Twenty-five people badly injured at Rotorua's Crankworx, seven hospitalised

A rider flips over a jump at the Rotorua Crankworx Slopestyle event. Photo / Kike Abelleira / Crankworx 2020

A ruptured spleen and a brain tissue bruise were two of the many injuries Crankworx riders suffered this month.

A total of 25 patients were taken to Rotorua Hospital from the local mountain-biking festival.

Of this, seven were admitted to hospital while 18 were discharged. One person was taken to Waikato Hospital.

The injuries ranged from shoulder and wrist sprains, knee, hip and thumb injuries and a number of fractures and concussions, a Lakes District Health Board spokeswoman said.

Another person suffered a cerebral contusion - a bruise of the brain tissue.

However, mountain biking as an adventure sport was one that all riders knew had an "element of risk" to it, Crankworx organiser Tak Mutu said.

The safety of riders was the team's "number one priority" and something they kept an eye on "above all else", he said.

A rider flips over a jump at the Rotorua Crankworx Slopestyle event. Photo / Kike Abelleira / Crankworx 2020

Many people who watched big events like the Slopestyle, where people jump their bikes off 10m drops, or the Whip-off, where riders whip their bikes over jumps, would have seen their fair share of accidents.

Mutu said to compete in the big jumping events, a strict protocol was followed.

Every person who wanted to compete had to be vetted for their skill and also had to be ranked as one of the top riders in the world, he said.

A rider flips over a jump at the Rotorua Crankworx Slopestyle event. Photo / Kike Abelleira / Crankworx 2020

With such a "gnarly course", this was vital for rider safety.

Other big events would be done by "invitation only" so that the organisers could assess that each rider was "capable", he said.

Many of the events allowed riders to practise or train on the courses or even do a walk-through so they were well aware of what they were in for, he said.

Safety directors at the event, an international safety body and a WorkSafe team often walked the tracks to identify risks and give guidance.

Decisions were also made to postpone events during the festival because of weather risk, he said.

Event director Ariki Tibble said the number of riders hospitalised in this year's event was "significantly down" from previous years. However, the number of injuries was quite similar.

He said they had an equipped team of medics, doctors, nurses, police and even a specific specialist for concussions at every event at Crankworx.

The team was also constantly liaising with the hospital so they were fully aware of the processes, he said.

Tibble could not comment on specific cases due to privacy reasons and "respect for the athlete", but said the team would sit down to discuss what things may have gone wrong and how to make sure it did not happen again.

Local rider Keegan Wright has competed at Crankworx every year, taking the podium several times locally and internationally.

A rider pulls off a whip at the Rotorua Crankworx Whip-Off 2020. Photo / Kike Abelleira / Crankworx 2020

Wright said he had broken between 16 and 22 bones and realistically, getting injured in the sport was a given.

A "dream day" on the bike was one where you didn't hurt yourself or feel a bit sore, he said.

Injuries were most common when bikers were "fatigued" and not thinking straight, he said.

Keegan Wright at last year's Crankworx in Rotorua. Photo / Fraser Britton / Crankworx 2019

He said Crankworx as an event had got more serious about head injuries and even had a doctor who tested each rider to make sure they were "clear to ride".

"Crankworx are ahead of the game in that respect."

Wright was off his bike for a while back in 2016 after he had a bad crash that saw him shatter his cheekbone and eye socket, break his jaw, snap both wrists and lose two knuckles.

Local mountain biker Louis Hamilton was also not unfamiliar to injury and said riders often just let go and sometimes forgot about the risk on the tracks.

When Hamilton was 17, he had a bad downhill crash which saw his kidney "squash like a tomato" and he suffered bad internal bleeding.

Louis Hamilton at Rotorua's Crankworx in 2016. Photo / File

Three weeks in the hospital's intensive care unit and nine months recovering, it took Hamilton a long time to get back on the bike.

He said things such as training and skills clinics that Crankworx put on were vital for mitigating the risk and getting confidence back after an injury.

Walking through the tracks and being able to "visualise" the run was also helpful for many riders, he said.

Hamilton ran Tuned NZ, which was a mountain bike skills coaching business.

Many riders who came through his business picked up skills and confidence that would keep them safe in the forest, he said.

A rider takes on a jump at Crankworx. Photo / Kike Abelleira / Crankworx 2020