As the cream of the world's mountainbikers head to Vancouver Island in Canada for the Bearclaw Invitational, Jeff Pappone caught up with the event organiser, course designer and main man, Darren Berrecloth.
When you don’t like the way things are being handled, most people usually have two choices: put up or shut up.
And we’re guessing you’ve already figured out that freeride mountain biker Darren Berrecloth, A.K.A Bearclaw, is no shrinking violet.
Yup, no surprise the guy who makes a living careening down mountains on tiny strips of rubber is not afraid of making waves.
“I kept in going to these events and seeing the promoters make an awful lot of money off of us bike riders – we were out there hucking and killing ourselves and in the end making nothing for it,” he said, adding that the purse for first place is usually a few thousand dollars.
“I kept thinking to myself: ‘We could do a way better job’ and finally it just clicked in and I thought ‘Man we could put an event on, build the best course, and all the money would go straight to the riders’.”
The result is the Bearclaw Invitational, a two-day slopestyle event by freeriders, for freeriders. It runs from August 5-6 at the Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
The event originally ran three times from 2006 to 2008 but Berrecloth put it on hold until he could find it a permanent home. Enter Mount Washington with the offer of a hill.
'We were out there hucking and killing ourselves and in the end making nothing for it' – Darren Berrecloth
Now, rather than tearing down the course after the event and starting from scratch every time, Berrecloth can alter and hone the course based on feedback from the riders, making it better and safer to ride with each change.
“We ended up going into the trees and a friend and I logged a good portion of the forest in between two runs and basically took down any tree that was smaller than two feet in diameter. So we basically thinned out the forest and left only the old growth trees where I built the course,” he said.
“Next year, all I have to do is come in, buff everything out and change the things I didn’t like, and that’s it. I think it’s the right time to bring my event back.”
The beauty of the new course is that it will be part of the mountain and there for riders to test their mettle against Berrecloth’s design, provided they have the skill set.
A ready built course also becomes a good draw for the mountain which can promote the course to other riders throughout the season.
But, in reality, there may be only about 40-50 slopestyle riders on the circuit who could get the most out of the course.
“The skill set is quite high for the average rider – you would definitely have to be an expert level rider,” he said. “You’d have to be someone who knows how to dirt jump and do quick drops but at the same time there will be little options we will build for the less experienced riders to practice and work their way up.”
But when the Invitational gets going Aug. 5 fans can expect some awesome action in qualifying from some of the best freestyle riders on the planet. After Friday’s runs, the best 18 riders advance to the slopestyle finals on Aug. 6. Once that’s done on Saturday, the riders will end the day with a high-air competition.
Unfortunately, Berrecloth has been suffering from a lung infection and spent some time in hospital trying to get healthy for his event as he looks to win it after finishing second twice previously.
Fellow Canuck Brandon Semenuk, who finished second in the Invitational in 2007, arrives on a high after taking top prize the inaugural Red Bull Joyride Freeride Mountain Bike event in Whistler, B.C., two weeks ago.
© Sébastien Boué / Red Bull Content Pool
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