The Fox U.S. Open
Having first been launched at Mountain Creek, New Jersey, back in 2003, the Fox U.S. Open of Mountain Biking came to be regarded as one of the premier gravity events in American mountain biking. This year, the race moved to Big Bear, California, and it looks like it’s found a new home, according to the event director and co-founder, Clay Harper.
Harper was a pro mountain bike racer from New Jersey nearly 20 years ago when he came up with the idea to create an exciting mountain bike event that both riders and spectators could love. Centered around downhill racing, the U.S. Open offers top amateur riders the chance to compete against the sport’s best pros with major prize money paid out to the fastest riders.
For this year’s running of the event, three of the greatest downhillers in history showed up to compete. Greg Minnaar, the three-time UCI World Champion and winningest World Cup racer in history was on hand. So was Aaron Gwin, the winner of five World Cup series titles and number two in the list of all-time World Cup race winners. Then, to top it all off, today’s top downhill rider on the planet, France’s Loic Bruni, who had just won his fourth UCI World Championship and the overall World Cup title, showed up to continue his impressive win streak.
To add to the excitement, the event also hosted a Red Bull Best Whip competition on a 40-foot jump custom-built for the event by Snow Summit’s hard-working bike park crew.
On top of that, the Fox U.S. Open weekend included a California Enduro Series race and a Friday night dual slalom race.
Leading up to the DH finals, Sunday morning was all about the kids, with the USO Next Gen Youth Downhill race drawing nearly 100 intermediate and expert racers under 15 years old.
U.S. Open adaptive downhill athletes also got on track Sunday morning —including motocross legend Doug Henry.
All in all, this was an event that had to be seen to be believed.
THE BEGINNING OF THE FOX U.S. OPEN
Clay Harper recalls how he started the U.S. Open back in 2003: “I had just stopped racing,” he told MBA. “We weren’t really excited about the DH events we had to choose from. We established Diablo Freeride Park at Mountain Creek Resort in New Jersey, and we had the opportunity to put on an event exactly how we wanted it—open class, big prize money and a party.”
Clay and his team managed to get the support of the community and enough sponsorship support to put on one of the biggest downhill races in America. He was also able to put together enough purse money to draw riders from all over the U.S. and even some from other countries. Australia’s Bryn Atkinson won the Open Downhill class that very first year, and the event earned instant credibility for both its organization and the rider turnout.
The USO stayed at Mountain Creek for nearly ten years, until the resort changed ownership in 2012, leaving the event without a venue. Clay, who had stepped away from the business around 2007, decided it was worth bringing the U.S. Open back on his own in 2016.
He pulled together enough industry support and re-launched the U.S. Open in 2017 at Mountain Creek. The event was once again a success and with the support of Fox Racing, the decision was made to host the newly titled “Fox U.S. Open of Mountain Biking” g at Killington Bike Park in Vermont for 2018. Scheduled back-to-back with the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup race, the Fox U.S. Open attracted a strong field of athletes and thousands of spectators to Vermont. Clay and his team had planned to keep the USO at Killington again in 2019, but the resort’s construction plans made it difficult to agree on a date. In the end, the decision was made to take the U.S. Open to the West Coast for the first time in its history. Snow Summit Bike Park and the town of Big Bear Lake, California, were welcoming hosts and the rest is history. “We were definitely a little nervous moving the event to the other side of the country,” says Harper, “but we’re very happy with the decision. This year was awesome, and we are already working on the 2020 Fox U.S. Open in Big Bear Lake!”
THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO GET MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION
Mountain Bike Action is a monthly magazine devoted to all things mountain biking (yes, that’s 12 times a year because we never take a month off of mountain biking). It has been around since 1986 and we’re still having fun. Start a subscription by clicking here or calling (800) 767-0345.
Available from the Apple Newsstand for reading on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.