Gee Atherton notches up another win

At the the risk of sounding like all I do is bleat on about the weather, I’m going to start this report by mentioning the fact that it was crappy again today. As soon as I pulled into the Whistler parking lot, turned off the engine and heard the rain hitting the roof I knew exactly what I was in for – six hours of wet hiking a seemingly endless course.

I covered this event previously so knew what to expect, but wasn’t really ready for how strikingly similar it was to last year – the cold, damp fog rolling in and out, the on-again-off-again rain making sure nothing really ever dried out – perfect conditions for one of the “World’s Toughest Races”.

I made my way to the top of the mountain just in time to see the first Amateur competitor start his run down the infamous Original Sin. I followed on foot, hiking down the trail looking for good photo vantage points, desperately trying to stay shoe-rubber side down over the glassy roots and thick, grease-like mud.

Rachael Atherton continues her dominance

The 15-minute course is full of little fun sections like this mini kicker to rock roll

Lush and green thanks to the recent rain

The course itself looked even more lethal than last year – obviously erosion was taking its toll, and various sections had definitely stepped up a notch in chunder levels. I remember last year checking out a section on “In Deep”, a gnarly little chute but with a decent sized run out, so you could come at it fast and just coast away. No such luck this year, that chute had become a bucking bronco of a drop, the run-out stripped bare of dirt leaving only a spiders web of roots to ensnare the unwitting.

Perfect place for a photo set up, I figured, someone’s bound to mess it up. Fifteen runs later I hadn’t seen anyone fall prey to my vicious trap, surely a testament to the level of skill of all the competitors involved, both amateur and pro. Maybe the weak ones had been weeded out by then.

By the time I’d reached the bottom, by a combination of sneaky shortcuts and all-out running full pelt down the tight lower singletrack (nothing like expecting a DH racer to clip you in the back of the head to get you moving), the men’s Pro division was coming through, most of them looking fresh as daisies, like a 14 minute hair-raising plunge down a mountain was just another day in the office.

Oh wait, it was.

Garbanzo DH results

Pro Men

1 Gee Atherton 14:20.4
2 Sam Hill 14:37.8
3 Marc Beaumont 14:44.6
4 Dan Atherton 14:50.0

Pro Women

1 Rachel Atherton 16:48.9
2 Fionn Griffiths 17:25.1
3 Danice Uyesugi 18:32.7
4 Rebecca McQueen 18:41.9

Make no mistake, death does not wait for you here

The 15-minute course is full of little fun sections like this mini kicker to rock roll

Lush and green thanks to the recent rain

All pics: Dan Barham