Coming back for my second Rampage I felt more ready for it, but nevertheless my nerves were a little on edge. I rode strong in practice and managed not to fall once all week, being the first guy to hurl my body off the big Oakley Icon Sender... It comes down to race day in the end. I was the last guy to drop in the start gate for our first runs and as the day went on, the wind decided to pick up right in time for my run. My confidence instantly dropped and was replaced with a deep feeling of fear. At this point I was the only rider to not yet to put in a top to bottom run; I didn’t want to risk missing out entirely. I knew that this was a big mountain event, and as riders in the event, we are forced to deal with whatever the mountain throws at us. I made the call to drop in on a 5 second count when I said I was ready. Usually you get a 30 second count so the heli and the cameras are in position and ready to roll. I waited up top for what felt to be a long 5 minutes, the cameras were rolling and the heli had landed... possibly due to wind, I don’t know. I'm glad because I didn’t need the additional noise to add to my nerves, knowing it's blowing hard, and I have to send it down this series of massive drops and gaps. If I was on a film shoot, I would have called it off for another day, but that is the story of these events; when it’s windy, you ride. I felt a moment of calm. "I'm ready!" 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... They counted me down. Dropping in I felt a large gust of wind. "Oh shit" I remember thinking, that moment of calm was just a tease! Cruising down the ridge I could feel the wind tugging on me. My line peeled off from there into a large natural cliff drop in the 25 ft range, which set me straight into the 40 some odd foot Oakley Icon sender. This same line had left local shredder Logan Binggeli in 1st place after day one. Seeing those flags signaling a direct head wind above the take off to the Oakley Icon Sender I took a leap of faith, really. Jumping in the wind is truly that... you just never know. I'll let those photos tell the rest of the story. For those who are wondering, the bike was fine, minus the bent bar.
After being too sore to complete a second run, and being extremely disappointed, I just wanted to get home and chill. After spending a solid 2 weeks off the bike, with a bruised chest and ego, I was stoked to get home and spend the remainder of my season riding and shooting. We rode the jumps in my yard like crazy shooting for Stund season 3, for the lens of John Gibson, and for Lone Wolf Productions.ca. The trails around Nelson were in their prime with perfect Fall conditions. I managed to snipe in a few epic Kootenay descents, and had some real good home town sessions, which was well needed after the Red Bull Rampage.
Solos Productions lined up an opportunity for a crew of us to head to Williams Lake for a film shoot. I headed north for my final trip before the snow came. We sessioned the local trails for days! If you've ever been to The Puddle (Williams Lake), you'll know how rad it is! If you haven't, get there as soon as the snow melts! This town is easily one of my favorite places to ride, and happens to also provide prime zones to find natural lines to build. It reminds me a lot of the Kamloops' style of riding where you can build whatever you can imagine out of the creamy clay dirt, which forms perfect rolling hills and hidden gullies. We spent a while in Williams Lake, and had a great time. We built all kinds of cool moves, and dropping natural chute lines along the Fraser River. If you haven’t seen Solos Productions "
Rock the Caribou" segment on Pinkbike yet make sure you check it out soon...
It’s now snowy as ever at home in Nelson, which is why I'm off to Surf and Ride in Mexico. See you in the spring with videos, and a story about Solos Productions adventures in the Baja!
Lone Wolf Productions would like to thank Garett for all his hard work this year, and for this article that he took the time out of his busy schedule to write for us. We would also like to thank the following people for helping out with this section/article.
Mitch Cheek of Solos Productions
John Gibson
Ian Hylands
Kari Medig
Justin Dawes
Lone Wolf Productions is brought to you by: -Race Face Components
-Go Pro Cameras
-Pinkbike.com
-Giro Helmets
-Adidas Eyewear
-The Bicycle Cafe
Got me worried and its still months away haha...
