A Weekend at Big Bear: Highlights from the Fox US Open of Mountain Biking

The Fox US Open returned this past weekend at an all-new venue, the Snow Summit Bike Park in Big Bear California. Spank Industries came on board as a sponsor for the Red Bull Best Whip comp, with the Gravity Cartel crew on hand to represent.

Now that the dust has settled, another US Open is in the books and we’re still buzzing from all the excitement.

The build crew at Snow Summit delivered the goods all weekend with a Dual Slalom track that put riders skills to the test Friday evening with head to head battles running into the dark.

They also built it big for the competitors of the Red Bull Best Whip, presented by Spank. A feature like no other in the resorts bike park welcomed invite-only athletes to a chance to walk away with the giant check. The Best Whip competition went off with riders throwing huge whips, flat three’s, corked flips, and other hammers getting the crowd going! Allan Cooke threw it big along with Ryan Pinkerton taking home the rampage-like trophies.

10-ply, Snow Summit's newest DH trail, pulled the crowds Sunday as spectators hiked their way up into the trees with a number of noisemakers to cheer on riders as they navigated the steep, loose, and rowdy track. A podium not common in this zone with Loic Bruni and Jill Kintner walking away with the gold blew the minds of locals.

The Snow Summit Village was popping all weekend with some of the largest names in mountain biking walking around handing out high fives. Hans “No way” Rey, Vaea Verbeeck, Gwin, Minnaar, Bruni, the Missile, and Rheeder were just a few of the MTB royalty present at this weekend’s event.

When the crowds weren’t mingling with the whos-who of MTB, they found themselves checking out the latest and greatest at vendor booths and getting their hands on new products.

People from all over the nation gathered as history went down in Big Bear CA this past weekend and we can’t wait for next year’s event!