Despite weather forecasts predicting cold and
rainy days for the weekend, a packed Whistler Village witnessed the skies
clear and Red Bull Elevation go off to once again live up to the hype as
the best event in BMX dirt jumping.
From the first run, the 32 invited riders were throwing it all on the line
and in the qualifying rounds, it was Corey Bohan who led the pack dropping
a double tailwhip, superman seat grab and backflip in his first drop-in!
From there it was a battle between Bohan and 2005 winner Ryan Nyquist as
they dropped every killer combo on the course and inched point by point up
the board to land first and second place settings leading into the finals.
Young James Foster who nailed the first ever triple tailwhip last year
impressed the judges this year and secured him a third place qualifying
score. But it was Brian Foster who had the crowds and judges picking up
their jaws as the 35 year old showed what BMX riding is all about with his
massive transfers and killer line choices down the course. It was
definitely anyone's win at the end of qualifiers Saturday afternoon.
Sunday saw the top 12 riders from the previous day hit the course and it
was an instant battle for first between Bohan and Nyquist as they pulled
out every combo and trick possible run after run. Nyquist went into the
finals with a broken bike, an injured wrist and after borrowing a bike for
the day, Nyquist took the lead with an unbelievable one-tenth win over
Bohan! Third place went to Brian Foster who continued to wow the judges and
crowds below with his smooth style. James Foster not only settled for an
admirable fourth place finish but went on the win the Big Hit contest after
hitting another triple tailwhip and earning the win with a killer truck
driver to 360 downside tailwhip and a cool $5,000. Nyquist went home with
$10,000, Bohan $7,000 and Brian Foster $5,000.
Once the dust settled on the course, Canadian indie-rock darlings Metric
hit the stage and kept the crowds pumped well into the night. Over the
course of the weekend there were several parties to hit and local DJs took
over the decks at various Whistler hotspots as well as the now infamous
pool party at Elevation mansion. The Adara Hotel graciously hosted the
riders and select media and allowed us to transform their stylish hotel
into Elevation headquarters complete with bar, DJ booth, fridge and photos
adorning the walls.
Red Bull Elevation saw an impressive number of international media make the
trek to Whistler as crews from Australia, Colombia, Germany, England and
the Czech Republic took over the Whistler walkways interviewing riders and
capturing BMX mania in the village.
Special guests included several Red Bull athletes including: US skier
Kristi Leskinen, German skier Sven Kuennle, US BMX legend Edwin de la Rosa,
New England Patriots long-snapper Loni Paxton, and of course Canada's own
Mikey Rencz, Marie-France Roy, Sean Pettit, Shaums March and skateboarder
Ryan Dasenzo all chilling out under the VIP tent from the top of the
course.
In the words of this years winner, Ryan Nyquist, "this is one for the
memory books!"
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