No pressure, just a dozen people watching your every move

Last year saw the first attempt to properly include women into the traditional slopestyle aspect of Crankworx, and with it came the normal teething troubles with a new event – a lack of exposure and slight feeling of disorganised confusion meant it wasn’t nearly as good as it could’ve been, and I wasn’t particularly kind in my write-up, as I recall. This year I was keen to see if they’d made any changes to the structure of the two days in an effort to smooth things out a little.

Turns out, not really. The first day was devoted to women’s clinics, camps and training sessions, all free to join and even included a lift pass for the first lucky participants. I’m all for that, it’s a great pull for many ‘normal’ women riders looking to brush up on skills or find other like-minded riding partners, away from the testosterone-powered gaze of men putting them off. “I can’t ride when you’re watching me”, as my girlfriend always says.

It’s the main competition I have a beef with. The second day of Womenzworx comprises four mini-events – technical trail riding on the infamous “In Deep” section, air on the Schleyer drop, jumps on the Crabapple Hits and finally speed / berms / jumps on Dirt Merchant. If that sounds like a lot to sneak into a four hour event, you’re right.
If you know Whistler Bike Park at all, you’ll also know they’re all over the place, and all impossible to really access for spectators.

Ffion Griffiths throwing a lazy whip on Dirt Merchant

Darcy Turenne styling it off the Schleyer drop

Are they giving me the metal horns or the finger?

It’s all very well testing each aspect of a rider’s skills, but as I think I pointed out last year, wouldn’t it be so much better for the profile of women’s riding if people other than the 15 competing could actually see what was going on? I was only able to view each of the four disciplines by bringing along my bike, watching a quarter of the field at each station before ripping down as fast as I could to catch the next segment. What chance do regular spectators stand, especially those maybe not so confident on a bike, or needing the push provided by seeing others doing what some see as a male dominated sport?

The vibe of the day was great, with riders cheering each other on and shouting encouraging remarks to those faltering, and the fact there was a cash purse for the winners is a great step in the right direction; I’d love to see them step it up next year and let the rest of the world join in.

Results

1 Lorraine Blancher

2 Stephanie Nychk

3 Casey Brown

4 Claire Buchar

All pics: Dan Barham