On September 4th and 5th, 2009 mountain bikers gathered at the peak of Whistler Mountain in the Whistler Blackcomb resort in British Columbia and descended more than 2,182m and a vertical of 1,530m to cross the finish line in Whistler Village at speeds reaching up to 80 km per hour. National and international riders endured nature’s elements of low visibility, rain and mud and sustained constant physical and mental efforts in order to maintain control during the entire decent.
Red Bull Exodus is a mass start downhill race, which saw over 125 men and women race in a simultaneous start from the snow-capped peak with a final destination in Whistler Village. Over the course of two days, participants were challenged by bar-to-bar racing as they battled side-by-side, dealing with fatigue and navigating through muddy and wet dirt trails riddled with jumps, stunts, drops and root-strewn terrain.
Qualifying Day
On Friday September 4th, qualifiers took place on the lower half of the course which took over the famous Garbanzo bike zone in the Whistler Bike Park. Once the qualifiers were completed, the riders’ destinies were determined based on their results and they were seeded in rows of ten for the mass start on Saturday. Keeping the fastest men and women at the front of the pack was key as the top half of this massive course would see riders hit speeds of up to 80km per hour. After all the men and women made it down the course, it was United Kingdom's Jack Reading who took the fastest time at 14:21.81 minutes for the male category and Whistler, BC native Katrina Strand who clocked in at 17:06.03 for the women's category.
Race Day
A wet and soggy race day didn’t stop the excitement around the village. Competitors uploaded to the Peak of Whistler where they began to take there position and prepare for the mass start. Freezing cold temperatures, mist and rain provided the setting for a dramatic start. A shotgun start had riders launch at a 5000 ft descent. Red Bull's own Shaums March took the lead and wowed the crowd as he charged into the Garbanzo zone with a huge pack of racers chasing him. Riders Tyler Morland, Wade Simmons, Thomas Vanderham, Chris Vandine, Andrew Cho, Chris Johnston and Jerome Clementz made up the second pack that was hot on the heels of Shaums. Re-emerging some 15-minutes later near the bottom of the bike park was France's Jerome Clementz in the lead and Shaums mere seconds behind. Jerome, who was vacationing in Whistler and looking for “something to do” narrowly beat Shaums and took the race with a time of 21:01 minutes. Shaums came in 3 seconds after him for the 2nd place finish. Whistler's own Katrina Strand took the women's title with a staggering time of 25:04.67
Jerome and Katrina will both be experiencing a VIP trip to Quebec City to witness Red Bull Crashed Ice in 2010.
