'Vibes were high': Squamish racers embrace Crankworx's return

One of Canadian mountain biking's marquee events rose from the pandemic ashes after two summers away, and Squamish athletes were front and centre.

Several local riders claimed podium finishes at Crankworx Whistler, held this year from Aug. 5 to 14.

While Crankworx has long provided an opportunity for locals to compete on the world stage, the extra energy from the event returning for the first time since 2019 gave riders a jolt.

"It was awesome. It was so cool," said Jacob Quist, 16. "Vibes were high. Everyone was there. All the pros. All your friends. All the people you happen to know through riding all happened to be there, riding, laughing, competing."

Quist placed second in his division in the Enduro World Series race and third in the Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge. Succeeding in two fairly different disciplines was a boon for Quist.

"I just wanted to get them done, have a good time and ride the best I could," he said. "It was good switching things up, tapping into all aspects of my riding abilities, having a bit of variety."

Another podium finish went to Jack MacLeod, who snagged a second-place showing in the Specialized Dual Slalom event.

MacLeod, 16, credited his BMX background for his success in the dual slalom, as many of the skills, such as pumping, are central to both disciplines.

"I had a really good feeling for the course. I really felt strong in the corners," he said, adding that he also rolled and pumped effectively. "A lot of the training I'll do is in flat corners and I'll work on a lot of cornering in training."

MacLeod said it didn't occur to him that he might be in contention for a podium finish until he was in the final four, then bested American Hayden Damon to advance to the big final.

MacLeod posted strong results across the board at Crankworx despite fracturing his ulna and tearing a tendon in his elbow after a crash during the winter, which set back his training schedule.

Still, MacLeod improved his riding by leaps and bounds since 2019, and was able to make an impression coming back to Crankworx.

"The last time I did it, I wasn't as fast and didn't have as much experience, so I was in the middle of the pack," he said. "I had time to get faster, so this year, I was closer to the front of the pack."

Squamish's Lucy Van Eesteren also garnered two first-place finishes at Crankworx in the U19 category.

For Coen Skrypnek, who moved to Squamish to pursue a biking career, Crankworx was a chance to reset his season after some struggles earlier in the year.

"Riding Crankworx was super epic, just because it's a home race and all the events are always so fun," he said.

Finding he truly focused on process rather than results, Skrpynek placed fifth in both the RockShox Canadian Open DH and the AirDH, but particularly enjoyed competing in the Official Whip-Off World Championships after making his whip-off debut last summer at Innsbruck, Austria.

"My mindset has been way better," he said. "It has helped a heap."

Skrypnek, speaking from Les Gets, France, where he finished 25th in the junior men's division of the UCI MTB World Championships on Aug. 27, was content placing in the Top 25.

"I'm quite happy with how the weekend went. I do wish things had gone a little bit better in my race, but at the time, it was the best I could do, considering the conditions," said

Mateo Quist, meanwhile, topped the podium for his division in both of his downhill races.

Though the courses posed challenging conditions, his familiarity with them helped put him over the top.

"The Canadian Open was totally one of the gnarliest courses ever," said Quist, 14. "But I feel natural riding those because I ride Whistler every day. It wasn't too bad. It was pretty good."

In their respective divisions, other outstanding results came courtesy of: Jackson Goldstone (1st in Official Whip-Off World Championships and Canadian Open DH); Ryan Griffith (first in AirDH and third in Canadian Open DH); Elly Hoskin (first in Enduro World Series); Seth Sherlock (first in Enduro World Series); Emmett Hancock (second in Enduro World Series); and Remi Gauvin (third in Enduro World Series).

Complete results are available at www.crankworx.com.

**Please note that this story was updated since it was first posted to include that Squamish's Lucy Van Eesteren also won two gold medals at Crankworx in the U19 category.