I’m betting Mr. Fancy-Pants White Team Kit doesn’t do his own laundry.

Whistler’s “A-Line” trail is somewhat of a superstar on the world mountain biking stage, and for good reason – it’s 110 jumps of fast, flowy goodness that, I’ll be honest, is a little out of my league riding-wise, but other people seem to make a much better go at it.

Today’s event at the Crankworx festival was the Jim Beam Air DH, a four-minute blast from the start of the trail mid-mountain. I’m going to be brutally honest here – it’s not actually that interesting to watch. Maybe I’m getting DHed out, what with it being all around 24/7 here. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve ridden A-Line, loved it, and I’m sure it’s even better at race speed, but as a spectator it’s all a bit samey – the trail’s buffed from top to bottom, so there’s no real technical sections (aside from a nice rock drop about two-thirds of the way down) and the guys riding are looking for the fastest race lines, which means they’re staying low and smooth over the jumps. Styling it up looks ace (and makes for great pictures) but launching high wastes valuable seconds.

So, the race itself was somewhat of a formality, really. The usual suspects, Brian Lopes and Tracey Moseley, won the pro races, everyone else was a little bit slower. But next up is the slopestyle and dual slalom events, both of which are designed with “being spectacular” in mind. One of them’s even got “style” in the name – can’t go wrong…

Concentration, or just hanging on for dear life? Probably a bit of each.

The start of the course (running out of caption ideas now).

This shot didn’t have a ghostly tree in it when I took it… spooky.

Not the way to do it – the fastest racers stayed low across the jumps.

One for the sensitive types among you.

When I set this shot up, I didn’t count on the extra width of the wheelchair, and nearly got a wheel in the head as a result.

Head towards the light!

The course sweep rider actually hit the drop smoother than many of the racers.

I asked my room-mate Chris what to write for a caption on this one – she came up with “It’s a bridge.”. That’ll do.

All pics: Dan Barham