Movies For Your Monday - Brage Vestavik, Nino Schurter, Manon Carpenter, Hans Rey, & More
Brage Vestavik - Sandscape Eternal: Mountain biking in the desert of Northern Chile. This was a trip of a lifetime with my crew, Blur Media. It felt like we took it back to the basics, just getting in the truck and driving into the mountains looking for fresh lines to ride every day. It was really humbling being in such terrain - some of the best feelings I’ve had on my bike and I think that we're just getting started! To also spend time with the legend Nico Vink in this place was incredible.
Wingman - The Tobin & Keegan Story: Tobin Ortenblad and Keegan Swenson are two of our three htSQD riders (Alexis Skarda being the third). And while Keegan’s one of the most powerful long-distance riders in the world in his own right, racing is a team sport… and in team sports, relationships – nay, friendships – are paramount. Hear the stories, as told by Keegan and Tobin, about racing strategies, competition, psychological warfare, laughter, and camaraderie.
N1NO BEYOND - Episode 1 - Never Quit: We join Nino Schurter at the opening round of the 2024 World Cup in Brazil. And it’s wild. Heightened as an Olympic qualifying event, the energy, passion, and pressure is clear. In 2023, he achieved it all; breaking the record for World Cup wins – a record that will stand for generations. Heading into the 2024 season at 38 years old and as reigning overall champion, what’s next for the greatest racer of all time, and what will it take to stop him? Video: Cut Media.
Carson Storch & Jesse East - Cutting Class: Class is over on Friday afternoon at Western Colorado University, and student Jesse East is planning to spend his weekend playing in the backyard with a friend. But Jesse is not an ordinary college student, and this is no ordinary weekend. His "backyard" is the Gunnison Valley—two million acres of public lands and hundreds of miles of trails between Gunnison and Crested Butte, Colorado—and his friend is none other than legendary freeride mountain biker Carson Storch. Follow Jesse and Carson on a wild after-class mountain bike ride from the alpine peaks of Crested Butte to the desert rock formations of Hartman Rocks in Gunnison.
The All New Ransom: Enduro race machine, park rat, all-mountain adventure phenom - the all-new Ransom is here. Engineered for maximum downhill performance and an all-time confidence inspiring ride, the Ransom's killer geometry is paired with a supernatural suspension kinematic resulting in a bike that doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Watch the bike in action as Jess Stone, Brendan Fairclough, and Raoul Schneeberger ride it to the limit.
The Dream Trail: Local mountain biking legends outline their version of the ideal mountain biking trail, from rooty sections, to jumps, drops, and berms. This short film was presented locally at the Village of Cumberland's Stokefest Film festival, and highlights the dream trail features of local legends. In collaboration with gravitymtbvanisle and local professional enduro athlete Emmy Lan, I sat down with different generations of riders to capture their idea of a perfect trail while Emmy and Chad brought it to life. All of these incredible trails and the network are possible due to the countless hours put in by our trail builders at UROC (United Riders Of Cumberland) and our incredible volunteers.
Forgotten Timber Trails With Manon Carpenter In Nesbyen, Norway: Former world champion downhill racer Manon Carpenter travel to Nesbyen, Norway, to learn how modern technology unveils new bike paths - and to ride some of the classic trails that have put Nesbyen on the MTB map. She teams up with architect and mountain biking guide Will Gibson. He and other locals use super-detailed maps in search of long-forgotten trails in the hillsides surrounding town. Old logging paths prove to be tailor-made for modern trail biking.
Momentum Project Ep. 2 - World Cup Test Camp: The Momentum Project Test Camp two took place on Cypress mountain on Vancouver's North Shore mountains. The timing was ideal with early season loam and pristine trail conditions. The goal of this test camp was to further dial in the DH prototype bike for its upcoming debut World Cup Race at Fort William in Scotland. Under the guidance of We Are One bike designer Vlad and Momentum Project mechanic Darren, both Mark and Jon rode away from the test camp with race ready setups. Enjoy episode two of the Momentum Project as the team rides Cypress, visits SRAM, and grows as a team. Video: Aedan Skinner.
Hans Rey - Why I Roam: Hans Rey has been a huge advocate for both purpose-built trails and e-bikes, to him this is the next level of fun with boundless possibilities, and he feels strongly that developments have opened up the sport to far more people than ever before, of all ages and demographics. Hans heads over to Norway in search of some new trails that fit the bill.
Jack Feick - End Of The Beginning: On April 30th 2024, B-LINE bike park in Calgary, closed forever. I had the pleasure of spending some of the final moments making this video with Jack, who grew up riding B-LINE. This facility has created an amazing community of people and will be deeply missed by everyone. Thank you to Ryan Greenberg for everything you have done for us. Video: Andrew Young.
Anton: Anton Krupicka is an icon of mountain running in the USA. At 23-years-old he won Leadville 100 in Colorado and more recently has blazed a high altitude trail on extensive bikepacking tours. We wanted to know what drove Anton to chase these experiences. A need for self reliance and a desire for discovery have fuelled years of awe-inspiring achievements that have motivated runners, cyclists, and climbers around the world. In this film, Anton dives into the purpose behind his pursuits.
Spring Passed The Vibe Check: We sadly lost a core hub for our crew and the Calgary scene. But on the upside it's been the wettest spring in years so the trails are getting sickkkkk.
Road To Act Jam: A few months back Clint, Sam, Pat, Zac, and Jase headed down from Brisbane to Canberra for ACT Jam and spent a couple days hitting some fun parks along the way.
Jan Prokes - Try Harder: 24 year old Jan Prokes took us by surprise with this! Shot mostly at home in he Czech Republic, with some additional gems captured in Berlin, Barcelona, and Vienna, Jan throws down some incredible whip/manual lines amongst everything else, and certainly isn't scared of going big. Video: Kryštof Krechler.
Nine Days With Mark Suciu - NY To Maine: When Mark isn't deep in the process of crafting game-changing video parts, he's honing his skills between NYC and the low-key parks of the Northeast. Tag along to see how the best sharpen their blade.
Sean Parker's Signal Video Part: Filmed by Jack Morellini, Rowan White, Spencer Burdock, James James, Alex Kissinger, Eric Iwakura, and Alan Hannon.
Igor 'Vini' Nobre – Relics: Filmed by Pedro Raimundo, Miguel Caiado, Tiago Sarreira, Valter Sousa, Telmo Goncalves, Blai Costa, and Will Miles. Edited by Vini.
RetroModern—Part 3: Ice Cream: Follow BD athlete Sam Elias and Olympian, comp crusher, and powerhouse climber Colin Duffy as they rebolt and equip the iconic American Fork testpiece Ice Cream (5.14c). “There’s a caretaking that needs to happen now with old routes,” explains BD athlete Sam Elias. And that’s where this story begins. But what transpires in this four-part series by Sam and documentary filmmaker Mike Call goes deeper than the new bolts drilled into stone. Through the resurrection of classic, historic routes, a meaningful, impactful connection is made between old and new generations. This is RetroModern, a series breathing new life into the storied past and bright future of climbing.
Aikyam: Aikyam, ऐक्यम् - 'Oneness' in Sanskrit, is a fitting term for Vasu Sojitra’s ambition to understand himself and his family heritage in a deeper sense as he travels to ski in his home country of India for the first time. Gulmarg in India's northern Kashmiri Province is the nation's sole ski resort - where many skiers Indian and otherwise, come together in the plentiful snowfall this area receives in the Western Himalayas to pursue the fall line. Indian-American professional freeskier and Faction athlete Vasu Sojitra - one of the world's leading adaptive free-skiers - after discovering the beautiful and burgeoning community of locals who find solace and purpose in skiing, as he does, a world away from his home in Montana, sets his sights on continuing to grow his roots in the unique community of individuals who call Gulmarg their home mountain. Director: Max Lowe.
Keeping Pace - No One Runs An Ultramarathon Alone: Almost no one runs an ultramarathon alone. Pacers are the drumbeat of any runner’s team. They provide company for portions of the race and keep the motivation high, the legs moving and the calories flowing (in, hopefully not out). They can be the difference between dropping and finishing. But for Lisa Jhung, pacing is about much more than just helping her friends so they’ll return the favour. It’s given her a new outlook on the sport she loves. In “Keeping Pace,” she reflects on lessons learned and how helping friends reach their goals is more of a gift than she ever expected.
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Photo: Liam Morgan
Wingman - The Tobin & Keegan Story: Tobin Ortenblad and Keegan Swenson are two of our three htSQD riders (Alexis Skarda being the third). And while Keegan’s one of the most powerful long-distance riders in the world in his own right, racing is a team sport… and in team sports, relationships – nay, friendships – are paramount. Hear the stories, as told by Keegan and Tobin, about racing strategies, competition, psychological warfare, laughter, and camaraderie.
N1NO BEYOND - Episode 1 - Never Quit: We join Nino Schurter at the opening round of the 2024 World Cup in Brazil. And it’s wild. Heightened as an Olympic qualifying event, the energy, passion, and pressure is clear. In 2023, he achieved it all; breaking the record for World Cup wins – a record that will stand for generations. Heading into the 2024 season at 38 years old and as reigning overall champion, what’s next for the greatest racer of all time, and what will it take to stop him? Video: Cut Media.
Carson Storch & Jesse East - Cutting Class: Class is over on Friday afternoon at Western Colorado University, and student Jesse East is planning to spend his weekend playing in the backyard with a friend. But Jesse is not an ordinary college student, and this is no ordinary weekend. His "backyard" is the Gunnison Valley—two million acres of public lands and hundreds of miles of trails between Gunnison and Crested Butte, Colorado—and his friend is none other than legendary freeride mountain biker Carson Storch. Follow Jesse and Carson on a wild after-class mountain bike ride from the alpine peaks of Crested Butte to the desert rock formations of Hartman Rocks in Gunnison.
The All New Ransom: Enduro race machine, park rat, all-mountain adventure phenom - the all-new Ransom is here. Engineered for maximum downhill performance and an all-time confidence inspiring ride, the Ransom's killer geometry is paired with a supernatural suspension kinematic resulting in a bike that doesn't take 'no' for an answer. Watch the bike in action as Jess Stone, Brendan Fairclough, and Raoul Schneeberger ride it to the limit.
The Dream Trail: Local mountain biking legends outline their version of the ideal mountain biking trail, from rooty sections, to jumps, drops, and berms. This short film was presented locally at the Village of Cumberland's Stokefest Film festival, and highlights the dream trail features of local legends. In collaboration with gravitymtbvanisle and local professional enduro athlete Emmy Lan, I sat down with different generations of riders to capture their idea of a perfect trail while Emmy and Chad brought it to life. All of these incredible trails and the network are possible due to the countless hours put in by our trail builders at UROC (United Riders Of Cumberland) and our incredible volunteers.
Forgotten Timber Trails With Manon Carpenter In Nesbyen, Norway: Former world champion downhill racer Manon Carpenter travel to Nesbyen, Norway, to learn how modern technology unveils new bike paths - and to ride some of the classic trails that have put Nesbyen on the MTB map. She teams up with architect and mountain biking guide Will Gibson. He and other locals use super-detailed maps in search of long-forgotten trails in the hillsides surrounding town. Old logging paths prove to be tailor-made for modern trail biking.
Momentum Project Ep. 2 - World Cup Test Camp: The Momentum Project Test Camp two took place on Cypress mountain on Vancouver's North Shore mountains. The timing was ideal with early season loam and pristine trail conditions. The goal of this test camp was to further dial in the DH prototype bike for its upcoming debut World Cup Race at Fort William in Scotland. Under the guidance of We Are One bike designer Vlad and Momentum Project mechanic Darren, both Mark and Jon rode away from the test camp with race ready setups. Enjoy episode two of the Momentum Project as the team rides Cypress, visits SRAM, and grows as a team. Video: Aedan Skinner.
Hans Rey - Why I Roam: Hans Rey has been a huge advocate for both purpose-built trails and e-bikes, to him this is the next level of fun with boundless possibilities, and he feels strongly that developments have opened up the sport to far more people than ever before, of all ages and demographics. Hans heads over to Norway in search of some new trails that fit the bill.
Jack Feick - End Of The Beginning: On April 30th 2024, B-LINE bike park in Calgary, closed forever. I had the pleasure of spending some of the final moments making this video with Jack, who grew up riding B-LINE. This facility has created an amazing community of people and will be deeply missed by everyone. Thank you to Ryan Greenberg for everything you have done for us. Video: Andrew Young.
Anton: Anton Krupicka is an icon of mountain running in the USA. At 23-years-old he won Leadville 100 in Colorado and more recently has blazed a high altitude trail on extensive bikepacking tours. We wanted to know what drove Anton to chase these experiences. A need for self reliance and a desire for discovery have fuelled years of awe-inspiring achievements that have motivated runners, cyclists, and climbers around the world. In this film, Anton dives into the purpose behind his pursuits.
Spring Passed The Vibe Check: We sadly lost a core hub for our crew and the Calgary scene. But on the upside it's been the wettest spring in years so the trails are getting sickkkkk.
Road To Act Jam: A few months back Clint, Sam, Pat, Zac, and Jase headed down from Brisbane to Canberra for ACT Jam and spent a couple days hitting some fun parks along the way.
Jan Prokes - Try Harder: 24 year old Jan Prokes took us by surprise with this! Shot mostly at home in he Czech Republic, with some additional gems captured in Berlin, Barcelona, and Vienna, Jan throws down some incredible whip/manual lines amongst everything else, and certainly isn't scared of going big. Video: Kryštof Krechler.
Nine Days With Mark Suciu - NY To Maine: When Mark isn't deep in the process of crafting game-changing video parts, he's honing his skills between NYC and the low-key parks of the Northeast. Tag along to see how the best sharpen their blade.
Sean Parker's Signal Video Part: Filmed by Jack Morellini, Rowan White, Spencer Burdock, James James, Alex Kissinger, Eric Iwakura, and Alan Hannon.
Igor 'Vini' Nobre – Relics: Filmed by Pedro Raimundo, Miguel Caiado, Tiago Sarreira, Valter Sousa, Telmo Goncalves, Blai Costa, and Will Miles. Edited by Vini.
RetroModern—Part 3: Ice Cream: Follow BD athlete Sam Elias and Olympian, comp crusher, and powerhouse climber Colin Duffy as they rebolt and equip the iconic American Fork testpiece Ice Cream (5.14c). “There’s a caretaking that needs to happen now with old routes,” explains BD athlete Sam Elias. And that’s where this story begins. But what transpires in this four-part series by Sam and documentary filmmaker Mike Call goes deeper than the new bolts drilled into stone. Through the resurrection of classic, historic routes, a meaningful, impactful connection is made between old and new generations. This is RetroModern, a series breathing new life into the storied past and bright future of climbing.
Aikyam: Aikyam, ऐक्यम् - 'Oneness' in Sanskrit, is a fitting term for Vasu Sojitra’s ambition to understand himself and his family heritage in a deeper sense as he travels to ski in his home country of India for the first time. Gulmarg in India's northern Kashmiri Province is the nation's sole ski resort - where many skiers Indian and otherwise, come together in the plentiful snowfall this area receives in the Western Himalayas to pursue the fall line. Indian-American professional freeskier and Faction athlete Vasu Sojitra - one of the world's leading adaptive free-skiers - after discovering the beautiful and burgeoning community of locals who find solace and purpose in skiing, as he does, a world away from his home in Montana, sets his sights on continuing to grow his roots in the unique community of individuals who call Gulmarg their home mountain. Director: Max Lowe.
Keeping Pace - No One Runs An Ultramarathon Alone: Almost no one runs an ultramarathon alone. Pacers are the drumbeat of any runner’s team. They provide company for portions of the race and keep the motivation high, the legs moving and the calories flowing (in, hopefully not out). They can be the difference between dropping and finishing. But for Lisa Jhung, pacing is about much more than just helping her friends so they’ll return the favour. It’s given her a new outlook on the sport she loves. In “Keeping Pace,” she reflects on lessons learned and how helping friends reach their goals is more of a gift than she ever expected.
Photo: Liam Morgan
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I actually *like* Krupicka, but that vid is fluff (rapha usually does good fluff but this is meh fluff.) when you see it in the same column as brage’s piece it’s like holy shit, Brage says so much without saying a word. Unreal artistic vision, relentlessly punishing lines, a beautiful mashup of the violence of nature and the spirit of man and machine. And then Anton is like “yeah sometimes I get emp because it’s hard to ride my bike all day.”
Marketing has pushed us to theorize bike riding, abstracting the pure act of shred or even just cruise into these contrived situations of “underbiking” or “ultra endurance” that really don’t mean anything beyond the numbers ascribed, the arbitrary distinctions between bike categories, or race results/comparison to other riders. My goal as a rider is to separate myself from the contrived situations that the market pressures me into and to instead seek out the pure singular experience of “riding a bike” in whatever way that feels best for me, apart from comparison, apart from objectives or categories.
This is a microcosm of the modern experience, and Anton actually speaks to this a bit in his video. I think though that the key is detaching from contest/comparison, and therein lies so much of the contrived parts of existence. Only when we stop comparing ourselves, stop competing with others, can we truly love ourselves and start to truly love others/cooperate with others.
This is where I feel Rapha fails at their onset, being focused on competitive athletes while projecting meaningful content. This is where Brage displays a beautiful and personal portrait of a man’s relationship to an unwelcoming natural world, a man’s relationship to the machine, the tools that help him transcend into some sort of connection with that harsh world.
I believe that Anton is on his way there but he has much to let go of on his journey…