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Tags >> EH Team DJs
Sep
09
The Monster Energy Slopestyle at Crankworx Continues to Leave a Throng of Gaping Mouths and Inspired MassesPosted by: Joanna Majcherkiewicz |Tagged in: Whistler , Vinyl Ritchie , Slopestyle , Shaun Palmer , Sam Hill , Mix Master Mike , Mat the Alien , Lance McDermott , Jamie Goldman , EH Team DJs , DJ Illo , Crankworx 2009 , Canadian Open DH , Brendan Fairclough
August 16, 2009 – Whistler, BC – I lost count somewhere around 17,234 and instead decided to just write that A LOT of people were huddled at the base of Whistler mountain for the revered main event of the Crankworx mountain bike festival; the Monster Energy Slopestyle. There are thirteen sanctioned Crankworx events over nine days but it’s Saturday’s main feature that will leave the greatest impression in most people’s minds. Deservedly so with large imaginative features and dare devilish maneuvers from the likes of Cam McCaul, Cameron Zink, local favorite Brandon Semenuk and 2008’s champion Andreu Lacondeguy. Brandon Semenuk seemed poised to continue his incredible winning streak but in the end was edged out by an incredibly solid run by Greg Watts. Martin Soederstrom rounded out the podium in 3rd place.
A dreamy vantage point for the slopestyle finals was the Monster Energy Hospitality Rig nestled beside the SRAM Tunnel of Love feature on the course. Here you could catch the perfectly stomped landings alternated by bone crushing slams including Cam Zink’s over-rotated front flip which left him with a broken foot (but I heard he enjoyed a self-administered cocktail of over-the-counter pain killers and bubbly to ensure he didn’t miss a moment of the slopestyle). The crowd reaction was insane! “This is our X Games!”, exclaimed Kona’s Graham Agassiz who was sidelined because of a broken collarbone from a previous event. Other contenders joining Graham on the bench were injured Monster athletes, and Kranked's "Revolve" film stars, Jamie Goldman and Lance McDermott. Contributing to the allure of one of Whistler’s most anticipated annual events were the professional athlete sightings including Monster Energy Athletes Sam Hill and legend Shaun Palmer. Twenty-four year old Australian Sam Hill is infamous for crushing races with massive time gaps and Sunday’s Canadian Open DH (Downhill) event unfolded accordingly with Sam crossing the finish line eight seconds ahead of fellow Monster Energy athlete, UK’s Brendan Fairclough. Steve Smith rounded out an impressively stacked podium by placing third. Racing in a different category was Monster Energy athlete and action sports legend Shaun Palmer who dropped into the Giant Dual Slalom course and made an impressive Quarter Final finish. An amazing achievement for someone who is pushing fourty years old and is simultaneously a professional mountain biker, snowboarder, skier, and amateur tattoo artist (the latter is just a speculation).
As the slopestyle acrobatics came to a close, anticipation began to build for the grande finale party presented by Monster Energy at the Longhorn Bar featuring Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys. Joining Mix Master Mike were some of the finest music makers in Canada; DJ Illo from the EH Team DJs, Vinyl Ritchie and Mat the Alien. People arrived exceptionally early to claim a piece of Longhorn property so they wouldn’t miss one of the world’s most celebrated turntablists perform. When Mix Master Mike finally took the stage it was body-sardines all the way to his turntables. He blazed through songs in one-minute intervals providing a constant blast of ear candy and turntablism with a good number of Beastie Boys songs thrown into the set. Hands were up in the air for a long time and when they finally came to rest and the bar lights turned on and the smoke machine turned off there was satisfaction in the air. Before the gang at Troy Lee Designs headed out, including Troy Lee himself, Mix Master Mike was handed a limited edition helmet signed by Shaun Palmer and Troy Lee. An appropriate gesture at an event that celebrates the evolution of mountain biking and having a collective good time.
Aug
26
Wakestock 2009 Turns Collingwood into CollywoodPosted by: Joanna Majcherkiewicz |Tagged in: WWA , Wakestock , Shawn Watson , Shane Bonifay , Kevin Henshaw , James Balzer , Harley Clifford , EH Team DJs , DJ Pump , DJ Hedspin , Daniel Watkins , Bob Soven
Top athletes, bands, parties and hot sun lure the masses to Canada’s premier wakeboard event. Collingwood, Ontario - Wakestock has become a summer institution in Canada and for the twelfth year in a row the potent combination of live music, beach bodies and the World’s top wakeboard talent continued to lure the masses. Narrowed down from a premier international field, the August 7th-9th event in Collingwood, Ontario left a Canadian on both the wakeskate and wakeboard podiums and the other several thousand Canadians in attendance with darker tans. Millennium Park, Collingwood Harbour was the new location for this 4th stop on the WWA World Series. Situated on a cozy patch of peninsula, the grounds allowed you to take in the bands, a part of the course, and the rowdies in the beer garden. The first day of Wakestock got under way a little later than normal for some of the Pros (who may, or may not have, stayed up late paying proper homage to the AC/DC cover band the night before at the Monster Energy athlete party). But not all the pros got to sleep in. After all, there were qualifiers to battle in and opportunities for youngblood amateurs to make a name for themselves. In the wakeskate category, the two Canadians to advance to the finals were Monster Energy athlete James Balzer and Dan Brown. On the wakeboard side, two names at the top of their heats and at the top of their game were Monster Energy’s Harley Clifford (AUS) and Bob Soven (USA). This is Harley’s first year on the Pro Tour and he’s leading the charge and it’s Bob’s first Pro contest after dominating the Jr. Pro Men’s division (and just over one week later Bob would go on to win his 5th straight MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour event, in Reno Nevada, making him the first rider to ever sweep the Jr. Pro Men’s division.). Swish! As Wakestock began to properly unfold, drinking throats and good vibes were in full force at the Monster Energy After Party at Rusty’s Bar at the base of Blue Mountain. The venue was packed and you couldn’t squeeze a toot into the bar after 10:30pm. The crowd was eager to keep rolling with the daytime vibe and maybe get a word or a high five in with the athletes in the house. So when DJ Pump and DJ Hedspin of the EH! Team DJs finally put the needle on the record everybody lost control; for some people that also meant their shirts and their permission to be in the bar. SBC photographer Russell Dalby (who has the fall cover of SBC Snowboard) was there to capture it better than my writing can. Bob Soven figures it was the “best party I’ve ever been to”…I think it’s because he had Lionel Ritchie’s “Dancing on Ceiling” running through his head after it became the theme song for the Monster Energy team’s trip up to Canada.  Sunday began with a violent thunderstorm that delayed the Malibu Boats Pro Wakeskate and Billabong Pro Wakeboard finals for several hours. However, as the clouds moved on to attack drier pastures, the sun emerged with fiery vengeance and the water became glassy. Nature had pressed the ON! button. Past champion Brian Grubb took the wakeskate top position. The top wakeboard spot was taken by Aaron Rathy (CDN), followed by Phillip Soven (USA), and in third place Monster Energy athlete Harley Clifford. It certainly wasn’t a cakewalk to the podium, the four man final was loaded with current rulers: Rathy being the King of Wake overall points leader, Soven being the WWA World Series overall points leader, Clifford is the Pro Wakeboard Tour overall points leader and Soven is the Jr. Men’s Pro Wakeboard Tour overall points leader. Overall amazing. “This is unreal; I’m super stoked to win Wakestock,” Rathy was quoted on SBCwakeboard.com. “Especially considering how good everyone was riding here. The Wakestock crowd is so big and so close it really makes riding a lot of fun. Rusty [Malinoski] told me that I’m only the third Canadian ever to win along with him and Jeff Heer so it feels good to be in that company.”
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