Traveling to Chile with the Smith Optics Crew

This was one of those "trip of a lifetime" trips, or so I was told. I had to think about it for about two seconds. After all, who could pass up a 2-week extravaganza in Chile to ride bicycles. My mountain bike takes me to the most interesting places.

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The premise behind this adventure was to do a 4-day stage race in the majestic Andes and get some video and photos for a Smith Optics product launch of their new Forefront helmet. Sounded good to me. Our crew consisted  of Joey, Lars, Darrin, and myself as the racers, Scott and Dave as the video and photo jocks, and Mal, our fearless leader,  as the boss/mom. #teamcondor was here to party!

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I built up a fresh Yeti SB66 a few days prior to this trip. I would love to ride it, but there is 4 feet of snow in my front yard. Hopefully my wrench skills are on point.

The Andes Pacifico Enduro was without a doubt, the most challenging, interesting and unique race I have ever been a part of. Racing began at the ski resort of La Parva and finished on the beach after traversing most of the country. Racing four blind tracks each day was an unreal test of ones ability to read trail and adjust on the fly. You don't know what to be scared of if you don't know what is coming, right? I wish there was more of this stye of racing in the states. We camped in a different location each night, and awoke to new tracks and challenges each day. Absolutely unreal.

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Fortunately, I was only attacked by cats once in La Parva. 

We ate well that night.

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Dave Trumpore works his ass off to get these shots. He is so skinny because his pack weighs 50lbs. 

When the dust settled, we were stoked to be sipping some well earned cervezas on the beach. I am officially the whitest gringo in this photo aside from Mr. Clementz, who handily won this event. Jose Schusler took the worst of it with a 'flesh wound" to the shin that sent him directly to the sketchy Chilean hospital. Lars N' Bars fared the best from our crew, and singlehandedly displaced the most soil with his rear tire. This is an event that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for challenge and adventure. Traversing Chile with 100 people during a race and moving all of their crap around every day is no small task. The fine gentlemen from Montenbaik pulled this logistical nightmare off perfectly. No issues. I am still amazed.

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After the race, we packed up and headed to the ski area of Nevados de Chillan, which will be hosting the first event of the Enduro World Series in a month. Was this place worthy? We were about to find out. 

The riding here would prove to be mind bending. It was a mix of everything from loose and dry high alpine, to axle deep loam in the trees down low. Honestly some of the best trails I have ever ridden. 

These turns. 

Your dirt sucks.

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After a 40-min hike a bike, we were rewarded with an unreal sunset.

An epic photo battle would ensue. Trumpore and Secco were shooting #teamcondor while Sven Martin, Gary Perkin, Steve Jones, and the Santa Cruz boys were harvesting nugs in the same zone. I have never surfed in my life, but I would wager to say that fighting for waves in comparable. I have never seen athletes and photographers move so fast with the light rapidly diminishing. In the end, these proved to be some of the best shots from the trip by all parties involved. Good times indeed. 

Strangely, this shot that Dave Trumpore took is slightly better than what Joey or I could capture with our iPhones…. Go figure.

Scott "pro" Secco in the moment, duct taping his follow cam rig to Darrin. This is how the magic happens. 

Get in your attack position. Now hold still. Insert duct tape sounds….. BOOSH

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Turns out Scott Secco is also good at taking photos. We got darked on after this, totally worth it. 

Cheers from team Condor. Joey was six juices in by this point. 

I will definitely return to Chile. The people here are as genuine and welcoming as they come. The mountains are awe-inspiring. Good friends and good times. 
Thank you Smith Optics!

And then there was that 12 hour layover in Miami. 

Why wouldn't you go to South Beach?

#teamcondor knows how to party. Vamos a la playa.