Yes, he climbed a tree with his bike, and then jumped off and managed to mount it perfectly without leaning too far forward or backward, while keeping enough speed to make it to the landing.
Yup, that's how he did it.
There's a wooden platform up on the left there, with two levels to drop off. I took some photos there during a comp this summer, the runout is the crazy part!
Great photo. Got POD with a picture of the same drop a few years back. Props to the rider, what you can't see in the photo is the step up onto the top, then its only a short run before the drop.
Is he going to land on the dirt mound or is he going for that rock landing? The dust trail makes it look like he is going for the dirt but the picture angle looks like the rock landing...
Wouldn't that be awesome if that was a step up and he was shot in the picture in mid 360 heading up to the cliff? Imagine what size the hill would be to launch him that far and upward?!
'cos your ipod is the best way to look at photos? Sittin' looking at it on a 40" Sony HD LCD and it looks shit hot to me. Most photos are 'shopped in one way or another, just to correct exposure, contrast, levels... Who gives a f*ck?! It's an epic pic, and props to the rider. Now go listen to Britney on your iPod, young un.