After the first day of practice for the Big White Invitational Slopestyle, the athletes are ready to gear up for the main events.

The Big White Invitational Slopestyle is the only North American Gold Level event on the FMB World Tour Calendar for the 2018 season. It’s also the last chance for the pro-riders to qualify for Joyride at Crankworx Whistler in August and a chance to ride next to some of the best in the world for the amateurs.

Related:Big White announces new Slopestyle Invitational

The event is hosted by local athlete Tom van Steenbergen. Practice for both Gold and Bronze level athletes began at 8:00am this morning under bright blue skies. Athletes spent the day getting comfortable on the features and warming up after travelling from all over North America and Europe.

Riders have started to arrive and we are so thankful for everyone who has made the trip from near and far for the #bigwhiteinvitational hosted by @tvansteenbergen Course looks amazing thanks to @loftbikeparks It all starts tomorrow! 📷 @andrewjaybw #bikebigwhite #fmbworldtour #explorecanada

A post shared by Bike Big White (@bikebigwhite) on Jul 3, 2018 at 9:30pm PDT

The Bronze Open event kicks things off at 3:30 p.m. on a separate course today. There are four wildcard spots up for grabs for the gold qualifiers Friday where they will compete with 25 of the top ranked FMB riders to secure one of 15 spots in the Gold Event finals Saturday.

Things are getting real – Gold Course preview for the #bigwhiteinvitational from the crew @loftbikeparks @dustingilding @alexanderchisholme @austindavignon @corbinselfe #loftlegacy #bikebigwhite #fmbworldtour

A post shared by Bike Big White (@bikebigwhite) on Jul 3, 2018 at 2:27pm PDT

There will be beer gardens, food trucks, music, expo, demos, a special screening of North of Nightfall under the stars Friday and the official After Party at Session’s Taphouse & Grill Saturday. For more information check out the event schedule.

Kelowna Capital News