Finally - My Adidas Slopestyle article

[cam@nsmb.com]

Nice shots and some words about what went down this year at ASS in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

What went down in Austria (http://www.nsmb.com/shore_news/saalbach6_07_06.php)

Let me know if you have any questions or any additions or if you catch any innaccuracies or mistakes. I always appreciate feedback.

[SIDESHOW]

great photos.

[Mountain Dewd]

that was awesome, good write up for sure.

[Bridges!!!]

Those photos were all ASS shots

BAZING!

[jonny.zee]

Good article.

[Straw]

Something's missing here:

"Timo Pritzel wasn't competing after tearing some ligaments in late April at the 'Vienna Air King' comp Instead he'll make sure he's completely ready for the Red Bull District Ride in Sicily on the . Cam McCaul got some sort of flu and he was in no shape to ride."

I like your picture of Boyko hitting the dirt...he's about three inches from it, and the timing of the shot is great! There's one dude in an orange shirt cheering the crash that catches my eye.

[Dan CH]

shweet article cam, lets ride when i get back from europe agin

[cam@nsmb.com]

Something's missing here:

"Timo Pritzel wasn't competing after tearing some ligaments in late April at the 'Vienna Air King' comp Instead he'll make sure he's completely ready for the Red Bull District Ride in Sicily on the . Cam McCaul got some sort of flu and he was in no shape to ride."

I like your picture of Boyko hitting the dirt...he's about three inches from it, and the timing of the shot is great! There's one dude in an orange shirt cheering the crash that catches my eye.

Thanks - I bet my phone rang before I had a chance to look up the date and then I uploaded before running out the door for a ride - without reading through again!

Thanks for the props as well!

[biggles604]

Hee hee hee, ASS. Hee hee hee

Hey Cam, any chance you can make the photos available in a larger size, they are really cool, but lose detail at that resolution.

[Lady Gravity]

I like your picture of Boyko hitting the dirt...he's about three inches from it, and the timing of the shot is great! There's one dude in an orange shirt cheering the crash that catches my eye.

yeah that pic is great, perfect timing. nice article cam :clap:

[Death Lens]

excellent article

[SIDESHOW]

cammmm???? I heard these folks wanna see the CKD teaser before the weekend........call me...

[Chump]

Ya let the fire out!

But other hand great right up I was waiting for this. The comp looked unreal Whistler should be pretty mind blowing.

Steve

[synchro]

nice write up cam. in the last pic with berrecloth the brunette on his right has this look on her face that says "okay dude, you're hot but that freakin glove stinks. get it outta my face"

[TylerDurden]

Great write up Cam! Its clear the # injured vs. # starting the comp makes slopestyle much more risky than say....DH racing. Still, DH racers are all suited up in armour suits and fullface lids. These slopestyler's rarely have more than a skater's lid, and jeans/studded belt to protect them. So I have to ask if professional DH'ers have the sense to armour up, why don't professional slopestyle guys do the same?

Sideshoe was there and has preached about "kids, where your armour" in the past, so hopefully he'll chime in here (I read he recently had a big crash sans Dainese?!).

What the example for kids watching? Companies like Raceface are counting on kids emulating the Claw and buying Diabolis parts......but what does Raceface marketing staff think about kids copying the "no armour" look. Should sponsors step in here? Should event organizers be involved in setting standards. I mean, the stuff WBP tells me to wear just to go down A-line is more than any of these Pro's have on.

To wrap 'er up - the proof is in: pro or not, slopestyle has a high attrition rate and it calls wearing armour, and it's looking more and more absent when we read these articles.

[synchro]

haven't you heard, it's not cool to wear armour and a full face lid at the dj's or these comps. at least that's what the teenagers are saying these days.

[Taylor_P]

Those photos were all ASS shots

BAZING!


i just looked at them again, i didnt see to many ass shots, i dont know what the hell your talking about.

[Bat Man]

I like your picture of Boyko hitting the dirt...he's about three inches from it, and the timing of the shot is great! There's one dude in an orange shirt cheering the crash that catches my eye.

I love this shot! The people on the left are all in awe, people in the middle with cameras making sure they get the shot, the guy in the orange shirt tossing the horns and Boyko looking like superman crash landing, just awesome! Definatly the best crash shot i have ever seen.

[Gimp Pimp]

i just looked at them again, i didnt see to many ass shots, i dont know what the hell your talking about.

Adidas Slope Style shots...

[M.A.X]

To wrap 'er up - the proof is in: pro or not, slopestyle has a high attrition rate and it calls wearing armour, and it's looking more and more absent when we read these articles.

Totally Agree

[slang]

that's just the way the industry is moving, towards the BMX/snowboarding/skiing influence. how much armour do those guys wear? it's not like i approve of not wearing armour, but if you guys start to enforce rules like "must compete with elbow pads," you are going to lose some serious support and viewership.

or not, since mountain biking slopestyle applies more to the mainstream than quite a few other action sports. we shall see.

in regards to the article, nice work Cam!! I found it very well written and of refreshingly good quality compared to most of the stuff we get from the magazines and press these days. The pictures were also very good, Markus Greber did well in covering the event.

[C.C.]

I like the last two articles you have posted Cam.

The slopestyle article specifically addresses the concern about rider safety versus glory. It's not often that this side of the story is heard. Seems like over half of the field DNF'd on at least one run. Not a good percentage.

I enjoyed the poke at Marzocchi rep Bryson Martin in the Marzocchi 2007 article. I'm not sure about the context of your entire conversation with him, but his words "Marzocchi has spent "10 years on our own" in the single crown freeride market" sound arrogant.

[-Tr0n-]

haha sychro always mr. safety.

as a rider i would like to point out that the limited movement of wearing armour is more of a danger to someone riding slopestyle than the riding itself. i cant beelive u think its a goiod ideaa to strap pads al lover your body so u cant move and try to be able to have free movement. untill u ride anything near to slopestyle i dont wabnna hear any of these smartass comments outta u

[Mic]

haven't you heard, it's not cool to wear armour and a full face lid at the dj's or these comps. at least that's what the teenagers are saying these days.

Who does REALLY give a damn...if it is about your own personal health. Most of the kids have to experience severe discomfort before they start getting wise !?

[biggles604]

Because a severe injury affects more than just the rider down. I've always felt that health care shouldn't be free if it was found out that someone could have lessened the injury by wearing a helmet/seatbelt. My feelings do carry over to wearing any other protective gear.
I have yet to hear a good reason to not wear armour.

[noah]

i think its crazy that the level of competetion is getting so high that serious injuries are so abundant. like cam said, the only way to make the podium now is to pull off huge tricks on such big jumps that the injury to success ratio is huge!
scary.

[bullit_kid]

you guys are definatley overreacting

4 straight days of riding, from like 10 am to 6 pm and there was only maybe 5 injuries that are hardly major

[::Liam::]

cool artical, wa a good read!!! and really good pics


am pretty stoked to see darren pokoj an aussie in 5th. there wasnt a mention of him in the artical, any notables from his runs?

[Mic]

you guys are definatley overreacting

4 straight days of riding, from like 10 am to 6 pm and there was only maybe 5 injuries that are hardly major

hey - these are PROs only....imagine your run-off-the-mill kid who sees The Claw busting all this with a teapot and a plain shirt and leg armour only and gloves, thinking: If he does not have to wear it why should I ??

It has sth to do with responsibility of the riders with regard to their image.....

[Kootenay Hack]

How about some love for some of the local, home grown talent, like Geoff Gulevich and Ross Measures? From what I hear, there was some killer riding from these kids at Saalbach!

These kids have grown up on the Shore and been raised by some great riding peeps. They finished 6th !!!! and 9th !!!! ahead of many 'big name' riders, yet hardly a mention.

Where's the love?

DB

[Shocker]

hey - these are PROs only....imagine your run-off-the-mill kid who sees The Claw busting all this with a teapot and a plain shirt and leg armour only and gloves, thinking: If he does not have to wear it why should I ??

It has sth to do with responsibility of the riders with regard to their image.....


seriously who cares, thats those kids fault if he doesn't wana wear pads cause some pro wasn't and he gets hurt... i'm pretty sure less than 10% pros in bmx wear eblow pads yet alone full body armor..........look at the influence they make, the sport is fine...

[BrianPark]

If you are not intelligent enough to ride within your limits and choose your armour accordingly, feel free to remove yourself from the gene pool.

Because a severe injury affects more than just the rider down. I've always felt that health care shouldn't be free if it was found out that someone could have lessened the injury by wearing a helmet/seatbelt. My feelings do carry over to wearing any other protective gear.
I have yet to hear a good reason to not wear armour.
The healthcare argument is flawed too, because by that standard, "healthcare shouldn't be free if you were doing something stupid and dangerous like riding a bike down a mountain." I mean, you could reduce your risk of injury by not riding a bike at all.

Here are some good reasons to not pad up in some instances: it's very warm, it's uncomfortable, and it's restrictive. Yes that's right, padding up can restrict your movement, which could lead to injury. EEK.

Okay I have an idea, let the riders make their own decisions about what armour they wear.

[cam@nsmb.com]

I was actually surprised to see RM in the finals. Once there he did well but I didn't expect the judges to put him through based on his run in qualifying. It wasn't a bad run to be sure but there were others who didn't make it through who I thought performed better. Gully rode well but being a young gun himself was overshadowed by the likes of Andreu, Prokoj and Lance.

Obviously top ten finishes in that field are fantastic performances but neither of them - this time around at least - seared anything into my consciousness. Both were absent from the image files we got from the pro shooters which indicates something as well.

Next time maybe they will be the headliners.

How about some love for some of the local, home grown talent, like Geoff Gulevich and Ross Measures? From what I hear, there was some killer riding from these kids at Saalbach!

These kids have grown up on the Shore and been raised by some great riding peeps. They finished 6th !!!! and 9th !!!! ahead of many 'big name' riders, yet hardly a mention.

Where's the love?

DB

[cam@nsmb.com]

cool artical, wa a good read!!! and really good pics


am pretty stoked to see darren pokoj an aussie in 5th. there wasnt a mention of him in the artical, any notables from his runs?

Pokoj rolled fast and smooth with lots of style. He impressed everyone to be sure.

[Kootenay Hack]

I was actually surprised to see RM in the finals. Once there he did well but I didn't expect the judges to put him through based on his run in qualifying. It wasn't a bad run to be sure but there were others who didn't make it through who I thought performed better. Gully rode well but being a young gun himself was overshadowed by the likes of Andreu, Prokoj and Lance.

Obviously top ten finishes in that field are fantastic performances but neither of them - this time around at least - seared anything into my consciousness. Both were absent from the image files we got from the pro shooters which indicates something as well.

Next time maybe they will be the headliners.

Well said Cam. Hey, at least you were there... I can only go on hearsay and results. I just think it is cool how we have some local talent in the mix and it's great to see them do well.

I enjoyed the article Cam, I'm just looking out for the kids.

DB

[Shocker]

I was actually surprised to see RM in the finals. Once there he did well but I didn't expect the judges to put him through based on his run in qualifying. It wasn't a bad run to be sure but there were others who didn't make it through who I thought performed better.


Am I reading this correctly!!! holy !!! thats just not kosher cam, especially since ross whiped the last jump in qualfiying... thats not easy on a hardtail yet alone a big bike. i didn't see it but i'd easily give top 15 for whippin that jump to anyone. not to mention his multiple barspins and no foot cans.

everyone else who 'desreved' it prolly was just hucking backflips which are just lame in general and stupid crowd pleasers which sucks cuz whips are easily 10 times harder but ya dont go upside down so its not as hardcore ok enough ranting for me, and its not just cuz i know him either, id stick up for anyone doin what hes doin.

[slang]

Am I reading this correctly!!! holy !!! thats just not kosher cam, especially since ross whiped the last jump in qualfiying... thats not easy on a hardtail yet alone a big bike. i didn't see it but i'd easily give top 15 for whippin that jump to anyone. not to mention his multiple barspins and no foot cans.

i wasn't there, but one impressive trick does not win a run. but like i said, i don't know what ross' whole runs were like as i wasn't present. and by backflips you mean perfect frontflips on a mountain bike?

however, i don't blame cam for saying that IF he is wrong. it's incredibly hard to note what's going on and watch riders' entire runs if you're part of the media or stuck behind a camera. there is so much going on and a lot to record down. it's not like watching an event at all, let alone watching it like a judge would.

[cam@nsmb.com]

Tailwhips were almost pedestrian in Saalbach. Riders pulled them at the top of the course fairly regularly (they used to be a 'save it for last' sort of trick for mtb Slopestyle) and you don't get more points for riding a big bike even if it does make some moves harder. You could also argue that it makes some moves easier.

Writing about Slopestyle is really hard for me. There is so much going on in each run so to distill that into an article that doesn't grow elephantine is a challenge. There was a lot of memorable stuff that I cut out just because of length concerns.

What ends up happening is everything gets distilled down to little stories. The photographers can just pull their best images from an event without worrying about telling the story but those images might not correspond to my (or anyone else's) version of the tale.

I often watch the DVD extras after a good film and I have learned a tiny amount about how to edit a film. Filmmakers often have to cut their favourite scenes from a film because they don't advance their story. Best in Show is an example. They cut some of the scenes they thought were funniest because they didn't propel things forward. I sometimes have to do the same sort of cutting; that is if a rider's performance doesn't help me tell the story of the event - even a solid run by a local - it may not make it into my story.

I've also realized that personal contact can influence your perspective on any sort of athletic performance, theatrical performance or whatever. I became aware of this after spending some time with Mike Wilson and his family down in Laverkin Creek Utah. I had never even heard of Mike before Rampage but the contact I had with his family made me interested in how he would do. As a result I noticed every nuance that made his run so solid. I may have even over-estimated his run. The judges on the other hand - perhaps not having seen him before - overlooked him. If you were paying attention it was clear that his run was one of the very best during qualifying but the judges marks were embarrassing. (2003 was a low point for the judging to be sure)

Because of this realization I now try to learn about the riders I haven't heard of before and to pay close attention to their runs. Maybe I have over-compensated but in the end I'm trying to be a reporter and to bring those of you who weren't able to get to the event along with me.

For me there were two stories in Saalbach that overshadowed the others:

1) The huge level or risk the top riders needed to expose themselves to in order to challenge for first place.
2) The emergence of amazingly talented young riders like Andreu and McDermott.

I could have written more on both and followed other story lines but as my wordcount above suggests (most of you will never make it this far) I'm already at odds with the MTV/Much Music/X Box generation. Most mountain bikers I know don't read books or magazines like The New Yorker, Harpers etc. that contain long articles. I like that stuff but I have to be realistic about my audience as well. It's tough to take nsmb.com on the plane with you or on holiday where you have time to settle into an article of some length - and my articles are often longer than those found in many mags.

What I neglected to mention above was that I was rooting hard for all the B.C. boys and in particular the North Van lads. I was stoked that they did so well and cheering hard when they rode clean. They put themselves up against the best in the world and made us proud.

Nice work lads. And to those of you who made it this far - thanks for reading.

[Mic]

Cam, thanx for sharing this stuff with me. I enjoyed reading thir thread and the article. You simply rock, that is all.

[synchro]

Writing about Slopestyle is really hard for me. There is so much going on in each run so to distill that into an article that doesn't grow elephantine is a challenge. There was a lot of memorable stuff that I cut out just because of length concerns.

What ends up happening is everything gets distilled down to little stories.

I could have written more on both and followed other story lines but as my wordcount above suggests (most of you will never make it this far) I'm already at odds with the MTV/Much Music/X Box generation. Most mountain bikers I know don't read books or magazines like The New Yorker, Harpers etc. that contain long articles. I like that stuff but I have to be realistic about my audience as well. It's tough to take nsmb.com on the plane with you or on holiday where you have time to settle into an article of some length - and my articles are often longer than those found in many mags.



have two articles if you want. the shorter version for the add crowd that is the main article and then a link to another page with more in depth info. i realize it's a question of time, but this gives you the flexibility to tell have someting that keeps the masses informed and something else that allows you to trly tell a story

[SIDESHOW]

yeah but guess who's scabby elbow was in the pic.....

ooooooo crabbapple why do you hurt me so when you know I love you???

[cam@nsmb.com]

have two articles if you want. the shorter version for the add crowd that is the main article and then a link to another page with more in depth info. i realize it's a question of time, but this gives you the flexibility to tell have someting that keeps the masses informed and something else that allows you to trly tell a story

When there are two of me I'll hook that up. As it was I was writing for nsmb and for MBUK and trying not to duplicate much.

[SIDESHOW]

and I'm not reliable enough....

[sheffy]

Great article Cam.........:thepimp:

[cam@nsmb.com]

Thanks Sheff!

[sheffy]

Hey Cam.....Whens the team hitting the Star?????? any word yet?? Newman sure ripped it up as usual!!!!!!!!!