Adventure Magazine

crankworx rotorua 2022 Words and images supplied by Crankworx Crankworx Rotorua took flight in March of 2015, becoming the first festival outside of North America and Europe. Since then, it’s played host to some of the most memorable moments in Crankworx history and is now referred to “the soul of Crankworx” due to the unique ability to combine riding with culture. This year, Crankworx Rotorua was once again, the final stop of the World Tour. One rider that most people arguably had a close eye on was Emil Johansson with the Triple Crown of Slopestyle on the line. Johansson worked so hard over the past month after his crash at the Crankworx Cairns Slopestyle event. Johansson followed the concussion protocol and rehabbed very diligently to get himself cleared to get back in action, and he really came out with a bang today. “This is actually the first event in a while where I needed to calm myself down because we'd been riding so much,” Johansson said of his experience during the finals. “I was really prepared and really pumped for the event. And it was so much on the line here. For me to be able to put all the stuff down that I managed to put down and perform at the level I did, it feels surreal. Even though on the surface we might look calm, deep down we're really prepared.” The crowd went wild to see Johansson return with absolute cleanliness and technicality, spinning opposite directions, and tail whipping all directions. Johansson’s win also secured himself the 2022 Triple Crown of Slopestyle for the second year in a row. Timothe Bringer took the second place position with a score of 89.5, getting himself the silver medal t and also securing the third place position for the Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship award. Earlier in the day the people of Rotorua were treated to a Crankworx favourite, the TREK Official New Zealand Whip Off Championships presented by POC. It has been a great Whip Off season this year and today was no exception. The small group of riders persevered through the schedule changes and the challenging weather conditions to put on a sick show for the spectators. Local Kiwi legend, Matt Begg, maintained his first place position for the Crankworx Rotorua Whip Off earning himself the gold medal again today. “Pretty stoked,” Begg said of his win. “I was just having fun with my friends and I happened to go in behind my friend Dave and then Allan, so I just got a good wind which made me go a bit more sideways. I am just stoked for everyone that we all got to ride together. We obviously have been battling with the rain this week so the course was a little bit tougher to ride but we made do with what we got and that’s what it’s all about.” 30//WHERE ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS/#235

Local Kiwi legend, Matt Begg takes the Whip Off win Image by Jay French ADVENTUREMAGAZINE.CO.NZ//31