Video: Dylan Sheffer - Freeride Lives

 yeeeeeeee

 i just read iron maiden and it became a must watch!!!!

 This ^

Maiden rules!

 been listening to maiden all day because of this video!

 the composure, the style, the feeling I got ... the trooper is an amazing song!

 Fuk that was solid!!

 Iron Maiden just made my day complete after watching this.

 I don't know about you... but how bout that trail!

 Spitfire PINKBIKE!!!!!!!!

 imagine casing that..........

 Agreed dean! That looks like a blast to ride!

 Its actually Dylans trail, built by himself, and talking about the drop at the end he has has more trouble with bottoming out than with casing.

 Straight to riding awsome

 that trail was haggard as fuck! epic vid for sure

 Agreed...that trail looks perfect!

 One of the best trails that I've seen in a while

 what you didn't want to watch him eating cereal in slow motion?

 or getting his back out of his room or garage, or standing next to his big truck, or putting on his helmet really slow???

 Yeah I loved that they were just like "let's get into this shit!"

And no electropop.

 that was straight up sick!!

 I don't get it...did he just wake up with those goggles on? When did he put the goggles on? Without the putting-the-goggles-on shot, as a viewer, I'm totally lost.

 and how did he get the bike there??? did he drive it up in his old pickup truck as the morning sun lit up the dirt roads or was it just in his dingy mountain shack where he works on it by the light of a kerosene lamp? There's so much missing, I just don't know if this video is believable.

 BWAAAAHAAAAHAAAAA! @ vangcommenter.

 Best quote ever

 Hahaha, dirtbagluvin! There should be a COD. You sir, would have won the day for sure!! Pinkbike Mods? Could we do this??

 it will have all those soon with our rain...

 How can people think that freeriding is dead with awesome videos of trails like these! Straight up gnar!!!!!

 I may never get to ride with Tippie, but at least I can prop his comment. Props to you guys too Dylan and Scott. Rad rowdy shit

 Totally agree. Such a raw, "real" video unlike the tons of nothing videos out there that have nothing to really grab you or stand out. I miss the North Shore days of MTB riding sketchy lines deep in the woods

 \m/

 Alot of people bash the pre built rampage features because the spirit of the event has been about the riders getting creative with the natural terrain. And if a large portion of your run relies on linking together pre made features your creativity is lost. Its really a completely different scenario. Also thank you to everyone for the comments.

 Thanks for the reply Dylan. Could I ask you what you felt the "spirit of the" trail was / is that you have made? I think there may be a fair few people here who would be genuinely interested to hear how you and the crew went about deciding what to build, what natural features to use and if anything, what you chose not to build and in what "spirit". If Rampage is "getting creative with the natural terrain", what was your watchword or aim?

 The goal was to create something that stood out from the "norm" in trail building but was also super fun to ride. Growing up watching the NWD series and seeing the workmanship of Riley Mcintosh and many others was a huge inspiration. before we set out to build we had ideas in mind on what we wanted, its just a matter of where they fit in with the elevations and of course working around the trees. The forest is super dense which made for some pretty tight twisty lines through the trees connected with fast single track. I feel as though building wood features has become a lost art is not nearly as common as it used to be in mtb. This trail is a culmination of the things that originally got me stoked to ride.

 dsheffer - I see your point, and the point of other people complaining about "wooden features", makes sense - BUT, what gets everyone stoked on latest Rampage, what brings all memories, what makes best photo shots? - It is those insane tricks made not on natural features but on wooden features. It is as simple as that. Isn't the terrain still way larger than the game. There are like 50 people on all the planet, who can live up to what they are talking about, when they say: Rampage lost it's spirit, MTB isn't about berms and tabletops, but off-camber corners on roots. And how many of those bad asses are frequently "on the internet"? 0.0275?

Great point orientdave - how more natural can it get when you spend weeks in the woods building features from stuff you find around?

 Thanks Dylan, it's great to hear what the people behind some of the great trails we see here had in mind when they build.. thanks. It adds to the enjoyment of the vid!

 wood stones and dirt.... what else

 Guys. Is this Rampage? Do you have a billion+1 different lines? No. He built one line through a forest, and added a couple wooden parts. Is that wrong? No. Dylan just built an amazing trail and rode it like a boss, who cares about the wood, it spices up the trail & video. And seriously, do NOT compare this to Rampage. Its not the same.

 Another thing I would point out is that the wood stuff in the north shore originally evolved (as I understand it) in order to link together sections of trail that you wouldn't otherwise be able to ride, due to the heavy undergrowth and duff. In Rampage, it's used exclusively for making things bigger. That, and I think part of the surge of opinion against the wood stuff this year is partly due to lots of people feeling like things have gotten too big and dangerous there, and mostly because of the sender. If they hadn't built that new top sender line, there would have been far less drama, I think.

 Yeah folks questioning the spirit of this are not familiar with the early North Shore riding and trails. I think these are great, so glad this type of riding is still happening. Great vid.

 Exactly. Thank you groghunter.

 Hi, Dirt Jump Diamond, welcome to the conversation. Calm down everyone, it's ok, no-one is saying anything is wrong Sir. I am certainly not questioning the spirit of it, I am asking people who may dislike the features at Rampage what they think of the trail so lovingly made by Dylan et al.

I take issue with your logic though: think about it, a forest. A Forest. A FOREST!!!! I mean really, if there not a, billion +1 as you put it, lines through a forest when you walk into it, where will there be??!!!! Dylan's line was billions of potential lines at first, just a forest with no lines in, same as Rampage was a mountain with no lines on at first. Surely that puts them both in the same basket at least. As Groghunter says though, maybe you really couldn't ride the shore without the features anyway.....

Being even more serious ,there is a point I am making and asking people to open their own minds to. That being when is natural natural, when does it stop being so, and does it matter in the first place? I think not myself, but it makes others take umbrage.

We have had people here on PB suggesting that if people build lips and booters, even out of local materials, it is not a true natural feature "front flip" or whatever, others getting angry at the senders and features at Rampage etc etc, yet, for a vid like Dylans, which has a HUGE number of structures and features added to the line, no-one raises an eyelid. Doesn't that make you think??? It does me, which is why I would like to hear why you think Rampage is so different and should not be compared.... (eagerly waits response)...

 I was pretty calm. but I was just speaking out of my opinion.i don't have any opinion on the wooden features at Rampage either so maybe its just me.
when I meant billion+1 I was speaking in the fact of there are way more opportunity's for awesome lines and great video worthy lines. the forrest there are no where near that many lines.

 I see. Maybe it's because of where we are used to riding. Round here in central Japan, the forests in the mountains (forested in 90% of cases), are where you have to build / ride, there really is nowhere else, and much like parts of BC I saw when I was there, you have to have features to be able to get out of some places! "Pure" natural freeride in this country is very, very difficult to find.

 Orient dave, you are not getting it. I see where you are coming from but this is not about the features, to build or not to build. The issue people have with Rampage features has to do with the fact that the "spirit" of the contest itself in the past had been natural terrain. This is not the same as building wooden features in the woods - which was originally done to make impassable sections of forest passable. That developed into a style. It's apples and oranges.

 groghunter nailed it as far as wooden features go on the shore. as far as wooden features at rampage, i can see it from both perspectives. yes, it was intended to maximize use of gnarly terrain and it has strayed from that original goal, but as far as i'm concerned, having calculated wooden features are (don't hate me for this) almost a necessity in a contest where the limits get pushed further every year, purely from a safety standpoint. other than the booters on the rampage course i don't think the wooden stuff makes it all that much bigger. however, if that sender wasn't there, those guys would be looking to do similar sized stunts on natural terrain (case and point - tyler mccaul) because the limits keep getting pushed. i think if they're going just as big anyways it's better to build something more predictable.

 Sorry Darkstar, I beg to differ, I get it. I am interested to hear why some people think it is different, not questioning the validity (or not) of any difference. People talk about Rampage and for example, BC in terms of a dichotomy here. Someone said here "do NOT (caps) compare the two"... suggesting a dichotomy if ever there was a phrase to suggest such.

But why not let's compare the two, Yes, we all know they are different but can we actually express that coherently? I was hoping to get people to think about expressing it coherently, however, it has been a bit of an effort!!

 I agree with darkstar. The main differences I can see between this and rampage:

- The idea of rampage *as a contest* is to ride gnarly natural terrain. I don't necessarily have a problem with people BUILDING stuff, I just don't want it to be a slopestyle or biggest trick comp. When rampage becomes all about the tricks it loses it's uniqueness. There's nothing wrong with slopestyle or manmade features, it's just not what we want Rampage to be about.

- Rampage's big features aren't built using local materials. There are no trees around that zone, so all the lumber is brought in, and they had to use huge dozers to clear out the landings and get the logs up there. Chopping up existing deadfall to make transitions and features by hand seems totally different in this regard.

- Some of the concerns with Rampage (as we discussed in the other thread) are safety related as well. Like someone said, if they didn't build the new piece on the sender people wouldn't have been so upset.

 Thanks bkm303. That is what I was hoping for; getting people to think about what the differences are, after all, if you do not compare things, you will never see the difference. This vid made me think about why we question building more in one situation than another (myself included!), and I wanted to hear how people would express the difference.

 Big mountain freeriding vs. old school North Shore freeriding. (not that this clip is old school North Shore, but that's what ultimately led to this)

 We're those chest shots shot with a go pro or a smaller dslr? Video is a perfect mix of everything.

 its a geographical question, mann! rampage, old school style, was sculpted outta the ground ... riding in the woods looked to accentuate lines on the ground using the surrounding resources (trees / wood) to further make such lines more dynamic and buck wild (while also navigating certain un-tillable ground) ... uniquely with rampage i guess is the meld of the 'big mt' style with 'classic' wooden features, ability to go bigger and harder , and the slopestyle element ... safety though is an issue on all levels to some extent, just with the size and stunts at rampage, salty wound

 This might just be the most well spoken and polite debate ever seen on Pinkbike...

 Yup it may be, but i completely disagree with OrientDave. I guess you have to live here to get it.

 woah

 That's all really interesting stuff to hear people. To let you into a little secret, I started doing a PhD Thesis into the concept of "Bioregionalism and Sense of Place" in the early 90s and it is an area of society that I find really enthralling (yes, maybe it is only me!). What I had hoped to see was whether people from different areas developed a different sense of what "interpreting the land" and "getting creative" with the land meant to them, so yes, Dirt Jump DIamond, I am very glad to hear that you think you have to live there to "get it"... because in a way, that I have always suspected to be true. I have a really mixed up idea of "place" now since I have spent equal amounts of my life in the UK and Japan. So thanks for all the input people, it has been interesting.

 @orientdave submit an article/discussion piece! I would discuss the shit out of that. Seems like it would be a very interesting topic.

 orientdave - so can we say that wooden features scare the Genius Loci out of Utah? Problem is as I wrote above, people love to see tricks done on latest Rampage, yet they say it should be all made natural. They cannot exist without each other, can't have such massive tricks without wooden features. Or they might think that such manic tricks should be made elsewhere, on a different ground more suitable? But that ground made it possible. Wh not North Shore? - because it is hard to film such a great event in the woods. You get more exposure on the desert. What's been seen cannot be unseen, nobody will want to watch smaller jumps now, and natural features mean smaller jumps, mean less "progression". It is all interconnected. Let it flow!

 I have to disagree with size=progression. I think flow and skill are more exciting to watch. Although watching guys go huge is cool, I think we are reaching a limit here. Especially in light of the fact that I don't want to see anybody die.

 But hasn't it always been the case? How big and how fast can you go without killing yourself? I agree there is something in natural trails but then someone better find a new place for an evenrt... Rockstar Spirit of Rampage?

 Well this is a seperate discussion from the wood vs. no wood. I personally like the idea of an event that involves creatively riding down a mountain face with no built stunts. I have nothing against stunts, I love to ride them, I love to build them... I just think it's cool there is an event that focus is natuaral terrain. The how big is too big question? That's a personal choice, and these guys make that choice and I respect that. But this stuff is getting so huge, that Im more worried about these dudes than thinking "wow this is progression". I like speed and style, Im the kind of guy who would rather watch nice table tops than backflips, and perfectly cleaning a jump or drop as opposed to surviving a fall, no matter how big or small.

 I switched to p*** because its easier to explain to people

 Haha, dubstep now has "mainstream" and I guess then also an "underground" sub-genre. Rock n roll will never die!!!

 there was still a bit of slo-mo, but it was way better than usual

 I'd say if you've been riding around BC seriously for more than a few years you can probably hit that drop. For me, it comes down to being able to follow somebody in on my first go. When things get that big, it's not worth the risk to go guinea pig it myself. I'm aware that it's kind of pussy, but I draw my confidence from knowing my speed is right. If I'm going fast enough, something would have to go seriously wrong for me to fall. That's why when guys build trails this size, and ride it themselves first, it's badass!!!

 It would just be dumb not to calculate your speed. Being safe doesn't make you a pussy.

 depends what type of bc riding you're used to, I'm from bc and steep shit is fine for me same with skinnies and crap (although I still hate skinnies) but I'm terrible at hits, the whistler kids on the other hand can probably overshoot crabapple hits with their eyes closed, but don't think of just the hits, we really do have some steeeeeeeep stuff in bc

 Oh yea. I think the steep stuff in BC is by far the most fun. Riding down a slick rock face or gnarly root section gets the heart going like few other activities!!!

 f*ckin' rights. 'jesus is lord , but [gnarly steeps] is king'.

but on the hand, that drop is a big ass hit ... and context is - king - not sure about just a 'fraction' of top guys ... but would think it'd fer sure be above the average ... then again if you have a whole community of hardcore riders ... the level of skill / playing field , as in BC , no doubt will be iron maiden sending awesomeness?

 I don't know, though. It was a sick edit, but where was the nudity? Only jumping spans of nekit bitches could have made it better.

 Finally you fucker

 Wow, almost 7 years and no replies. I am super curious what this line looks like today. Is it a popular mainstay?

 It is MOST likely the Hero 3, probably not the plus. It's a fantastic camera and with the right lighting it looks very professional.

 I don't think it's a Hero 3...I've got the Hero 3 and it looks no where near that kind of quality...even with editing. Wonder if they strapped a DLSR to this chest.

 To get good video you need good lighting. You could get this but you need the lighting.

 Yeah I have been wondering my self about the whole dslr thing for awhile, but I just don't see it happening, I know there is several other sport cams out there beside the contour or the gopro. I'm also Doubting it being the hero 3, but then again I have been wrong before??

 Hey guys, I actually used my Canon 7D with a Rokinon 8mm fisheye for all the POV footage. The setup is a little tricky to ride with but Dylan kills it on his trail. Hope that helps.

 you.. mounted.. a dslr to his chest...?!
WOW.


PROPS.

 oh my gosh! That's awesome! Hey any tips on how to go about doing this??

 I agree although i've not seen a bike edit with what i'd call proper dubstep. Its all just the watered down popstep stuff that went mainstream and has already pretty much died out

 I can tell you that's a boxer wc.

 Demo with WC Boxers and Fox Air. Not really sure on the rest.

 I had no probs on my standard samsung net browser. your missing out

 Hell ya. How spoiled do you have to be to put a chain lock on a mountain bike trail. I guess some people are just really fortunate to be able to do that. Otherwise people would be making video's on this trail way better than his.