Special permit to ride down the extremely scenic and steep mule trail Gemmi pass, built in 1742 above the village of Leukerbad. Shot at sunrise from a helicopter, to justify the performance. 900 meters vertical in less than 3 kms, no feet on the ground.
Selected by Matt Wragg - People complain when we feature small riders on big background for POD, and I'm sure some of you will miss the point of this photo. One of the marks of a great shot is that it provokes a reaction from the viewer. For me, this shot made the knot in my stomach I get from vertigo clench up tight. No other mountain bike photo I've seen this year has elicited that kind of visceral reaction from me...
Thanks man. The corners are quite steep. Some of them require that you lean the bike out towards the cliff while turning the handlebars in towards the corner, to the point where it feels like you are oversteering. Then when you let go, and the bike straightens out. A little scary to begin with, but becomes quite natural after a while.
Not normally the biggest fan of landscape shot with riders hidden somewhere but this is where it all makes sense. Ridiculous trail and epic positioning to truly capture the scale of it. Love it.
Nice shot of beautiful foreign lands previously unknown. But, riding down an enormous staircase doesn't seem much fun to me. However, hiking the Gemmi via Ferrata seems like a very fun thing to do with the girlfriend.