Watch through your fingers as we take a look at the painful side of mountain biking. Here are the worst/best mountain bike crashes of all time.

>>> 12 classic mountain bike crashes we’ve all had

1. S&M party

How could we not kick off with Eric Barone’s spectacular face full of volcanic pumice (video at top of this page)? The Frenchman began his career as a stuntman, doubling for the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme before having a crack at the bicycle world speed record. He initially took the record on snow at Les Arcs in 2000 with a speed of 222kph (138mph), then traveled to the Cerro Negro volcano in Nicaragua to try again on gravel. Unfortunately, Eric’s carbon bike snapped at 172kph (107mph). Although the crash looked horrific, Barone can be considered lucky to have only sustained  broken ribs along with some serious carpet burns from that rubber suit.

2. Crazy Canucks

Matt Leitch has some serious cojones. Hopefully he’s still got them after this spectacular road gap attempt at Lethbridge, BC. That he suffered only a bruised shoulder and managed to miss that concrete crash barrier is a miracle.

3.Tim-oooooooh my god!

At Whistler’s Crankworx in 2004, Timo Pritzel attempted to jump the entire platform, but bailed on the attempt and ended up with shattered ankles.

4. Approach the jump with moderate speed…

It’s never easy to judge your speed for a big gap, particularly on something as fast as snow. Gee Atherton, fails by a fair margin on this monster huck in Tignes. Maybe he got his kph and mph mixed up; we know we always do on the peage…

5. Go big and/or go to A&E

No crash compliation would be complete without an entry from Josh Bender. Although Josh should be credited with pushing the limits of what was considered doable during freeride’s heyday, sadly he’s better known for regularly eating sh!t.

6. If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?

We can’t answer that famous philosophical question, but when a downhiller hits a tree in a forest it most definitely makes a big cracking noise.

7. Nose slide

Ever the pro, Chay Granby slides perfectly at the camera. On his face. Attaboy!

8. Buck wild

If you haven’t seen this before, welcome to the wonderful world of the internet. Brings new meaning to the phrase ‘getting bucked’. “Fenton! Fenton! Jesus Christ Fenton!”

9. Rock and roll

Wil E Coyote would be rubbing his paws at the crushing misfortune of this Californian downhiller.

10. Did no one tell him the course has changed?

At this year’s World Cup downhill opener in Pietermaritzburg, no one remembered to tell Brook Macdonald that one of the jumps had been shortened.