Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle in memory of McGazza
The Crankworx Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza is a crowd favourite, and this years event did not disappoint with Rogatkin usurping slopestyle's previous king, Semenuk.
Words: Anna Beck
Images: Tim Bardsley-Smith
In yet another beautiful afternoon in Rotorua, crowds flanked the side of Mt Ngongotaha to watch 18 of the worlds best slopestyle athletes compete on the famous Rotorua course; designed by and now ridden in memory of the famous Kelly McGarry, aka: McGazza.
Prior to the main event starting, the field commemorated the late McGazza by riding in a procession through the slopestyle course prior to race runs, wowing the crowd with their style and acrobtics.
The scale of the course has to be seen to be believed; set amongst the towering pines of the forest, riders are dwarfed by towering gaps, steep step-ups and -downs that could only be attempted by the worlds best riders. This could be Crankworx in any of the other tour destinations but for the carvings on the jumps and references to maori culture and the designer himself built into the Slopestyle course.
The field contained Semeneuk, who holds the most slopestyle wins of all athletes who have competed in the sport, as well as previous X-Games winner Ryan Nyquist and Nicholi Rogatkin, the athlete famous for landing the first 1080-spin in Crankworx history in 2016.
In the end, USA’s Nicholi Rogatkin stole the show, winning the event on his first run, scoring a phenomenal 95.66. Italian Torquato Testa and Sweden’s Emil Johansson out down similarly impressive runs, riding into second and third.
Results here
