Semenuk broke onto the podium in 2007 with a run boasting a huge Indian air, a no foot can, a tail whip and a whole load of style. Nine years later and the Whistler native had just had to risk immensely more to win in Rotorua.

Gone are the 360s that shook the world, in are the cork 720s, the triple tailwhips, the opposite madness and step-down backflips. It’s amazing how much the runs on the FMB Tour have changed even in the past few years, as 2013 champion Sam Pilgrim, who finished fifth in Rotorua on the day, is more than happy to attest.

“It’s been crazy since I won the World Tour” he tells us, with that signature smile on his face. “The progression has just been so fast. It’s almost hard to watch sometimes.

“I used to be winning contests all the time. Now it’s so far away. I know what I can do though and what I need to do, and now I’m just thinking go out there and have fun – and it works!”

Even Semenuk’s signature cork 720 is being seen throughout the field now. Had it not been for him, this would not be the case, and the scene would look immeasurably different; years behind where it is today in terms of tricks and originality.

Brett could only bag third in Rotorua this year despite a remarkable run including an opposite cork 720 he’d never attempted before, but he’s more than capable of winning every time he steps on the pedals.

Attempting an opposite trick is much like trying to sign your name with the wrong hand. You can probably just about get the job done, but it’s not going to look pretty. So to stomp the trick to dirt at the first time of asking was worthy of applause. And it’s a sign of the lengths you’ve got to go to these days to get on the judges’ radar.

“Slopestyle is progressing every time we go out there and ride,” Rheeder admits. “It’s very competitive, and it’s so mental. Trying to be the best and beat the rest of the field is insane. There’s a lot of stress there.

“It’s all the way you look at it though. We’re all here, we’re all healthy and we’re all having a great time. Crankworx is doing such an amazing thing for the sport. I can’t wait till they expand even more.”

Some may say that the spins and technical nature of modern slopestyle, as well as the stresses touched upon by both Semenuk and Rheeder, have taken away from the style and fun-loving substance at the origins of the discipline.

On run two he did the same opener, rolled out of the landing fine then carried on to stomp an insane run which concluded with the first 1080 ever landed in competitive mountain biking. He popped another tyre when he landed but rode out and took second place.

Semenuk may have set the bar for modern slopestyle, but he’s not the only one pushing it higher. Rheeder and Rogatkin are making sure of that. The latter goes so hard he bursts tyres at nearly every event.

Speaking after the contest, and bearing the image of the late mountain bike freeriding hero, Crankworx Rotorua course-designer and friend to many Kelly “McGazza” McGarry on his bright yellow riding jersey, Nicholi was clearly stoked on his run. So were we.

“Ever since I started riding BMX when I was five I’ve always wanted to fly and as I progressed I just wanted to learn new tricks all the time,” said Nicholi.

“It’s the same now. I want to go high and I want to learn new tricks. As opposed to being patient and learning style or the technical stuff I’m just hungry for those big tricks and I think it shows in the contest runs I do. It’s now or nothing. I can’t help it.

“To get a good score these days is insanely difficult. You really have to push it to your farthest limit, and it’s freestyle so everyone is pushing it in their different ways – whether that is adding extra style to it, going higher, adding bar spins or me with the new rotational tricks.

“Everyone is at such a high level that to get a high score and to win is just such a difficult thing to do; the pressure, the field of riders, the crashes, the danger, the mental strength – it all factors in. But everyone has their own motivations.”

That motivation for Rogatkin? Innovation, progression, personal dreams and the further development of a discipline which ten years ago was being dominated and established by legends like Darren Berrecloth stomping 360s in Whistler, Canada.

Cam Zink even instagrammed a picture of the American after Rotorua with the caption: “This guy… Judges must not like him very much.” And whether you think he was stronger than Semenuk on the day or not, it certainly seems like he’ll picking up gold on tour sooner rather than later.

No matter who you talk to though; Rogatkin, Rheeder, Semenuk, Pilgrim, or any of the others in the field, it’s clear to see that the love of riding is still at the core of the sport.

A lot else has changed in the world of slopestyle mountain biking since a 16-year-old shredder looked down at his bronze medal in Whistler back in 2007, though. And personally, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Head here to read the rest of Mpora’s March Origins issue. Thanks to New Zealand Tourism for getting us out there.

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