Soft flakes were falling from the sky. The gentle beauty of the fluffy snow shone in stark contrast to knobby tires ripping through the mud, metal frames flying over dirt jumps and brakes squealing to a stop.
A few weekends ago I ripped down Galbraith Mountain with WWU’s Mountain Biking club on a photoshoot for Klipsun magazine. Originally the article I was photographing featured the team in the context of biking up hills. What I found while photographing is that biking uphill for this group of mountain bikers was not so common. But they sure found creative ways to fly down!
As stories go, it changed, and the photos I took were not used. (The focus of the story is now on cycling.) But the experience was still fun and it gave me the opportunity to experiment with weather-proofing my camera. Here are some of the action shots that tell the story of a photographer and some bikers in gnarly weather. Enjoy!
Members of the Western Washington University Mountain Biking Club roll through a sprinkling of snow before riding down the Unemployment Line on Galbraith Mountain.
Kristian Duft, president of the Western Washington University Mountain Biking Club, gains speed for a jump on Jan. 27, 2013 on the Unemployment Line at Galbraith Mountain in Bellingham, Wash. He tries to get out on the trails every week rain or shine, and even if it’s snowing.
Kristian Duft, president of the Western Washington University Mountain Biking Club, is spattered with mud while riding on Galbraith Mountain.
Nick Turczyn runs his bike back up a hill to ride over a jump on the Atomic Dog trail on Galbraith Mountain.
Forrest Gale does a wall ride on a rock feature near the bottom of the Atomic Dog trail at Galbraith Mountain on Jan. 27, 2013.
Nicholas Blair, Zach Cohen, Nick Turczyn and Forrest Gale watch at Kristian Duft flies over a jump on Galbraith Mountain.
Brooke Warren | Colorado Photographer and Visual Journalist 
awesome… I was up there when Sully took us out for rides and he rode his slick tires every where. Insane. I remember helping to carve out quite a few trails up there myself….
Nice shots Brooke! Too bad they didn’t use the shots.
Great change… awesome