4th Annual Last Ditch Effort
When the 4th Annual Last Ditch Effort race at Alpental was announced I couldn’t resist going to capture the event. I mean what better way to cap off an epic winter than with a wild banked slalom race and despite the variable weather conditions it did not disappoint. Hopefully the gallery below will convey even half the fun that was had that day. Just remember “slow is smooth, smooth is fast”.
No Friends on a Pow Day?
There is a rare event that only comes around once in a blue moon in the cascade mountains. The winds blow from the east, the temperature drops, and the snow intensifies; creating a magical thing called blower pow. Blower pow is super dry ultra-low density snow that is a snowboarder’s dream to find. Such an event occurred in the cascades two weeks ago and the images below depict my good friend Chris’ first experience riding in such mind blowing conditions. Big shoutout to him for being such an awesome rider to work with.
Tenth Annual Bermsled Halloween Race
If you're an avid mountain biker living in the Seattle area, chances are you've at least heard of GHY Bikes' Bermsled Halloween race put on every year. And if you haven’t… well you've been missing out. Out of the many amazing bike events we have in the northwest, it's easily near the top of my can't miss list. In fact I turned down a post-meeting beer offer just to get there in time for race runs. Yeah it’s that good.
Now the trail isn’t super technical and the racing isn't ultra competitive, but that's exactly what makes it such a great event. It has such a chill vibe, riders of all ages and skill riding in their Halloween costumes and simply having a great time. Oh yeah, and finding out which friend is the fastest down the sickest downhill pumptrack trail in the area. Thanks to AJ and the rest of the guys at GHY bikes for all the hard work they put in to make it all happen.
A Bermsled Halloween story.
When I first moved to Washington several years ago my very first introduction to the unique bike culture here was going to GHY Bike’s Bermsled Halloween race. And boy was it an experience! It was a typical cold and rainy fall day in Washington but as someone who grew up in northern Michigan and moved away before the fat bike movement really took hold, riding bikes this time of the year was never really an option. So when I saw all these people dressed up in their halloween costumes, racing a super slick trail in rainy and 40 degree weather, I thought to myself “This is insane… but weirdly fun!” Now that I’ve been through a couple winters here I almost look forward to riding in this weather, but that’s a topic for another time.
This year was the ninth annual Bermsled Halloween race and a big thanks goes out to AJ at GHY Bikes for putting this on every year. Also to everyone that helps out, from trail maintenance to cooking burgers, we appreciate all the hard work! With that said enjoy the photo story below of the most chill and fun bike event in the northwest!
P.S. If you see an image you want, just hit me up here or on Instagram and I’ll send you a link to download.
AJ on the megaphone and Travis (who generously donated the hot dogs and burgers) with a pre race beverage.
Colette Butorajac, chef for the day.
Costumes are encouraged, aerodynamics aren’t really a thing here.
“I was going faster than I thought I would!”
Marcus is coming for your strava times
Dragon Power!
Probably the sketchiest thing I saw all day!
Bringing back no-footers!
Wet conditions led to the inevitable crashes, but luckily just some cuts, bruises, and hurt egos.
This pretty much captures the vibe perfectly.
The mastermind behind this insanity!
Best Trick Winner
Best Costume Winner
Grand Prize winner from the raffle, sponsored by Transition Bikes! Yes that’s a Triple frameset.
Under 14 Class Top 3
Fast Class Top 3 (2nd place is MIA)
Faster Class Top 3
Fastest Class Top 3 ( 1st-Josh Gibb 2nd-Travis Erickson 3rd-Craig Wilcox)
Summit Ridge is Lit! Night Session Photo Update
Thanks to a bunch of passionate people and a couple of sponsors, ATM is now completely lit up from top to bottom! Even with a sprained ankle, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a part of the first full night session.
Before the sun had set and the lights were turned on, short session went down on the upper section of Gannonball. Fun fact: Gannonball is one of the biggest legal jump lines in the Northwest, with the lower section having some massive doubles.
Despite a brief stint of being devoured by mosquito's before the bug spray was brought out, everyone stayed late into the night and enjoyed lap after lap of a fully lit ATM! Keep an eye out for more of these night sessions coming up. And big thanks to GHY Bikes and Bike Masters for their help in making this possible!
Summit Ridge Night Session
I'll admit, I frequently ride Summit Ridge Freeride Park in Black Diamond, WA. But there was something odd about one line I could never figure out. ATM was the only line in the park to have ropes hung above the trail, zig-zagging all the way down. I finally got an answer from a local one day though. Those ropes were once used to string up lights for night jams, but sadly they were removed/stolen at some point.
Thanks to William Landrey and Ted Gutterud though, new lights are slowly being added again. Over the early part of this year they have rebuilt the trail, fund raised, and strung up enough lights to get the upper half of the trail lit up for night jams again. The goal is to finish lighting the rest of the trail in time for weekly Friday night sessions this summer. To help with the remaining costs they have started a GoFundMe, consider contirbuting if you would like to help out. Keep an eye out for more of these sessions and come join the next one, I know I'll be there again!
Ted Gutterud stacking dirt for the last step up on ATM.
Ted and Noah finish packing the lip.
Tools of the trade.
Light it up!
Noah with another banger.
Ted enjoying the benefits of all the hard work.
Sadly the endless laps had to end at some point.
Dreams of Spring
We knew it was too good to be real. Everything from the sunshine to splashing through a few puddles pointed towards spring riding. The only thing to remind us that it was still winter was the occasional snowflake fluttering down. Alas, here in the PNW, the saying "if you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes" also happens to be true if you do like the weather. Hence the snowflakes have become more constant and now we wait for that next day of blissful riding.
New Years Reflections
Finally had some time to take a look back at the last year and wow was it a hectic one! More from a personal standpoint than a creative one but despite everything I still managed to squeeze in quite a few shoots! Here are some of my favorite shots from the past year!
New Year, New Look
It's that time of the year again for a website update. Really excited to be adding a whole new commercial category this year and finally releasing some of the product work I've recently added to my portfolio! Most of which I personally use on a regular basis in the field.
Softies Jump Jam Part 2
So stoked on how this series has turned out so far! It was awesome to be involved in such an epic jam! Thanks again to GHY Bikes and everyone who helped make it happen. Part 3 is coming soon!
Softies Jump Jam Part 1
So stoked that I was able to attend the spring Softies Jump Jam! It had such a good vibe and some insane tricks were thrown down over the big lines! Thanks to GHY Bikes and everyone who helped make it happen. Keep an eye out for when the next part goes live in a couple days!
Happy Thanksgiving!
It's hard to believe that I have been in Seattle for over a year now! Time really flies when you live in such an awesome place. Looking back at the past year I have so many things to be thankful for. I've been to so many awesome places, met some really cool people, and done some pretty crazy things. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!
On a side note here are some images from an informal jam that went down last month! The guys were throwing down some banger tricks!
Duthie Group Ride
Riding with a group is almost always more enjoyable then riding alone. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to join a great group of riders on one such ride at Duthie Hill! Here is a few select images from that day. If you were a part of the ride head over to my Facebook page to see if I got any images of you! Thanks to GHY Bikes for putting it together!
Freeride MTB
Hope everyone had a great weekend! Here's a set of images from when I got to shoot Kyle Plante killing a Summit Ridge Freeride session!
Trail Running 2.0
There's nothing like running through the woods with the fresh scent of pines burning your nose, always pushing yourself to go faster and farther!
Intro to Vlogging
Starting a little adventure into Vlogging! If you can bear with me through the roughness then I invite you to follow along on this journey!
Mountain Trail Running
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost perfectly sums up how I feel about my latest shoot in the cascades. Thanks to Keith Vowell and Marcie Morgan for running their hearts out.
Renton Skatepark
I was finally able to stop by the Renton skatepark last week to photograph a couple of the local BMX riders. These guys can definitely shred! Throwing turn downs on their "warm up" run was the first hint of what was to come. As the sun started setting, the session heated up with dipped 360's and backflips wrapping up the session before the sun finally set.
Anthony Brownrigg gets inverted over the nipple feature at Renton skatepark.
Kyle mid turn down on his "warm up" run.
Kyle throws a dipped 360 over the nipple feature with a brilliant sky behind him.
Kyle Plante catches his breathe as the setting sun lights up passing storm clouds.
Reflections and Moving On
It's strange looking back over the last three years and how I really didn't have the slightest idea of what was going to happen. Three years ago I was starting my senior year of high school just focused on graduating. Two years ago I was preparing to go back to school after getting back from a four month adventure to Alaska with my family. One year ago I had graduated from Hallmark Institute of Photography where I met a very special woman. Now I'm married to that very special woman and living half way across the continent in Seattle. We haven't been living in Seattle for very long though. We recently took two weeks to move from Michigan. With our camping gear and basic necessities back into our car we drove all 2200 miles plus side trips in two weeks. We stopped whenever we wanted seeing friends and amazing places along the way. The following images are just some of the things and places we saw on our trip.
MV Michipicoten docked in Marquette, MI
Sometimes the little things are important. Mushrooms in Temperance River State Park, MN.
Cascade Falls gorge in Cascade Falls State Park, MN
Rushing water in the Temperance River State Park, MN
Small lake at the top of Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, MT.
Mist surrounding Snoqualmie Falls in Snoqualmie, WA
