Photo Story: Freeriding in Utah's Slot Canyons
Words by: Guerrilla Gravity // Photos By: Scott Cody & Mike Cartier
Last month, we sent some GG’s out for a grand adventure in the Southern Utah desert.
It all started when photographers Scott Cody and Mike Cartier pitched us a wild idea: a mountain bike trip to ride the narrow Slot Canyons of Utah and in turn, get some pretty epic photos. Our response? “Let’s do it.”
The inspiration for this trip came from a couple decades worth of Cody exploring the vast Utah landscape on two-wheels, with a camera in tow. He wanted to share this aridly beautiful landscape with other riders, creating unique content that riders could connect with. As a rider-focused brand, it seemed like our two visions aligned.
While the concept might sound simple at first glance, the logistics of getting into, shooting, and riding a slot canyon are no easy feat. You need a strong affinity for “type II” fun.
Beyond just getting there, some pretty technical riding skills are needed (as demonstrated below) to navigate through narrow canyon walls and down the steep spines of desert “mountains”. That's where the front-of-camera talent comes in: Ben Ortowski, a pro DH and Enduro racer and coach and Westley Cody, a former Enduro/BMX racer turned free rider. With these impressive backgrounds, it's no surprise that they were up for the challenge.
While we couldn’t join them on the trip, we were able to relive the adventure through the incredible moments they captured…
The adventure begins in the car. Access to the canyon trailhead requires navigating a 15-20 mile 4x4 road, which is only passable in the right vehicle and weather conditions.
It's not just bikes on the gear list... Camping supplies, a full photography “studio”, and the necessities to survive also need to get safely down 20 foot canyon walls.
Forget chairlifts…this is it’s own kind of “bike park”
Riders Ben Ortowski and Westley Cody, carving fresh tracks down the desert dunes.
It may look like they’re riding on a different planet, but this all took place only a mere 7 hours from the GG HQ in Denver. We’re lucky to have an incredible amount of varied MTB terrain within a day's drive from the Rocky Mountains.
Getting bikes into a slot canyon requires teamwork.
But once you’re in, it turns out the riding is pretty good.
Perfect singletrack preserved by narrow canyon walls.
The sun may have set on this trip, but Cody, Cartier, and crew are already planning their next canyon adventure to continue exploring the limitless possibilities of the Utah Desert.
Head to RideGG.com to learn more about our bikes and this project.
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Once again PB staff not being good shepherds of the natural environment ...
You could have just as easily typed in "Hanksville mtb" into the gargler to see what the area was like.
Sheesh
I don't even care about the riders, whatever, Darwinism will handle them; it's the SAR people that I care about.