Building for NWD 8
Riley McIntosh
Click photos to enlarge

I am constantly thinking about riding and building stuff to ride. Whenever I have extra time between jobs I get out there and go for a drive into the mountains and hike up some drainage I’ve never checked out before.

I love being way up some trail with my buddies and pausing, looking across the valley at a whole chunk of mountain that I’ve never been on. Here in Nelson one of the most exciting and sometimes intimidating aspects of our mountains is that there is just so much room. The potential to build new trails is endless. Some trails we have exist on an entire mountain with no other trails up there. There could be ten other trails leading from the logging road that goes up there but nobody’s gotten around to building them yet.


The finished product begging to be ridden.  Click to enlarge. Photo ~ Cory Benwell

I’ve always really been into finding crazy locations, like chasms, places where tons of big trees have fallen, or unique places unlike any I’ve been too before. For better or worse, I haven’t built a ton of actual trails that people commonly ride. For some reason I prefer to find beauty spots and build stuff there for the art of it. It doesn’t make sense in many ways, because once something has been filmed it usually rots away in the bush, but I really enjoy the meticulous, simple effort of finding a spot, deciding on what to build, and then slowly putting it together in my spare time.

Some of the things I’ve built in the past that were featured in the NWD movies are quite special to me. For example, the big rock that Wade Simmons stepped up onto and dropped off at the start of his section in NWD V is a rock that I’ve played on since I was a kid. My friends and I used to ride our bikes out and climb around on it, pretending we were Indians hiding out to ambush cowboys.


Getting 'er done.   Riley pulls out the big bar.  Click to enlarge.  Photo ~ Mattias Fredriksson

Or the rock island step up step off line that Richie Schley rode in NWD V. Every day I worked on it for a bunch of hours and then went riding after. For some reason for those five days I hooked up with a different rider each afternoon. I rode with Gracia, Morland, Graves, Peat, and Lopes. It was such a cool time because each afternoon I got taught a lesson from each rider, and then the next day I’d work on the stunt still buzzed off the awesome riding I’d done the day before.

Or the long cable cam line that Wade rode in NWD 7.  I had always thought that would be a great place for a trail to start, and I got to work. Hopefully by next summer it will be a rideable trail for everyone, a 2500 foot descent down to the city. It was cool to be part of filming that line because it is the longest cable cam shot ever done and turned out really neat. I wish I could show you how long the cable setup was - probably 300 metres. It looked really cool when Wade rode it with the camera hovering above him.

This winter I built a pretty cool stunt by a waterfall nearby my house, I always thought it would make a beautiful photo. Here’s how the photo turned out:


Riley sampling his own handiwork along Rover Creek.  Click to see un-cropped original.  Photo ~ Derek Frankowski

In the summer of 2006 I built a pretty major trail that never got filmed. It all came together last August. I was glad that it was getting filmed because this last summer I didn’t build anything. Wade and Robbie stepped up to the plate, with Axl and the Whitley brothers running the show.


Wade Simmons enjoying the fruit of Riley's labour while shooting for NWD 8. Click image to see un-cropped full-sized original. Photo ~ Dave Mossop

It was cool to see my most epic build get ridden. I hadn’t got my shit together to go and ride it at that point. Too scared. Wade and Robbie made it happen, with some difficulty. The hip off the big cross log was really difficult for them to land with enough speed to make the creek gap after it. Robbie was worried about the big drop. He thought the compression at the bottom looked way too harsh, but Wade styled it first and Robbie followed with no problems.


Another day at the office for Simmons. Click to see full sized original of this amazing sequence. Photo ~ Dave Mossop

It's neat to build a section of trail like that - it’s a hobby of mine that I am fairly addicted too. One of these days I need to stop building epic stunts and focus more on actual trails, but for me it's almost like an art form, or a way to express myself beyond riding my bike and skiing. Once I find a truly amazing location I’m pretty hard pressed to not go up there and start nailing stuff together. It’s a lot of work, but its my art form so I have no regrets.


A work of trail building art by Riley McIntosh. Click image to full sized original.  Photo ~ Dave Mossop

I’ve always thought it would be awesome to build a ‘super trail’ for myself instead of pro riders, and film it with some movie company. It would be pretty cool to represent myself as a builder and as a rider and just kind of put a solid stamp on my dedication to the sport - something to show my kids one day.

Who knows? Perhaps one of these years you’ll see me riding one of my trails in a film, instead of pro riders who show up, ride the stunts, and then leave again. I think building stuff to ride and showcase your skills as a visionary as well as a rider is super cool, and I respect riders like Berrecloth and Boyko for doing just that.


Another look at how this all went together. Click image to full sized original.  Photo ~ Dave Mossop

I encourage riders to give 'er a go at building something, especially if its an addition to a favourite trail that creates another riding option for everyone.

Riley McIntosh

Would you like to ride that line?  It looks much burlier in the stills than it does on video.  What do you think of Riley's handiwork?

To see this line ridden by Robbie Bourdon and Wade Simmons check out NWD 8 - Smackdown