Source: Stan Hunter
Any excuse to talk like a Pirate is fair game in my world!
The seaborne brainchild from the rum soaked imagination of that scallywag, Jordie Lunn. The provinces capitol, a giant barge, lots of dirt and a healthy dose of the world's best slopestyle athletes. Smash this together with, many barrels of local beer, a heap of local DJ's and a crowd hell bent on raising Davey Jones' locker and you get a booty shaking outdoor party that would bring a tear to even the Krakens eye.
A Silver level stop on the FMB world tour, Jumpship is not only about winning some dubloons but also gaining precious points to put towards a season total for the FMB overall standings.
Sponsored by Oak Bay Bicycles, Straitline Components, Mount Washington Alpine Resort, Harbor Air, 91.3 The Zone, Dockside Mountainbike Society and MC'd by legendary Frorider, Brett Tippie.
Friday saw the opening of the event with athletes practicing in the tight mousetrap style layout on the barge. A fairly casual affair with most riders just trying to suss out the lay of the land and find where to stick the big ones to allow for speed maintenance into the next. The crowd thinned on the early side as there just happened to be another sporting event scheduled for that evening that involved orca's vs bears.
Saturday morning came early and with all the riders in attendance and with the Canucks 15th victory locked up, Jumpship could begin in earnest. The tight layout made for some heart stalling moments with some riders coming close to going into the drink trying to see just how far they could push the envelope.
A lot of the riders split their time on course dialing the track and then over to the Camp Of Champions Airbag to dial tricks. Come 5 pm, we had all hands on deck and with a crowd pushing 7000 sun and beer soaked fans, the Best Trick Showdown got started.
While at times battling high winds that would stall riders, this part of the event provided close to 3 hours of "oohs", "aaahs" and "OMFG!"'s. Under the drone of a helicopter film crew, Mike Montgomery took home the $1000 first place with a massive 720. Massive may not be descriptive enough. It was HUGE. Notable mentions go to Eric Lawrenuck, Anthony Meserre and Jordie Lunn. After wowing the crowds, Jumpship called it a night. Riders and crowds alike retired under the promise of an even better Sunday.
Sunday morning brought the arrival of officially sanctioned FMB judges, hangovers and more great weather. On course practice had much better flow, with most athletes already having their runs sorted. It was just a matter of putting it together in one shot at this point. Event format was three runs with the best one counting. The top ten moved into a final that consisted of two runs each with the best of the two being the one to go up against the other riders with.
With DJ sets howling, boats circling and fans screaming, the showdown began. Twenty runs went off showing the crowd why these guys are among the best on the planet. When the smoke cleared, the top five left standing were Groves, Gulevich, Chubey, Montgomery and on top, Semenuk. All got their share of the treasure and Semenuk celebrated by a little dunk in the on board hot tub. (I use "hot" loosely!")
All in all, from my view the event was a resounding success. Smiles on virtually every face from performers to audience. Rider feedback was positive on the close quarter course, crowd vibe was evident and, well, the beer garden was amped enough that a knit off would have sufficed! Great job to all the sponsors, organizers, volunteers and participants. Rumor mill was already churning for an even more elaborate course planned for next year. Here's to hoping that's the case as I would be willing to walk that plank in a heartbeat!
