Picked up some Panoramic gear recently, namely the NovoflexVR 6/8 head, plus some software to stitch the images up.  This is the view from Aueralm the other night with Bella getting the beers in.  Had some trouble with the 360° join, man, the light was changing fast.

Pic shows Mario launching off a big drop-off on one of the Tegernsee trails.  Considering that the approach roots were wet and the landing slippy then saying you need your balls screwed on for this one is an understatement. He landed well with a pedal bottom out on one of those small rocks then did it a couple more times. Max and Fabi spectate.

Did a fun pano pic higher up to, my first try at a multi-action one so don’t look at the joins too closely. Learnt a lot though;) More of these coming soon…

The making of some Isar pics. from Big Col on Vimeo.

This Video is back up again, with permission from Mario

Sorting through the hard drives tonight and found this. It’s a pic I took a few months ago at a secret spot. Was shooting Benny K. at the time and this Crazy Dude came for a fly-by. Awesome!

Finally I got the 901 built, finished it last night and today took it out for its first ride. What can I say? Takes a bit of getting used to compared to my usual ride until now this year, which has been a Spesh Pitch with a 160mm front fork.  The 180mm front / 200mm back rig is absolutely over kill for the trail I was on today but it was fun anyway.  Frame felt very stiff / rigid and the suspension, once setup, felt plush. No creaks or squeaks whatsoever.

Was riding with Mario Koch today and took a couple of pics of him at this spot.  Once finished, he used the same setup to take a pic of me for a change.  But, of course, first of all I had to explain to him how to do a light and focus test

(Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm + 2 remote flashes triggered using Skyports).

RobJ and Richie Schley – “Making of” from Big Col on Vimeo.

Some video behind the making of some pics for FREERIDE magazine with RobJ and Richie Schley. Based at Spielberghaus, Saalbach, June 2010. The first trail until the Gondola uplift is the Höll Freeride trail right below the hut and the wall ride had just been freshly built. Here you see RobJ riding it, and the road gap, for his first time. The trail we rode with Richie was a secret spot.

Stills done using a Nikon D700 and lenses 70-200mm VR f/2.8, 14-24mm f/2.8 and the 16mm f/2.8 fisheye. Twin remote flashes were used on the RobJ shots, the Richie ones were natural light only.

Video was captured using a Panasonic GH13 with a mixture of Panasonic and Nikon lenses, including the 7-14mm f/4 and Nikkors 20mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8.

Was out with Max, Fabi and Seb today, just down the road in the Sylvenstein area. After all the excitement of taking a bunch of video in the last few weeks, I just decided to do some normal shooting today.  Didn’t do too much of it though, mainly on the summit path shown here. Pic shows Max and Fabi cruising along in between rain showers. Taken with a Nikon D300 and the Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye lens.

A Steep Trail with KaptnFR from Big Col on Vimeo.

Video shows one of the steep, exposed and technically demanding trails in the Garmisch/Austria region. Main rider is Tobias Leonhardt (a.k.a. KaptnFR) on the Liteville 901. Fabi is also along for the ride on a 301.

Filmed at the beginning of August 2010 using a Panasonic GH13 and lenses 7-14mm & 14-140mm.

Dolomighty from Big Col on Vimeo.

Just had two days in the Dolomites with Harald and Max riding some insane lines. Manfred Stromberg came along too, initially aiming to ride but then saw the light and shot mostly. I concentrated on Video and, using the Panasonic GH1, I reckon I got some pretty cool footage.  Managed to squeeze off a few shots at times too, since it’d be rude not to. Loads of material, it’s going to take a while to go through it all and cut something together but we’re working on it. Watch this space!