In a surprise Kokanee Crankworx 2009 Slopestyle outcome Saturday, Greg Watts, a tricks specialist from the Santa Cruz-Aptos cabal in California, upset Semenuk, who was fresh off his second straight Crankworx Colorado victory and obviously hoping to kill before his B.C. homeys. Watts, who was runnerup to Semenuk at Colorado, flashed some monster moves, including a double flip whip performed by twirling the bike above you while upside down and backwards to the terrain below.

Taking nothing away from Watts, who clearly rode out of his mind, Semenuk wuz robbed. You can argue whether Semenuk’s tail whips and flips were better than Watts’ — Semenuk also did an upside-downer — or whether his run was as daring and innovative as Watts. But assuming these are arguable points, Semenuk ruled on style points.

The man — well, kid, really, at 18 — gets air like no one else. He soars so high that you almost feel the G-out in your gut. He’s like an angel floating in the clouds, only on wheels instead of wings.

By contrast (again, nothing diminished), Watts’ victorious flip whip seemed a bit rushed and incomplete. Yes he pulled it off. But did he really nail it?

Finally, Semenuk’s high-wire act had more diversity than Greg’s. It was one different move after another — back flip, tail whip, upside down whip, front flip, no-hands, reverse 360 — that left the crowd gasping and roaring at the same time.

Points are all judgment calls by the panel of experts, of course. And they took their time, presumably mulling over some of the above considerations. But in the end, they came down on the wrong side. (Some observers said Watts wuz robbed at Colorado, so this may be poetic justice.)

It might be reasoned that at his tender age, Semenuk has years to get the top Slopestyle win in the world. But slopestyle isn’t golf or tennis or even the NBA. You’re only one cracked disc or broken foot from the shelf, as the quickly forgotten stars of yesteryear (some of whom were drifting around Whistler Village the past week) can readily attest. By your mid-20s, the normal peak years for athletic prowess, you’re pretty much out of this type of competition.

Let’s hope there wasn’t a “prophet without honor” psychology going on in the voting, a subtext that says you can’t favor the hometown hero and anyway, how could someone from down the street really beat all these big names from around the world?

In any case, there’s always (or at least a good chance for) next year for Semenuk. At some point it’s going to be clear he’s the class of the competition, local boy or not.

In another surprise, first-timer Martin Soederstroem of Sweden, who must be the new Tailwhip King of the slopestyle circuit, pulled down the bronze, beating out Paul Basagoitia, the only competitor to ever win Crankworx in his first try (as a qualifier, no less). Bas is having a great year nonetheless, as a video floating around of him doing a rocket-shot flip whip proves.

All in all, another monster Monster Energy Slopestyle is in the books. Each year seems to get better, and although I hear some cavils about too many flips and whips so why bother? Crankworx never fails to amaze, delight and inspire. The magic of Crankworx is that I’ll go ride tomorrow with dreams of doing my first 360, and although at my age it will never happen, that can’t stop me from riding like it might.

When we say “crushed,” we mean smoked. Pummeled. Bashed. Destroyed. Her final margin: A whopping 3.91 seconds over Emmeline Ragot of France.

Kintner had put in some serious practice runs on the scary-fast course earlier in the week, and it showed. At a critical tabletop right before the “tunnel of love” she cleared both sides where other competitors chose to stay grounded. Jill also put time on her foes with fierce pedal wheelies over stutter bumps in the mid-section.

Finally, the girl is just plain smooth. It’s a joy to watch her meld grace and precision with such power into a ballet on wheels that looks as good as it clocks. By the time the final switchbacks came into play, Kintner was so far ahead on all her heats that she pretty much coasted home.

The only caveat on Kintner’s performance was a surprisingly thin field. Long-retired Leigh Donovan showed up for a bronze but was not a factor head-to-head against Jill. Kintner’s arch rival Melissa Buhl might have given her a run for her money had she competed, but having watched Kintner progress this season and compared the two on courses like Whistler’s, we doubt it would have changed the outcome. (Buhl competed in last Sunday’s Garbanzo Downhill but finished last and may have injured herself. Buhly finished 4th in last Saturday’s dual slalom, which Jill also won.)

On her blog Jill tends to dwell more on the misses than the hits, and she’s too modest to crow after victory, so it’s up to us fans to give her a pat on the back for a “Double” to remember.

So completely did Kintner dominate the competition that we at BikeIntelligencer are left to wonder if she’s angling toward the downhill racing scene. Coming from a BMX background, Jill has never been one for the rad of downhill racing. But her skillz keep amping up, especially over the past couple of months, and she showed in yesterday’s competition that she’s not shy about pinning it on the big jumps and “pipeline” berms.

Whistler’s course is less a “big slalom” than a “mini-downhill.” We’ll be watching with interest to see if Jill decides to try her luck with the Big Dance. (Note: Jill tweeted she also got a 2nd in the Air DH competition at Crankworx — another indication?)

On the men’s side, Brian Lopes redeemed last year’s crash-out (he still bronzed) with a decisive win over top qualifier Jared Rando. Lopes “grew” with each advance — he actually lost one of his early runs — and by the end of the day was just hammering the berms while seeming to get stronger in the pedal sections. He complained afterward about being gassed, but this guy is ageless, which is just one reason I wear his shin guards and ride his bike (an Ibis Mojo, although mine’s set up stupid light for XC).

The one disappointment for the GS was a light turnout. Crankworx has set up huge video screens at mid-course and down below, but there were no spectators lining the tapes whatsoever, and the crowd in the village was just a couple or three hundred folks. And pretty quiet ones at that. It was chilly all day even though the sun broke out, and while the parking lots filled to capacity, this isn’t yet the crush of Crankworx past. Lift lines are modest at best, and a lot of prospective race watchers were still on the mountain, riding to the end of light. The word at Crankworx is that the best time to hit the lifts is when there’s racing below. Apparently word has gotten too far out, though, which is a shame. You can ride any time at Whistler. You can see racing like this only once. Let’s hope folks put away the bikes for this afternoon’s Monster Energy Slopestyle event. With the sun out, the jumps have dried out and are perfectly groomed for a “monster” competition. Full report tomorrow.

More on the Crankworx site as well, including results.

Some quick links, then I gotta go RIDE!

PinkBike has the rundown on the big Slopestyle course tomorrow. It may be tamer than last year, but that’s probably good. Too many crashes last year. Looking it over, and having seen every Crankworx Slopestyle at Whistler, my view is that this one has more diversity (read opportunity) than any previous. And it’s really set up for viewing.

Let’s hope the crowds come. Whistler is soaked, bros! There are puddles in the parking lot and the trails are not just damp but sloppy in some spots. Plus it’s cold at night.

That said, the sun is out today (Friday) and skies definitely appear to be clearing! So hopefully everyone will come on up tonight and tomorrow for the world’s signature Slopestyle event, Kokanee Crankworx.

As for tomorrow’s Leadville 100, now the “signature” enduro MTB event because of Lance’s omnipresence:

BikeRumor has pics and descrip of Lance’s proto Trek Fuel 9.9 XX whatever. Why doesn’t Trek just call it the Lance Armstrong? If I was at Leadville and Lance whizzed by I’d have a hard time choosing between looking at him or his bike! It should be a great race.

There’re some other familiar names in the lineup, including Travis Brown riding his own customized Trek, caught by Mountain Bike Action. Early on Floyd Landis was supposed to have registered, but he’s not on the official roster. Neither is once-rumored Tinker Juarez. Nor is Chris Eatough, history’s greatest 24-hour racer, who’s apparently racing the FoolsGold 100 instead.

But Dave Wiens, despite modestly downplaying his own chances at a 7th straight title, is still in the mix. BikeRumor has great Wiens interview on the whole enchilada.

Check out the UltraRob blog for inside coverage.

AP setup story in Seattle Times on the race.

BIkePortland is tracking a disturbing cycling-auto encounter.

If you’re in Seattle Sunday and want to pay respects to Jose Hernando and the other fallen of our sport, Michael Snyder at SeattleLikesBikes has a suggestion.