Thousands watched elite mountain bikers made their bids for glory at the inaugural Deer Valley FOX US Open of Mountain Biking over the weekend Sept. 11-13.
The crowd drew visitors and locals, ringing cowbells, cheering loudly and singing songs, including the national anthem.
Here’s Salt Lake City resident and New Hampshire native Ryan Slaski on why he came to the race.
“I wanted to see people rip at the home turf, burn it up, make the trails look totally different,” Slaski said. “Even though it’s the same thing that we’re riding but it looks a whole lot different when they’re riding it.”
The event marked the first time in over 15 years the resort hosted a national bike race. Saturday’s course was a rerun of the National Off-Road Bicycle Association track from years ago.
Aaron Gwin took first in the men’s pro category. The 38-year-old biking legend said he remembered racing at Deer Valley in his youth.
“My first year racing mountain bikes was 2008 and was the last time I was here in Deer Valley,” Gwin said. “And so, it's pretty crazy, almost 20 years later, be back racing here again, kind of at the end of my career. Yeah, super special for me.”
For 17-year-old Kallie Smith, racing in the U.S. open was “surreal.” She said she started racing in the pro category last year.
“It’s pretty cool to ride with people I look up to, and it’s cool to be able to get times that are pretty close to them,” Smith said.
Smith placed second in the women’s pro category, behind Italian Gloria Scarsi.
Deer Valley Vice President of Mountain Operations Steve Graff says it took about a year to organize the race. He called the process a labor of love.
“Just the physical labor of building the track and you know, preparing another chairlift and building ramps for that and setting up all that infrastructure and staffing,” Graff said.
Graff is an avid biker. He said organizing the event allowed him to connect with his hobbies.
“You know, it kind of comes back to my history, my passion for mountain skiing and biking," Graff said. "And in my role, I'm lucky enough to have a ton of resources and create great experiences for people, and so coming out on a weekend like this, national level racing, and seeing everybody, racers and spectators, employees enjoying it is super rewarding for me."
Local youth mountain biking coach Tyson Henrie said he thinks the event helped the public see the nuances of the sport.
“I think it's really cool to see what goes into it and how professional it really is as a sport. It's not just a bunch of dirt bags riding bikes," Tyson said. "We are athletes, and from our coaches, our trainers, our warm-ups, and mechanics, and everything that goes into it, I think it's good to see all the all aspects of the sport.”
Gwin and Scarsi each received $15,000 for winning the respective men and women’s pro categories.
The event was part of a five-stop Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series, which raced across North Carolina, New Jersey, California and Utah. The next stop on the world cup circuit is Whistler, Canada. The season will finish in Lake Placid, New York.
Deer Valley Resort is a financial supporter of KPCW.
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