Shoot The Trails 2014

Shoot the Trails, in its fourth year as Bellingham's premier (and only) annual mountain bike photo and video contest, went off last Saturday. A huge crowd of people showed up to the party, with a line stretching out the door for a solid hour and a half before everyone got in and the presentation could start.  Luckily for those who got in early, there was beer to drink, photos to vote on, and some incredible raffle prizes to check out.  I was excited to be at the event.  I'd never been able to make it to Shoot the Trails in previous years, but I was glad to make it this time because I was part of a video that played in the contest. The edit is of my friend Zaid and I riding a few features in the Snake zone as well as a trail we have been working on for a while. Thanks to the awesome folks at WMBC, we got to show off our work and riding to the crowd at Shoot the Trails. Here's our second place video from the night:


Last Saturday from Ben White on Vimeo.

Moosechoker, as the trail is named, is a revamped old line down the steep side of the drainage.  Zaid thinks big, and we didn't hold back while working on the trail.  I hadn't hit a number of the biggest jumps on the trail until a month prior to filming for the edit, but a summer of riding bikes and Zaid's constant pressure helped me step up and stretch my edge.  We spent one day out filming with our friend Ben White, who is a rad local filmmaker.  Despite being out of the game for a while, he came out with a borrowed camera, his old equipment, and a great eye for framing the shot.  We had an incredibly fun day of riding jumps and rock rolls.  Filming the trail was especially important because just three days after filming, Zaid took off the travel around the Southern hemisphere for a year or two.  He'd been talking about filming the trail since the first day we threw dirt on it, so it was very gratifying to finally make this edit.

Thanks to all the people who came to the event, to WMBC for putting it on, and to the sponsors who supported the party and supplied the raffle.  Thanks to Ben for making Zaid and I look good, and to the voters who liked it enough to vote us into second place!  More contest winners and information about the event can be found on the WMBC website.

If you're a trail builder or filmer in Oly, don't feel left out of the fun.  Shoot the Trails, as of this year, is open to films and pictures from any location.  Put it on your calendar for next year, and show Bellingham what Oly has to offer.  I'll see you there!