Xtreme Sports Xchange

The Slopestyle competition during the Crankworx Festival is known as the unofficial World Championship of the freeride elite. Every Year the most well-known riders get together in Whistler to announce the Freeride Champion of the year! The course (designed by John Cowan) was definitely again a big challenge. It gave the riders different options to show off their greatest tricks and to ride the most creative lines. The hill close to the bottom lift station of Whistler was packed with dirt jumps, step-ups und -downs, road gaps, a spine as well as drops. It was just the biggest freeride course of the year. 

In the end, Lacondeguy's stylish run, and the insane double back flip, just won out.

The Kona-Clump-Team rider Andreu Lacondeguy won the contest with an absolutely amazing run: the first trick of his line was the hardest one out there – the double back flip, which has never been shown before in a North American slopestyle event – and of course it made the crowds go nuts. After cheering to the audience he continued with a foot-plant at the „Monster Snake” obstacle, followed by a flip-table at the fruit bowl road gap, a flat-spin 360 at the first hip to a topside nac-nac at the next hip, a can-can at the next step-down, a superman between the two Sram satellites, and finished with a back-flip at the Kokanee step-up box and another superman off the big step-down. Those tricks assured Andreu the highest score of the day: 94.3 points. Second got Lance McDermott (UK), who impressed the judges and thousands of spectators with a front flip off the last step-down. Together with the rest of his run he scored with 91.5 points quite clear behind Andreu, but he still earned himself 8.000 Dollars. In third place came the young Whistler local Brandon Semenuk with 89.8 points and also a clean run all the way thru. 

The judges had a tough job with the mind blowing performance of the world’s best riders. The head judge Colin Duncan mentioned: "Slopestyle contests are about the all around impression, and all the guys in the finals had clean smooth runs. With tricks like the double back flip, back flip tail whip and the back flip up onto the Kokanee box and a front flip off, it was an incredibly tough contest to judge. In the end, Lacondeguy's stylish run, and the insane double back flip, just won out." 

Of course Andreu was super stoked and happy about pulling off the double back flip:  "I just kept trying the double back flip," says Lancondeguy. "It was that trick that did the job, it was gnarly you know." The young Spanish fly was pulling the first double back flip during practise of the best trick comp on Thursday before the actual slopestyle contest, but hardly anyone saw it. In the finals he threw it all down and took the highest risk by trying the trick for the third time in hopes of no crash. It definitely paid off and Andreu filled his pockets with 15,000 Dollar.
 
Andreu’s sponsors – Kona, O’Neal, Red Bull, Marzocchi und adidas eyewear – are happy for him and wish him all the best for his still very young career: Andreu, Rock on!!
 
Results Kokanee Crankworx Slopestyle Competition 2008: 

  1st   Andreu Lacondeguy   Spain                 Kona   
  2nd   Lance Mcdermott      United Kingdom   Scott   
  3rd   Brandon Semenuk    Canada               Trek   
  4th   Cameron McCaul       USA                    Trek   
  5th   Jamie Goldman         USA                    Santa Cruz   
  6th   Cameron Zink          USA                    Felt Bicycles   
  7th   Greg Watts             USA                    Gary Fisher    
  8th   Trond Hansen          Norway               Specialized   
  9th   Darren Berrecloth     Canada               Specialized   
  10th Ben Boyko               Canada               Norco

Tags: competition, freeride, mountain bike