race was held (it is unclear whether all twelve races were held in Whistler). The event, which featured a two-stage course from Vancouver to Whistler and then on to Pemberton as well as a 50-lap criterium race around the Town Centre, was organized by the same Jacob Heilbron who placed third in the Off-Road Cycle Championship.

The racers in the Molson Whistler Bike Race head through the Whistler Village on much skinnier tires. Whistler Question Collection, 1982.

Despite some criticisms of the criterium course, Ross Chafe placed first overall in the Molson Whistler Bike Race, followed by Tom Broznowski, then the US national road-racing champion. In third was Beau Pulfer, a member of the Canadian National Team. Genevieve Brunet took first in the women’s category, with Sheila Cavers and Kelly-Anne Way taking second and third places. Most racers and organizers agreed that the event went “exceptionally well.”

Forty years later, mountain biking has arguably replaced road cycling as the dominant form of recreation on two wheels in Whistler. There continue to be many riders, however, who participate in both sports and both continue to be well represented in the summer months, with Crankworx returning this August and the GranFondo scheduled for September.

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