This episode of Life Behind Bars takes us to the Mecca of mountain biking and Brandon Semenuk’s hometown of Whistler, BC for the legendary Red Bull Joyride slopestyle competition. Tough competition and the mental weight of being the hometown hero cause Brandon’s nerves to run out of control, and he struggles to pull himself together to put down a solid run. Find out if the champion’s experience and skill are enough to surpass his doubt, and claim him one of the most coveted titles in mountain biking: the 1st place result in Red Bull Joyride.

Towards the end of August Nick Pescetto decided to make a video filming his favorite spots at Whistler bike park and during a 6 days road trip in Speces bridge and Kamloops. The spots were intended to be different from the usual and adding a few tricks here and there

This is what came out after 15 days of filming before he catched a flight to go back to Europe.

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At only 19 years of age, the rider from Belgium, Thomas Genon wins the Red Bull Joyride at the legendary Crankworx Festival in Whistler (Canada) – the most prestigious Slopestyle-contest in the world. The underdog surprised the mountain bike world with his victory as this young talented rider was not seen as threat for the top spot on the podium. In a tough battle with rasoulution teammate – Martin Söderström, for first place, he came out on top, leaving Martin to take a respectable 2nd place. Freeride icon Cam McCaul gained 3rd place.

It almost seemed, as if for Thomas Genon, it was more exhausting to process his spectacular win at Red Bull Joyride mentally, than to perform the run of his life. Even at the Joyride press conference later the day, Thomas appeared speechless and overwhelmed.

His performance, especially his second run in the finals, couldn´t have been any better: Genon started his winning run with a 360° x-up off the starting drop, followed by a tailwhip on the boner-log and a backflip no-hander over the first gap jump. The young Belgian impressed the worldwide audience with his smooth and perfectly timed frontflip – a trick which Thomas is renowned for. He then proceeded to execute a huge double-tailwhip over the first hip and a tuck no-hander over the second. Further down the course, Thomas Genon exited the fruit-bowl with a 360° x-up, to set himself up for the daring backflip on to the cabin feature – Thomas was the only rider during the event to attempt this. He completed his run with a 360°, dropping off the cabin rooftop, 35 feet on to the final landing. Despite an exploding back tire when landing the drop, Thomas rode through the victory-arch masterfully, taking the win and gaining his competitors’ respect. Today, August 21st, Genon celebrates his 19th birthday. Regardless of his young age, the Belgian demonstrated his tremendous skills earlier this year by winning two FMB World Tour events in Austria, the Dakine Airstrike at Saalbach and the 26TRIX-Contest in Leogang.

His toughest rival throughout the Red Bull Joyride finals was none other than Swede Martin Söderström, Martin decided to place all hopes in his final trick – attempting a 360° double-whip from the cabin kicker but unfortunately he didn’t carry enough speed in to the jump and crashed at the top of the landing. Martin, impressed everyone with his high, extremely smooth 360° tailwhips and clean flairs.

Tarek Rasouli, former Freeride-pro, who with his colleagues at rasoulution manages Thomas Genon and Martin Söderström amongst others, comments euphorically on the results from Joyride the most important Slopestyle contest of the year. “Thomas Genon’s surprising victory at this prestigious Slopestyle-Event is simply incredible! This success gives proof of his special talent. With Martin’s additional 2nd place we’re simply super happy. Besides these great results, I’d like to highlight every rider’s performance – the event was absolutely breathtaking, as every athlete was pushing his limits. Once again, the global mountain bike community witnessed the highest quality of live entertainment while watching athletic perfection. I wish, I would have been there myself, but thank God we have live webcasts.”, says Rasouli.

Fuelling the suspense at Joyride was the failure of other big name riders to make it in to the Super-finals: Cam Zink and Yannick Granieri experienced a hard fall, just like the current FMB World Tour leader, season favorite and most picked rider for 1st place, Brandon Semenuk, who didn´t make it into the top eight and consequently the Super-finals.

From the team that brought you Standing Sideways, comes the latest in snowboard cinematography from Burton Snowboards. 13 features footage from state-of-the-art cameras showcasing the top riders at exotic locations around the globe including Whistler, Alaska, Lake Tahoe, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Heavenly, Sun Valley and Europe. Featuring Danny Davis, Mikkel Bang, John Jackson, Mark Sollors, Mikey Rencz, Jussi Oksanen, Terje Haakonsen, Jeremy Jones, Zak Hale, Ethan Deiss, Seppe Smits, Werni Stock, Roope Tonteri and more.

13 will be dropping at video premiers, DVD’s, iTunes and Blu-Ray September 17th!

Premier locations: Burlington, Boston, Denver, Kelowna, Montreal, New York City, Newport Beach, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Whistler.

Check out burton.com/13movie for dates and more information.

The complete Whistler segment from Anthill Films and Red Bull Media House’s community film project, “STRENGTH IN NUMBERS” is now available!

Speaking of mountain bike communities, there is no way to ignore British Columbia’s gravity epicenter and virtual cradle of mountain bike park culture. Of course Whistler is part of Strength in Numbers – it might even be the strongest example of a pure mountain bike community. Like a die-hard surfers living close to the beach, passion-driven riders from all over the world are building a bike-based community around the world famous Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

Presented through the eyes of local rider Adam Billinghurst, the Whistler segment will make you understand the passion and feel of this almost mystic place. Working all winter so he can ride all summer, Billinghurst is a purest – riding only for the love of the sport. Adam’s outlook is simple, “My future involves more biking, some ups, some downs, then death”. The segment also features appearances from Whistler’s own FMB World Tour champ Brandon Semenuk, DH racers Chris Kovarik and Claire Buchar, and 9-year old phenom Finn Finestone.

Support the filmmakers and get your copy of the complete feature film on:

Collectors Edition 3-in-1 combo pack: http://www.anthillfilms.com/strengthinnumbers/buy/

or

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/strength-in-numbers-anthill/id527286622

Strength in Numbers is produced, written, directed and edited by Anthill Films in co-production with Red Bull Media House. Presented by Shimano and Trek in association with Contour HD, Clif Bar, Pinkbike.com and PRO Components. Additional support for the film is provided by the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, Kona, Toyota Trucks, Scion, Oakley, Easton, Evoc, Big Mountain Adventures, Verbier St. Bernard and Ride Nepal

CP Gang very own Nick Pescetto riding some fast trails and big jumps up in Whistler, bombing it with the downhill bike, makin’ it faster, funnier and with more air!

Filmed by Andrea Manzara & Michi Tillman

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JP Walker is a living legend in snowboarding; his street game has set the stage for many riders after him and his commitment to continually raising the bar each and every season keeps him at the top of the pack. Teaming up with good friend Simon Chamberlain and Network A, JP locked down a series of web videos known entirely as the Jibberish Project this past season.

This FULL PART is the fruit of JP’s hard work this past season.Set to a track from Prodigy’s new album H.N.I.C. 3 that just dropped July 3rd, his part includes two never been done tricks that proves JP is stoked as ever to ride.

Winter is approaching and DC launches the second series of ‘This is Snowboarding’, with Devun Walsh and other iconic riders like Iikka Backstrom, Lauri Heiskari, and Aaron Biittner featuring highlights from the 2011 season.

Devun Walsh is a legend of snowboarding and he was already shooting videos at a time when we merely knew what was the meaning of rodeo. This first episode shows him riding in Whistler backcountry.

Pictures: (c) Ian Hylands, (c) David Lang/Red Bull Content Pool

Brandon Semenuk wins the inaugural Red Bull Joyride Freeride Mountainbike Competition.  Over 25,000 wide-eyed spectators were on hand to witness history in the making as 20-year-old local boy Brandon Semenuk from Whistler, BC claimed the top step of the podium at the first ever Red Bull Joyride Freeride Mountain Bike competition, the first diamond event of the season of the FMB World Tour.

Sixteen of the best riders in the business duked it out for a chunk of the $45,000 in prize money and historical bragging rights. Each competitor had three runs to impress the judges and test their mettle on the brand new, custom-built course. Fifteen-year-old Anthony Messere from Surrey BC, who was merely an alternate for this event 2 days ago, rode well beyond his years and placed on the podium in 3rd while defending champion, American Cam Zink stepped into second place, but neither could stand up to Semenuk’s ultra smooth riding style and plethora of high difficulty tricks that catapulted him into top spot.

The level of difficulty of the Joyride course, which was designed by a number of the athletes themselves, and the high level of talent that competed earned the event a ‘Diamond’ rating, one of only two worldwide, on the FMB circuit. Diamond stops are the highest rating on the tour and garner the heaviest weighting of overall points. With this win, current FMB World Tour leader, Brandon Semenuk, extends his lead with only two events remaining in the season.

Semenuk described his emotions through his trade marked grin, “it was such a tight event, but what I love about mountain biking is there really aren’t any rivals, people try to make it seem like that but really we’re all up at the top talking about the course and pushing each other. We’re definitely competing but at the end we’re all going to give each other high fives and stay friends. It’s just so cool to be a part of this community and to come out on top today at such a great event is just amazing!” His win today secures him a guaranteed invite directly to the finals for the next three years at Kokanee Crankworx and earns him precious points on the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour.

Meeting of the Minds. In early February 2011, a ‘Meeting of the Minds’ was organized to design the Red Bull Joyride course. The concept was simple, put together something to progress Freeride Mountain Biking while staying true to what the riders want and need in high-level competition. Red Bull and Kokanee Crankworx professional riders Darren Berrecloth, Brandon Semenuk, Mike Montgomery, Thomas Vanderham, and Cam Zink joined forces with world-class course builder Paddy Kaye of Joyride Bike Parks to create a series of features that would allow for maximum expression and flow from start to finish. As they brainstormed their dream course, artist Scott Dickson brought their ideas to life and drew the course as the riders provided key feedback and design ideas.

Red Bull Joyride 2011 Finals Results:

1 – Brandon Semenuk – CAN – Score 95.40

2 – Cam Zink – USA – Score 94.00

3 – Anthony Messere – CAN – Score 92.80

4 – Greg Watts – USA – Score 87.60

5 – Geoff Gulevich – CAN – Score 84.40

6 – Cam McCaul – USA – Score  84.00

7 – Tyler McCaul – USA – Score 78.60

8 – Kurt Sorge – CAN – Score 76.60

9 – Jamie Goldman – USA – Score 70.80

10 – Darren Berrecloth – CAN – Score 68.20

11 – Andreu Lacondeguy – ESP – Score 67.00

12 – Mike Montgomery – USA – Score 63.20

13 – Sam Dueck – CAN – Score 58.60

14 – Yannick Graneiri – FRA – Score 44.20

15 – Kelly McGarry – NZL – Score 26.00

16 – Sam Pilgrim – GBR – Score 10.60

Pictures: (c) Ian Hylands, (c) David Lang/Red Bull Content Pool

By Ricu

Riding in Whistler has always been one of my dreams. It’s something incredible, almost unreal! We arrived in Whistler during the Crankworx, an 8days festival dedicated to mountain bike. The town was crowded of people, there were stands everywhere, Ryan Leech who was doing a bike trial demo into a “market place” and contests everyday during all the fest.

Among those that I appreciated the most there’s surely the Dh one on the A-line, a contest where took part also some bigs from the world cup, famous riders and not who competed on one of the most beautiful trails of the whole park.

On Saturday 14^th August we attended the Slope Style, which is the most important contest of all the Crankworx fest. You can’t imagine how much public there was. I say only that when the event ended there was a sand fog caused by the dust raised by the movement of people leaving the place.

A big party during the night and the next day bike again.

Waiting for us in Whistler there was Luis Biscaldi (a CP Gang rider) who immediately moved into our home. He has been a real fortune. Not only he guided us on the trails (he’s been hanging around Whistler for 4 summers) but he also led us to know tons of people.

The bike park is HUGE: many but really many trails, lines starting from 1800 meters and descending till 600 m into town (we also found one that led us home!). I can assure you that I’ve never seen nothing like that. The “Portes du Soleil” resort (that is in my opinion one of the most beautiful bike parks in Europe) isn’t even remotely close to what is British Columbia reality!

Maybe my only regret is to have not visited the parks in the surroundings, but renting a car without having booked in advance is really too expensive.

Finally, I want to say some thanks: first of all to the whole crew: Busca, Carlo AKA the Soldier, Guasta, Luis and Ricu, the second to the JF Club and to the CP Gang!

Cheers!

You can visit Whistler website here: http://www.whistlerbike.com/index.htm