Photos: Sven Martin and Adrian Marcoux
With his eyes on the King of Crankworx crown, Ropelato headed to Whistler full of hope. Injury had conspired against him all year, but no matter, he would double down and try for the whole damn thing at the biggest stop on the tour.
He got much of it right, and some of it wrong. He ruled the Ultimate Pump Track Challenge, but crashed and burned in the Garbo DH. His style was sublime in the Whip Off Worlds but his line selection got him booted from the Dual Slalom. No matter. The magic of Mitch is found in so many moments of fun. Just fun. Nothing else.
In the end he finished fifth, by no means a bad effort considering he raced two fewer rounds than anyone above him. Still this edit shows he found a different kind of gold in the hill of British Columbia.
