Video: Built to Shoot in Darrington, Washington

I grew up in the small town of Darrington, WA where no bike trails existed. I had to travel out of town to riding areas but always saw the potential in the woods right out my back door. With such beautiful forest all around, I had always dreamt of shooting a video in my home town. Four years ago I found the perfect section of woods. I stumbled across this area while hiking and knew I had to build in that zone. The pitch was steep enough to be fast, but mellow enough to be playful, the mature second growth timber had blocked out most underbrush from growing other than the ferns, and the hillside shimmered with perfect light in the evening. I began working on the trail, but moved away shortly after to start college.


Four years later, Cameron Hotchkiss and I were brain-storming on where to begin shooting our next video project. We had decided to start a series where we seek out unusually beautiful and unique areas to document the building and riding of the trail. Darrington was the perfect spot for the first episode.


Over the last few months Cameron and I traveled over the Cascade Mountains as many times as we could to get the trail built and ready for spring. With the ferns at shoulder height and a blanket of lush green moss covering everything under the canopy, it was go time. We shot for three days straight and used only our favorite shots. It was an incredible feeling as we packed up all the tools and camera gear and headed out after finishing the shoot. I had been envisioning this project for a long time and I couldn't be happier with the video Cameron created. We have two more episodes of Built to Shoot lined up for this year, so be on the lookout here at Pinkbike!


Enjoy!

An extra thank you goes out to Carly Sorensen, Derek Klopp, Bryan Carroll, and my parents Gary and Julie for helping make this video possible!

Presented by: @TransitionBikeCompany / @ridegravity / Northwest Riders Clothing

Words: Skye Schillhammer / @schilly
Video: Cameron Hotchkiss / @DHcamcam
Photos: Carly Sorensen