Shoot the Tails: GL6 POV awards 2012

One thing that the Capitol Forest XC riding community really excels at is video footage of their rides.  Whereas places like Bellingham have a video competition for the local riding edits, Oly doesn't have an outlet for fine videographic material. Until now.  Introducing the Shoot the Tails awards, an objective review of the finest point-of-view Green Line 6 footage.  A brief search of the youtoobz produced 17 outstanding candidates for the competition.  From butt footage to floating images, each video has its own merits and rewarding qualities that were judged according to a meticulous 56-point judging process.  After this year's judging scandal at the Redballs Ramp-age, as documented by hundreds of brutally indicative Pinkbike users, we (I) went to extreme measures to avoid bias in our (my) judging.  Now that videos have each been meticulously skimmed and graded, the ballots are in.  We'll get to the winner in a moment, but here are some honorable mentions:

MOST DEDICATED AWARD

This year's most dedicated award goes to youtube user bikemountaininfo.  In the description of their edit, they claim to have ridden GL6 in 45 minutes.  45 minutes!  Who has the attention span to keep from crashing while riding for 45 minutes downhill? Watching the video, I realized that  bikemountaininfo was simply trying to eke the most fun out of the trail. Stalling in a corner?  No worries, the fun just lasted a whole two minutes longer!

BEST SOUNDTRACK

Are you tired of hearing dull, boring metal in mountain bike edits?  Youtube user Huntlick has the answer, and wins this year's best soundtrack award.  Luckily, the unedited helmet cam footage was longer than just one song.  Huntlick supplies not one, but two shredworthy grunge/dirty south/dormroom electronica tracks for your auditory pleasure.

MOST 'NATURAL' EDITING AWARD

With a sparse, 3:47 minute entry, user CyclistsConnection wins the most 'natural' editing category. No music, no words, no clips; just one long, unbroken scene from memorable clipless pedal entry to classic fumbling-for-the-button finish.  The judges were especially stoked on the sound of chainslap and loose gopro mount throughout the piece.

AND NOW, OUR WINNER

Too cool for words.  I mean, this guy never crashes, but all of the sudden he does...and catches it on camera!  Thanks to the slow-motion replay, it is possible to analyze every aspect of crash.  From vertical to horizontal, youtube user PixelBanger takes the win.  With such a pro username, how couldn't he?  To the rest of the competition, in his own words: "hurry up you slow ass."

To everyone who made it this far, thank you for being a part of the 2012 shoot the tails awards.  To all those who were in the running, happy filming!  I hope your desk job pays well.

Unfortunately, watching POV videos really sucks.  I sincerely hope that no-one actually spends as much time as I did today watching videos of the same trail over and over again.  And I was just skimming.  Call me concussed, but everything I just wrote is out of spite for the outdoor industry that doesn't just stop at trying to sell us a bunch of crap marketed as an "experience," but gives us the opportunity to buy even more crap in order to review that same experience over and over again.  Are our lives so non-stimulating that we need to showcase every small moment of excitement as evidence of  living an enriched life?

I'd like to offer an alternative:  Live the dream.  Ride for life.  Never pay full price for gear.  And most of all, get stoked not dead.