Video: Carving Turns & Sending Big Lines on an Artificial Ash Hill

Feb 13, 2021
by marts  
Views: 4,269    Faves: 15    Comments: 2



SECONDS.

When you live in a small country with no mountains, finding seconds of pure riding is a matter of endless struggle, motivation and stupidity.

Here is a slice of summer on an industrial ash dump, used during the soviet times, now sitting abandoned.

Hiking is difficult on this terrain, feet sinking into the ground, the bone dry dust keeps filling your shoes and staining everything else it comes into contact with. Once you get up the pale gray hill, it feels higher and steeper, you start noticing rusty metal scraps protruding from the ground, waiting to turn simple mistakes into tragedies. The fast straight line down is so calling, on the other hand, the last 20 minutes of pushing should amount to more than 5 seconds of riding. The compromise of a few carves feels better.

Turns out the upper third of the massive pile is concrete hard and slippery, the bike rolls fast on the steep slope. Suddenly the front wheel sinks into the ground and it feels paralleled to riding powder on a snowboard or skis - the ride is soft and smooth. Few quick slashes, and even before adrenaline has time to really kick in, you have made it back to flat ground. Time to start hiking again.

Steep freeride lines on an artificial ash hill.


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43 Comments
  • 19 0
 Industrial ash? If that's his only hill, somebody needs to send that bloke a box of FFP2 masks to wear under his full-face...
  • 4 0
 Too late for that Big Grin
  • 3 0
 I was thinking that myself. I never wore a mask while doing wood work or attic work when I was in my 20's and 30's. I would look at people who did with curiosity. Now my lungs are jacked and I see everything differently. Stuff like this jumps out at me. Now I wear a mask.
  • 2 0
 @mexicant: No mountains? No problem! We have an artificial mountain of industrial ash. Totally non-toxic.
  • 9 0
 That was a good little film!!!!!!!!!
I feel sad that that’s the only hill around you though. While us lucky ones have endless mountains in all directions. You look like a ripper too. Should start planning a move to BC!!!
  • 5 0
 BC is always been a dream
  • 4 0
 when somebody gives you lemons ,,,, That looks like an insane amount of fun . when there's no hills around you go for what's available . when i was a kid in marin county california in the fifties , we would get big cardboard boxes from the nearby construction site , hike up to the top of those steep hills , flatten the box and bend the front end up like a toboggan and slide down the waxy grass at speeds that sometimes make us airborne. Super scary and super fun .
  • 3 0
 Proper good filming and riding! The struggle is real... Even though we have nice hills around here, most hillsides can only accommodate for 15 second lines.. I wonder if this is what the 52t eagle drivetrains (gods forbid ebikes) were really made for?
  • 4 0
 This video hits on one of those things that makes the people in the Mtb community so interesting...we will suffer mightily in exchange for a few moments(or minutes) of doing what we love. Cool video!
  • 4 0
 Just coat your chain in "AbsoluteGrey" (optimized for dry conditions and going axle deep in post-Soviet industrial waste) lubewax and you're good to go. . . .
  • 5 0
 Find your flow ... anywhere
  • 2 0
 Really cool video, (luckily) quite a unique spot! Would be great to see a few more panoramic shots showing the contrast between this artificial hill and the completely flat surroundings Smile
  • 3 0
 Who is the rider? Which ex soviet country is this?
More details please. I do like the story though
  • 22 6
 His name is Harry Tenderson. After spending most his life in one of the flattest countries on Earth, Gambia, Harry went crazy. He purchased an industrial furnace just outside of town and spent the next 25 years robbing local graves and paying off families for the bodies of their deceased loved ones.

Piling the ashes of the dead, Tenderson's dreams slowly became a reality. After years of hard work, perseverance and a lucky boost of material thanks to COVID-19, Harry finally completed his own mountain to endlessly ride with a smile on his face and ash between his laces.

See? Dreams do come true with enough hard work and perseverance!

#livelaughlove #recyclegrey #freerideisnotdead
  • 7 0
 That's Estonia
  • 9 0
 This is in Püssi, Estonia; The riders instagram: www.instagram.com/tannnn_t; I did not partake in the making of this, sick video either way...
  • 3 0
 @siur7: Cheers mate
  • 12 0
 @siur7: pussi ? what a lovely name for a city hahahaha
  • 9 1
 @captainsander: ü =/= u ???? Püssi means "gun's". We also have a town called Kill.
  • 4 0
 Hey Pinkbike, what about a Video of the year contest?
  • 4 0
 Perfect!!!
Cheers Mart & Tanel Wink

This spot is so epic!!!
  • 3 0
 Making the best of what you got, class edit
  • 3 0
 Nice little flim
  • 2 0
 Neat vid. I like the color of the rims. Shreds.
  • 2 0
 That looks like a lot of fun!!!
  • 3 0
 I want an ash hill now!
  • 2 0
 Isn't there a bunch in California?
  • 6 0
 @onemind123: nah just a bunch of ash holes
  • 2 0
 A good reminder that our limits are only in our heads.
  • 2 0
 Awesome Vid! They will survive the ash......
  • 2 1
 How do you make artificial ash?
  • 14 0
 That’s what you get after burning oil shale to produce electricity.

My grandfather started experimenting in the 70s with this type of ash hills, to bring them to life, by planting bushes and trees on these hills in the northeastern part of Estonia. By the year 2005, approximately over 70 hectares of these ash hill slopes were planted and landscaped, but a few of them remain as they were, like the one in the video.
  • 2 1
 Probably from either a former coal fire plant or a incinerator that burns biomass or trash for power production.
  • 3 4
 @Tulejumal: you missed the point. So the hill is made of ash not artificial ash
  • 3 1
 @DaveGFC: I think you are missing the point. Someone finally explained how the hell you get a pile of ash that large.
  • 2 0
 Seriously awesome.
  • 2 0
 Epic!!! ????????
  • 2 1
 Bonehead! Estonia is NOT an ex-soviet country!
  • 3 0
 Depends who you ask. Russia would say that it was, most of the rest of the world would (mostly) disagree however would agree that it was a de-facto member of the USSR as a result of Russian invasion. They were generally considered part of the USSR from 1940 until ~1988 (then end date is a little fuzzy due to a transition period)...kind of like the USA saying we were independent in 1776 when we didn't have a constitution until 1787...
  • 1 0
 I have a few KN95 masks if needed...
  • 1 0
 Toxic waste... ????
  • 2 0
 Nooooo, just a few drops of ammonia here and there, no biggie)







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