A little bike video from some summer roadtrips…
Utah is full of amazing places, there is a place in the south that is called Virgin, or Zion, and we call it paradise. Red dirt spines drip down from mesas in all directions. Huge rock formations create walls and pillars of stone that are breathtakingly dramatic. Etched into the landscape are nearly unrecognizable trails that lead down cliff band after cliff band as if mountain goats created them. The mountain goats that created these trails are bikers, with a warped sense of whats possible.
Virgin Utah is the Alaska of mt bike spine riding…
Shuttle rig loaded up…
Dustin Schaad and I shuttling up …
freeriding aint free…
Dustin Schaad sending it off a sweet hip
This one is me hitting the hip, fun fun fun…
camping good times…
Summer fun in Oregon means going mt biking in the woods. This is one of the funnest spots ive ever biked, this day was good…
Alaska is a mecca of big mountain riding, skiers and snowboarders, film crews, guides, ski bums, and wealthy clients migrate to Alaska looking for adventure. The combination of amazing terrain, and good snow make it a crown jewel, snow sticks to the steeps and forms into amazing creations, cornices, pillows, spines, bergshrunds, and flanks. The mountains are rivers, the snowpack sits on top of flowing glacier that can move up to 2 meters per day, things change rapidly in Alaska.
This draw toward adventure has changed the game in some places. Less about exploring, on a nice sunny day its like a ski area, 10 groups of clients, 5 film crews, hungry riders…. terrain gets eaten up, it becomes a race. Not a good combination for following safety protocols. Countless client runs, and film lines have been done over and over on runs like Tomahawk, or, Super Bowl. The area is mapped out and the new strategy is to be one step ahead of everyone else.
This year we decided to focus back on the adventure, and take a gamble exploring a completely new zone. Our search brought us to Petersburg, a small fishing village on a Island in South East Alaska. It is a big risk to leave behind the easy pickings of a well known established zone, chasing the hope that there is something more out there. The Crew at TGR worked extensively to arrange all the logistics that would be necessary to pull off a mission like this, riders, cinematographers, photographers, guides, and pilots, committed to the plan and saw it through with hardships, adventure, highlights, and powder.
Photo By Adam Clark
Ian MacIntosh pow turn
Seht Morrison
Photo Seth Morrison
Photo Adam Clark
Exploring a new zone has been an amazing experience, the mountains here are the gnarliest we have skied and explored, massive glaciers surround rocky peaks, ice is everywhere, from huge alpine glaciers that cling to peaks, to massive crevasse strung ice fields that are maze like. the terrain is big, runs that look small are huge, ski lines are the steepest I’ve encountered, and the challenges of each run involve cornice navigation, slough management, speed mitigation, changing snow conditions, xxl bergschrunds, with multiple stages.
the landscape is out of this world, alien, and prehistoric.
A yetti leaving his ice lair…
the heli parked on a castle
Filming the flight into the Devils Thumb
massive Ice maze on Mt Burkett
Packing for a five week mission to the moonscape of Petersburg Alaska is a interesting task. It starts several weeks in advance in the form of Primary, secondary, and tertiary piles of equipment, gear, and comfort items. Books, magazines, computer, water colors, music, pens and pads, movies, and spare parts make up the entertainment and sanity pile. Avy gear, harness, radio, survival gear, helmet cams, batteries, cameras, protective pads, gloves, monoscope, Ripxx, and tools are part of the equipment list. Skis, backpack, boots and outerwear make up the standard gear list. All this packed into a ski bag, a duffel, and a backpack with a total weight of nearly 150 lbs. And really I am traveling light, most of the things in the tertiary pile got left behind or canceled out by a lighter counter part. Non the less we are here, and all ready most everything has come into play.
