Words and photos by Blaise Olson from Killemall Distribution
BMX trail season in a rain forest like the west coast of British Columbia is short lived, and in the harsh winters of Canada, pretty much non-existent. Sometimes it can rain up to 30 days in a row, so even riding the abundance of concrete parks we have at our disposal, unfortunately isn’t a reality. Street riding happens infrequently in the winter months, and it can be downright depressing if you’re one of those riders who needs to constantly search out new spots to shred, and then can’t ride them until the spring thaw.
Fortunately for the last year or so, a dedicated group of diggers and riders have been working on this spot to make the best of a season that has no mercy on bmx. The jumps are under a highway overpass, and are being shredded and worked on all throughout the winter months. Strangely enough, even though the trails are in view of houses, city workers, and passing traffic, they endure and thrive in plain site (knock on wood).
For 5 weeks in January and February, we shot photos to capture the jumps, and the riders shredding them, for posterity. As you’ll be able to see in the pics, the lighting conditions on most days were less than ideal: intense fog often came off the adjacent river, when it’s not dark grey and raining the sun only hit there for a few hours a day, and then it would get dark again early. Regardless of the difficult lighting, I’m pretty happy with the outcome and hope you enjoy the photos!
