FMBA is back and bringing a full-on calendar of slopestyle events to 2022. Highline Festival in Australia, the first of 24 events currently scheduled, kicks the season off in less than two weeks’ time.
For Canadian slopestyle fans, there are a raft of returning high-level competitions. Red Bull Joyride and the Big White Invitational are back after a brief hiatus. The Gold-level SilverStar Invitational is new.
The 2022 Calendar also brings more details on the recently-announced women’s slopestyle category. It is set to debut at FMBA for 2022.
Canadian events highlight growing calendar
The big news for Canadian fans is, of course, the return of the Diamond-level event, Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler. It’s not just fans looking forward to getting back to B.C., either.
“I have some unfinished business in Slopestyle there,” said Polish rider Szymon Godziek, one of many riders itching to get back to Whistler’s Boneyard. “I feel super motivated for the 2022 season. After my last year in 2018, lots of things happened and the progression of the sport went up so quick. I see riders like Emil [Johansson] doing tricks that I was always dreaming of [and it] gives me even more motivation. Unfortunately, my 2021 plan didn’t go exactly as I wanted, and I haven’t got back into Crankworx yet. That’s my main goal for this year.”
At the Gold level, FMB mainstay O Marisquino is back after two years. So is a Canadian event, the Big White Invitational.
“This blank space of two years has served us all to reflect on the future of O Marisquino and see how we want to approach it for the next editions,” said Pablo Moreno, O Marisquino Dirt Jump Director. “We hope to see thousands of people from the public cheering on the riders, a great atmosphere, and the best Dirt Jumps we have seen so far in Vigo. This year the riders are going to find a circuit similar to the 2019 edition, but a little faster and with bigger jumps. We have decided to extend the receptions and improve the speed so that they arrive more comfortably at the jumps and can comfortably demonstrate their best tricks.”
There’s a new Gold-level event coming to Canada, too. The SilverStar Slopestyle had a test run in 2021. That year, it was part of the Crankworx B.C. series. It returns as a full FMB Gold event for 2022. It’s one of what FMBA expects to eventually include five Gold, six FMB Silver events and 16 Bronze-level events on the 2022 calendar once it is complete.
Women’s Division
New for the FMB World Tour in 2022 is the recently announced FMB World Tour Women’s Division. It gives FMB Bronze and Silver level events the option to host a sanctioned Women’s Category.
13 events are already signed up for the new opportunity. It shows there’s already strong support for giving female riders the long-deserved platform to show their skills.
Kathi Kuypers first competed a slopestyle event back in 2016. She shares how much this changes the game for women.
“I couldn’t focus on developing my skills on the Slopestyle bike because my sponsors didn’t see a market, so I rode all the other disciplines like Enduro, a little bit of Downhill, [did] loads of magazine story productions, and so on. But I never gave up and continued progressing,” says Kuypers. What she sees in 2022 is much different. “Brands are hiring [Women], especially for freeride events and content, and [with] the FMB World Tour Women’s Division, there will be even more attention on [Women in freeride] and their accomplishments.”
“This is all I’ve ever wanted,” Kuypers sums up.
“Women like Kathi Kuypers ride FMB World Tour events and have been fighting for this moment for over 10 years,” adds photographer Dominik Bosshard. “I am very pleased to see that this effort is now paying off. The shared love of the sport, nature, travelling, pushing the limits, and have a really good time,” is what drives this community,” the photographer added.
Chilean rider, Renata Wiese is similarly excited about the new category.
“I love it!! I feel like it is going to be awesome to see what the girls can do!” Says Wiese. The Chilean rider adds, “I like what the FMBA is doing by adding a Women’s Division and giving us the chance to compete equally.”
Keep up with the current 2022 calendar as it evolves at the FMB World Tour website.
