- Right, some of you are wondering
what Slopestyle is all about.
Yes you, you're probably asking that question,
"What is this whole sport all about?"
Well I'm out here in Les Gets in the French Alps
for one of the Crankworx Slopestyle stops
and I'm going to explain the whole thing
and give you a whole insight
of what Slopestyle is all about.
(smooth music)
(laughs) Oh my gosh, man.
Right, Crankworx love to step it up
and at their events, a Slopestyle course,
they like to start it off huge
and we've got a huge flat drop right here
and that gets the whole thing kicked off.
This is where the riders drop in
for the first time into their run,
and nail some big tricks off this.
I wonder what people are going to do off it
because it's absolutely massive.
Right so, the next feature in this course.
So you've got that big flat drop, you're rolling in,
you're coming in flat out,
and this next feature is massive.
You've got this huge, twelve foot, I'm guessing,
kicker right here,
and it's not a normal straight jump.
This is what we call a hip, so, it hips to the left.
So, you're jumping to the left.
And this kick is not flat, it's slumped slightly
so it's forcing you to go towards the left.
This is where riders will get tested on their tricks
because it's not a straight jump.
You're going to have to go to the left
so if you're spinning tricks
you're going to have to over-rotate one
or under-rotate one, if you're doing a three.
Right, to give you some perspective
because cameras don't really give you the full size
of this mammoth thing,
I'm five foot eight, and this jump is like,
just over double me. It's so big.
That goes to show that these are unique jumps.
These are not your ordinary jumps.
These are big Slopestyle jumps.
Right, using timber as a material
and the source to build courses such like this one.
As you can see, they've built a nice wooden burn
which leads up into a nice wooden kicker.
It's a small drop, but this is gonna help build speed
into that next obstacle.
This next obstacle is what they call a Step Up Double.
Basically, you've got your kicker right there,
and you've got your landing separately,
and what I mean by Step Up,
that kicker there is about 13 foot, it's massive
but, it's stepping up three foot
to the top of that knuckle on that landing.
This is a straight jump, which is unique
because that's where all those guys
are going to do those big tricks.
So you're not gonna have to think about
moving to the left or the right, like a hip.
There's a number of these big Step Up jumps on the course.
They're straight jumps.
Basically you want the riders to get their tricks out there.
Big tricks, get a big score.
So they can score quite high.
But there's probably one thing you're wondering,
what is all of that horrible black stuff
on the back of that landing?
Basically that's tarpaulin.
You don't want this dirt right here
to get super soft and soggy
because you need the speed to clear these huge jumps.
So basically, when it starts to rain we cover them
and it keeps them dry for that next run.
Right, this next feature you're gonna laugh,
because this is called a Boner Log.
Yes, yes, a Boner Log.
Basically, what it is,
is a log stuck in the ground, like that,
slatted with wood
and it's basically,
you ride off it like a cannon and you drop down.
You're gonna laugh again,
because Boners come in all shapes and sizes.
Basically, this one's quite a short one
but you get the ones like in Whistler Crankworx
where it's huge, it's long.
Actually it's just straight,
a log stuck straight in the ground
and slatted, as far as you can go.
You step on,
and you step down! Simple as that.
But it's not really that simple.
This gap right here is absolutely huge
and the step up onto that structure is massive
and you're going so fast into this.
It's not that simple, but it looks amazing.
Every major Slopestyle course,
just like this one at Les Deux Alps Crankworx,
they have a superstructure
and this is theirs, it's a step on, step off
but it's massive, it's so high up.
It's incredible, it looks insane
and when they are riding this thing
it gets the crowd going wild. I love it.
The craftsmanship that goes into building these structures,
especially the superstructure,
is amazing, they spend time to make it look good
but still super strong so they can ride on and off of it.
Plus it makes it aesthetically pleasing.
They put big logs just like this one
with all the bark dangling down.
I love it.
On such Slopestyle courses just like this one
it comes down to the last feature.
It's massive.
You've got Whistler Crankworx where it's a big flat drop.
Whereas here at Les Deux Alps
it's a massive big step up jump.
Right, so that is what is Slopestyle.
A little inside view of what makes up a Slopestyle course
and all the unique features out there.
It's all about the superstructure.
That is the star of the show
when it comes to the course.
But if you want to know what Whip-Off is all about,
click just down here,
and if you want to see my road to Whip-Off
at Crankworx Les Deux Alps,
click just down here.
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