With apologies to poet Alexander Pope, when it comes to mountain biking, to air is human, to stick your landing divine. Locally, that’s nowhere truer than in the Air Dome and, by extension, on the trails in the nearby Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

In anticipation of Whistler’s Crankworx mountain-bike festival (August 9 to 17), the Georgia Straight dropped by the Air Dome earlier this month to gauge the progression of bike-handling skills. After all, the dome is where both young rippers and the rock stars of the world of dirt come to play, especially on soggy days when trails in the mountain-bike park are too slick for comfort. Step inside and see for yourself.

Now in its third season, the Air Dome was the brainchild of downhill bike racer Andrew Shandro. Built in partnership with Whistler-Blackcomb, the 780-square-metre structure is roughly the shape of a bread loaf.

At its heart sits a foam pit similar to ones used for gymnastic practice. From one end, riders descend a steep run-in ramp then launch skyward off one of four kickers. Once airborne, they quickly perform manoeuvres, such as seat grabs and tail whips, before falling into a cushy batch of foam chips.

Brian Finestone, manager of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, explained to the Straight that the thrill that bike riders experience in the Air Dome mirrors what skiers and snowboarders enjoy in the on-mountain terrain parks that he supervises in winter.

“We designed a natural progression of features with a hierarchy of jumps,” he said. “The idea is to learn tricks in a controlled environment that you can then try on dirt trails in the park. If someone has never jumped, the foam pit is where to begin.”

Wooden step-up jumps line both sides of the dome around the foam pit. Novice riders first practise on modest ramps less than a metre high, then work their way up to monster four-metre ones, much like jumping off a low diving board before attempting higher ones. “This is how you develop air awareness,” Finestone said. “You learn to land like a cat on its feet.”

On a typical day, as many as 20 cyclists circle the dome trying out the ramps. Another 10 patiently wait their turn at the foam pit. From the sidelines, former mountain-bike downhill champion Shane Spence watched his 15-year-old son, Kyle, flounder in the pit after performing a barrel roll. The Abbotsford-based father has been driving to the Air Dome since it opened in 2006.

“Kyle doesn’t know what a hockey stick is,” Spence said. “He’s full-on biking. We’ve been to every park we can find. Next week he’s off to [the Woodward West] camp in Bakersfield, California, for training before we come back for Crankworx.”

When asked what other riders impressed him in the dome that day, Spence pointed out Brandon Semenuk, third in last year’s Crankworx slopestyle competition. Suspended high above, the young Whistler rider lifted his feet off the pedals. One foot kicked the bike frame sideways, causing it to rotate 360 degrees under the axis of the handlebars firmly gripped by his hands. In that brief arc, Semenuk’s aerobatics defined cycling’s current state of mind, Whistler-style.

If all this seems rather extreme, consider the context. Over the past decade, the Whistler Mountain Bike Park has experienced exponential summer growth in the number of trails and users. A large majority of riders come from the Lower Mainland.

“Vancouver is a bit of a bubble,” observed pro rider Dave Watson on the telephone from the offices of Sombrio, a performance-apparel company he cofounded with Shandro and Gabe Fox in 1998. “Mountain biking has always been ahead of its time here.”

According to the former Canadian national mountain-bike champion, a generational effect is at play. “You’ve got the lifestyle of parents who’ve raised their kids on two wheels, coupled with better, cheaper equipment. The profile of mountain bikers themselves has changed. It’s much more family-oriented. No matter what kind of rider you are, there’s now a trail for you.”

As Watson sees it, bike parks are integral drivers of the progressive evolution of cycling. Given tail whips and back flips, how far will the trend go? “It’s in the hands of the riders as to where they want to take the sport. Combine that with the platform of the bike park and you have the recipe for success.”

This from the man famous for having “gapped” a mountainous section of the 2003 Tour de France route while the peloton passed beneath him. (See for yourself on YouTube)

One person who will be sorely missed at this year’s Crankworx is Richard Juryn, who, in the years before his kayaking death last October, nurtured community-based mountain-bike events on the North Shore and beyond. Juryn helped organize the nonprofit, free-admission Whistler event.

Jeremy Roche feels the loss more than most. Crankworx’s general manager spoke by telephone with the Straight from Whistler, where he and Juryn worked on the festival “365 days a year, 24 hours a day”.

Together with Juryn’s family and friends, Roche is championing the creation of an award to recognize individuals who reflect Juryn’s passion, dedication, and enthusiasm for the mountain-bike community. “We want it to be far-reaching, like Richard’s contribution itself,” Roche said. It’s tempting to think that somewhere out there, Juryn is getting bigger air than ever.

Access: For information on the Air Dome and the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, visit www.whistlerbike.com/. A complete list of Crankworx’s events is posted at crankworx.com/.