Red Bull's inaugural event, Landing Gear, unfolded at Mt. Bachelor last week. The crème de la crème of all-around riders were invited to partake in a spectacle that merged sport and art—a side-hit contest captured through the lenses of their iPhones.
Teams, united in pairs, set out to create a digital masterpiece. The main rule was that they could only film each other. Three days of riding and they submitted their final product to the judges. With a cash prize of $10K, these riders gave the judges no easy task in choosing the winner.
Behold, the teams and their masterpieces:
Valentino Guseli & Dane Menzies
Team Name: Prestige WorldWide
Relationship: Met in 2022 on the contest scene. Both like to go big. "Dane carried the team" - V
Team Mascot: Some time of agile creature
Most likely to miss a clip: Valentino. "I missed a couple of really crucial clips. I didn't realize I was such shit" - V
Highlight hits: Rainy Day Hit and the Cornice
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
V: I don’t know what age was. I might’ve been six but we’re at the lodge that we usually stay at and I was trying backflips off this little ride in front of the lodge so early and just basically dragged my head on the snow like 3 1/2 around just like slid on my head while.
D: My dad would rip around with the Go Pro hero first ever. He would just film us riding pow and park.
Relationship: Snowboarding at Gold Camp in 2014. "Brock is trying to get after it, I'm trying to get after it. Brock spins backside and I spin frontside" - S
Team Mascot: A pig in some bushes
Most likely to miss a clip: Depends on who is less shaking that day
Highlight hits: Not hitting the cornice but watching it - B
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rngByCea1Fg
S: It's on Vimeo but we could not find it...
Relationship: We met each other at Baker Banked Slalom and have been friends ever since.
Team Mascot: Gorilla or Chimp
Most likely to miss a clip: Cannon
Highlight hits: Cornice
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
Dad clips when we were super little and learning
Team Name: Chacortire Boarders
Relationship: We fell in love in 1999. "I choose Ollie because of his mctwist, his filimg, and our happieness." - A
Team Mascot: Peter Griffin
Most likely to miss a clip: Arthur
Highlight hits: Still looking for it
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
Probably Ollie's dad who was filming at every cometiong when we were younger.
Ben Ferguson & Gabe Ferguson
Relationship: Ben's my older brother. I wasn't hyped he choose me but it worked out fine - G
Team Mascot: A can of beer
Most likely to miss a clip: Ben is worse
Highlight hits: All of it
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
G: A Burton small shoot or when I was 7 I was in a Warren Miller film with Brock
Craig McMorris & Mikey Ciccarelli
Team Name: Golf Canada
Relationship: "This is an absolute guess: 8 years ago snowboarding. Mikey was just a little fella" - C
Team Mascot: A golf ball
Most likely to miss a clip: Mikey
Highlight hits: Mikey's backside rodeo 720 because everyone was there and it was the last hit
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
C: I don't remeber when I was first filmed but the first photo I have is of me and mark when I was 11 years old.
Jared Elston & Dru Brownrigg
Team Name: Sloth
Team Mascot: Sloth
Most likely to miss a clip: We both miss clips
Highlight hits: Cornice and Wall of Vodo
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
D: My dads used to film me doing backflips here at Mt Bachelor
Nora Beck & Kai Huggin
Relationship: Both from Bend. "I've known of Kai for 6 or 7 years. He's been on a tear and I think he's a very good snowboarder who deserves some spotlight" - N
Team Mascot: A rabid squirrel
Most likely to miss a clip: Kai. "I am a goated iPhone filmer" - N
Highlight hits: Tree hit and watching the cornice - N
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
N: I hit a park jump in a little resort in Pennsylvania and slapped an Indy grab and my friends dad filmed it on his phone. So blurry like a potato quality but I can still picture it in my mind. Then I posted it on Facebook.
Alissa Alivea & Max Reger
Relationship: New friends. New teammates on Nidecker together
Team Mascot: Probably a dog
Most likely to miss a clip: Max
Highlight hits: Me droping off the Cornice - A
First time you were filmed riding a snowboard:
A: Front 180 off a rail in the ground at Mt Rose, jacket unzipped.