Video: Top 3 Slopestyle Runs from Crankworx Rotorua 2024

Mar 23, 2024
by Ed Spratt  

bigquotesMassive props to Robin Goomes, Harriet (Haz) Burbidge-Smith, and Caroline Buchanan for absolutely stomping their runs and making history as the first women to hit the podium in the Maxxis Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza in Crankworx Rotorua! Crankworx


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edspratt avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2017
3,035 articles

28 Comments
  • 92 9
 Could have been a podium run for the men in 2004

I always think of that year as the year slope style parted from freeride. It was the year where Paul Bass flip whipped on Cam Zincs bike and said “I’d like to thank my sponsors but I dont really have any sponsors” That statement birthed a new segment of riding.

The other podium finishers that year were (free rider) Timo “I’ll just clear the course in one jump” Pritzel and at the time DH racer now turned free rider Kyle Straight.

If you think about the support, sponsors, money, and competitive camaraderie the boys have benefited from since then…. I’d like to think we’ll see a flip-whip from the girls within a year and who knows what they’ll be doing in 20 years.

It’s so great having something like this for the younger girls to look up to. Keep the sport growing.
  • 1 5
flag TokenCanfieldGuy (Mar 26, 2024 at 6:15) (Below Threshold)
 oh nice...wrong though. The women are women, remember.
  • 18 2
 Sick. Always impressed by the girls these days. Keep it coming!
  • 14 1
 When that gal shoved the other one off the bike at the end of her run it reminded me of the stuff my big brother did to me LOL.
  • 31 22
 I don't usually watch these events, but I've seen some runs here and there by the men to know what they do. Regardless of why it is, I was genuinely shocked as a spectator at how far the skill gap is between the genders. Forget all the puffery, as entertainment, this isn't a "good show". Now hit the downvote button!
  • 11 3
 The women's tricks aren't at the limit of what is humanly possible, true. But competition among equal athletes at the top of their game, battling for every point against one another and with a good splash of sporting emotion and drama is very good spectacle and definitely entertaining.
  • 12 1
 The last year of rivalry between Sodestrom and Semenuk is the one where I followed almost every slopestyle events of the calendar on RedBull TV, often staying up thru the middle of the night. At the time I thought these were two martians doing tricks no one could ever improve (I had no BMX background, mind you).

Yet, if you watch their winning runs today you'd be very hard pressed to grant them a top 6, let alone a podium. This is what progression thru competition is all about.
Regarding the show these women put, the only disappointment is having to wait until 2024 to make this process start. I guarantee soon enough one girl is going to do a flipwhip, then they'll step-up, then another will 360 to barspin, and then and then...
  • 8 8
 Bro it’s not about a show for you. It’s about pushing the sport for all female riders.

Don’t be a jerk!
  • 11 7
 Hard disagree! I enjoyed watching these runs way more than the usual men's podium runs. To me, the men's stuff now is so far removed from what I can comprehend that I can't really follow it or appreciate it, it's like watching figure skating or bike acrobatics/artistic cycling to me. I enjoyed watching this way more. Just my opinion!
  • 10 4
 Correct. This wasn't a "good show" ... It was a great one.
  • 4 1
 @everythingscomingupmilhouse: I know what you mean - the men's is often a bit like freestyle skiing aerials - it's deeply impressive, but I've no idea how to tell if a run is good or not, as so much is going on. However, I'd say the women need another year or two to properly step it up. But the coverage will bring newcomers in, or perhaps get people swapping disciplines and it went be long till we're saying the ladies are too good to understand...
  • 1 6
flag adidasss (Mar 25, 2024 at 16:49) (Below Threshold)
 what men can do, women can do better.. Nah, I don't think so!! XD All this sh*t talk about how women are better than men now, how men are useless and how much they don't need them, how looks so funny now. Thanks for downvoting Wink
  • 2 2
 Agree 100%. It is really boring to see these runs and these tricks. I understand, it is important moment for bicycle history but it will not replace the show, men do.
  • 9 3
 Such a good show. That superman was sweet!
  • 12 8
 Superwoman*
  • 3 5
 @mi-bike: oh man please lol .
  • 5 0
 Awesome job by these badass women.
  • 5 2
 This was fun to watch! We need more of this
  • 3 0
 Impressed is an understatement!! Amazing job by these girls!!
  • 2 0
 So proud of these riders! HYeck yeah bud
  • 5 8
 So good!
  • 15 0
 @angryWaki: Are you part of the real Waki cast of characters, or just using a name variant? Honest question.
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