Shortcutting and skidding our way to fame and failure.

Processing the French Alps - Jordan Regnier and Alexander Kangas ride Tignes/Val D' Isere from Kona Bikes on Vimeo.

I'm not usually such a grump about this stuff, or at least I used to not be.

But I gave this one a gander, because I like Kona and I like their grassroots program, and let's be honest, I just love seeing talented riders do stuff that I can't do on trails I might never see.

I've done a ton of riding in France.  And I've actually skied Val D'Isere.  Never ridden bikes there, but the skiing is phenomenal, and the landscape itself, like a high-alpine version of the moon, is breathtaking.  In the winter of 2000, I got caught in a whiteout blizzard there, skied down the mountain to get out of it, but unfortunately ended up in the wrong town.  I was a 20 minute drive from the proper lodge.  I remember the laughs from the locals at the bar, who then informed me to take the red train - which was, in fact, a bus - back to Val D'Isere.  Wonderful people.  Glorious place.

So maybe that's why seeing two bros skidding down pristine high alpine trails and actually shortcutting large sections - like, totally blowing corners and sliding through what I presume is fragile, semi-cryptobiotic soil that can barely hold itself together in the short growing season of the summer, bothered me.

Do you know anyone who rides like this?
I certainly do not.
If I rode with someone who rode like this, I'd take their bike from them.  Just awful.

Why then, are we glorifying this in digital form?  By we, I mean a pretty terrific American mountain bike brand.  Does this actually sell bikes?

Maybe I'm getting crusty in my old age (I am) but I feel like this shit is setting us back way, way more than it is putting Kona's brand forward.

From an advocacy perspective, doesn't this get used against us?  Even in a laissez-faire environment like the Alps in summer, I have to figure this hurts the effort, if there even is an effort anymore.
(In case you didn't know, Laissez-Faire is French for Bud Lite Lime.)

Digital media is the future - I get that.
Films like this are the way to reach the groms who want to buy your bike, Kona.  But would you really let one of those groms ride like this on your local loop?