New Zealand's Largest Jump Line Claims Another Victim

McGazza Fest wrapped up last week and though it was an early season highlight for most, freeride icon Casey Brown suffered a rather unfortunate slam that has sidelined her for the foreseeable future.

We haven't seen the crash, but based on what Casey said, it looks like she did some real damage. She shared a brief update via Instagram today, take a look below.

The timing is especially poor for this injury as Casey was supposed to be in South Africa this week riding at Darkfest with all of the elite men and women freeriders from around the world.

Casey is particularly talented on big jumps so seeing her go down on something that she's as familiar with as the Dream Track is surprising. That being said, injuries do often seem to happen more often on the lines and features that we are most comfortable on. 

No matter how or what the crash happened on, it is a bummer to see Casey off the bike for a while, especially with how much of a surge women's freeride has had in the last six months. Casey has been a fixture of the movement and is widely regarded as one of the forefathers - or mothers if you will - of the whole operation. Her presence at Darkfest would surely have been a positive force for the other women who were invited this year. 

Despite Brown no longer being able to attend Darkfest, the event still has more women in attendance, or at least invited, than any other major freeride event has had to date. Darkfest is setting a precedent that other freeride fests and major contests will hopefully follow. Riders like Casey are a perfect example of why women deserve a place in freeride alongside men. 

In addition to Darkfest, Casey was also slated to attend the inaugural Red Bull Hardline: Maydena event set to kick off in only a couple of weeks. She would have been one of a handful of women racing the new spin-off event.

Anyway, to wrap it all up, here's a clip Casey put up right before she took that slam on the Dream Track. We wish you a strong and speedy recovery, Casey!

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