Ross shares his top 10 mountain bike photos with us.
High quality media is massively important to us, that’s why we strive to create top drawer imagery, words, and video that’ll hopefully leave you longing to pack up your bike and venture to new destinations. With our imagery we want to give you a taste of each tour: the landscapes, the cultures, the tastes, and of course, the best bike trails around. We’ve been for a trawl through the terabytes and selected our top 10 mountain bike photos that re-kindle and evoke a memory from different corners of the World.
Our first foray into the Swiss Alps to plot our Trans-Graubünden route wasn’t exactly plain sailing… Having reunited with Thomas Vanderham, we were greeted by a blanket of snow on the opening morning in Lenzerheide. Thankfully it only hung around for a couple of days and we finally got to sink our teeth into some Swiss singletrack. As we neared the Italian border and an overnight stop in a remote mountain refuge, the sun began to sink behind the neighbouring mountain range. Running around the Swiss hillside I excitedly barked orders as Thomas sessioned this rocky ribbon until the sun departed a matter of seconds after the last shot was taken. After trudging through snow and low lying cloud earlier in the week we were finally rewarded – big time! You can’t beat shooting high in the mountain at sunset.
With winter knocking, or rather barging through the door, we found ourselves on the Scottish west coast once more, marching with our bikes atop our shoulders to a summit shrouded in cloud. Joined by EWS racers Joe Barnes and Max Schumann, this ride quickly turned from photo shoot to near survival mission! After a hike-a-bike across the narrow arête (where the image was taken) we scampered down the, what would turn out to be, preposterously good descent. The weather was absolutely foul and nightfall was chasing us down every turn whilst saturated head to toe and frozen solid – definitely one of the most memorable days out on the bike I’ve ever had… I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
The alpine trails above Crested Butte left me breathless in more ways than one. With views to a golden hour shoot high up on the classic 401 trail we left it late before starting our ride, unfortunately by the time we exited the tree line the thunder clouds were beginning to bubble up. Sure enough the heavens opened moments later, there certainly wasn’t any golden light, instead a hilarious muddy toboggan run through the flower meadows back to the van. With no one that enthusiastic about stopping I only took two shots on the whole trail, this shot of Yeti Ambassador Nichole Baker being one.
After a day on an unrelenting climbing whilst locked in the sweaty green depths of the New Zealand temperate rainforest, we finally surfaced above the jungle as the night was beginning to draw in. After watching the sky light up and slowly drain of colour we spent the night in a mountain hut before watching the same process but in reverse at 6am. The jungle below was already a riotous crescendo as the horizon was set alight, moments after the sun billowed over the layers of hills in a rush of golden hues. One hell of a sight for weary eyes and the best way to start a long day in the saddle.
This was one of the most surreal riding and shooting experiences I’ve ever had. Starting high above Whitehorse late in the evening we shot above the tree line overlooking snow topped mountains intertwined with deep lakes as the sun departed for the southern hemisphere. The sky lit up with a fiery pink as we began our descent true and proper at close to 11pm… What lay ahead was close to an hour of deep loam flowing through the tall pines, the kind of riding that has you shouting and hollering out of sheer satisfaction. We rolled out to the van past midnight with little-to-no light left having been treated to hands down one of the most incredible trails I’ve ever ridden…
Morocco was my first venture into Africa and my first venture into an Islamic nation, a whole new level of rich culture for my senses to feast on. Aside from the great riding, my lasting impression from this trip was of the warm and hugely generous locals we met along the way, always wanting to give and help. We met this man with his mule in Imlil, he then helped us get to the top of a steep and rocky pass before returning home. I almost take more satisfaction from this style of image over an all-out action shot, the faces and people of each nation tell more of a story and offer a deeper connection than any action shot could ever muster up.
Norway had long been a country that had captured my imagination, so when I got the opportunity to tick it off the bucket list it was an opportunity I jumped at – and it was even more enchanting than I could ever have dreamt of. Monstrous fjords and towering peaks that were once ravaged by glaciers are now one of the wildest places you could ever ride your bike or point your camera at. As good as it looked in the moody weather, we were all relieved to get a few days of sun as we hit the stunning Geirangerfjord. Jumping into the icy fjords below some thundering waterfalls was the cherry on top of a big day of hike-a-biking and the subsequent grapple with gravity back to the waters edge.
The coast-to-coast is perhaps the most gruelling but rewarding tour H+I Adventures offer, and that sentiment can hold true for photos too. Often the most hard to reach areas offer up the most spectacular of photos. After over 6 hours of riding, hike-a-biking which included a sizeable river crossing, the views open up over a sprawling loch on a fast and rocky descent. It’s hard to take a bad photo in this environment. This view also signals the fact that you’re on the home straight towards Poolewe, by now most legs are feeling very much second hand. Well mine did anyway!
This image might seem quite cosy, warm, and almost romantic… but what you can’t see is the previous 48 hours. This was taken at the end of our second day in Scotland’s “Great Wilderness”. Having spent the previous night bivvying on a beach absolutely saturated from a day riding and pack-rafting in biblical rain, this bothy seemed like a 5 star hotel and allowed us to dry out, warm up, and refuel, before continuing on our way the next morning.
Few places hold quite the same mantle as Squamish. I’d heard, read, and watched so much about them… Surely they can’t be that good?! Well, they kinda are! I may have only got the chance to spend one morning there whilst on the way to Vancouver airport, but it left an indelible mark. Not only were they some of the funnest trails that my tyres have ever touched down on, but some of the most picturesque woods I’ve ever had the pleasure of shooting in. A narrow ribbon of trail perfection running right through the heart of nuclear green lichen and the almost prehistoric feeling ferns and moss.
Trying to pick my top 10 mountain bike photos was quite challenging, but I feel like each individual shot tells a different story one way or another, allowing me to live through that moment once again.
