If you look hard enough, try hard enough, and tap deep into your imagination, places of magic still exist. Places like Bandit Hill, a whimsical place where the forest comes alive, the critters frolic, and the dirt is oh-so-perfect.

Pulled directly from the mind of Olympic medalist and world champion mountain biker Jill Kintner, Bandit Hill takes Jill’s sketchbook and brings it to life.

It’s a trip into a hybrid 2D and 3D world darting between reality and animation. Oozing with character, brilliant color, and creativity beyond our wildest dreams, Bandit Hill is full of hope. Fairy tales do still exist….

Zac Martinez got himself a pretty fancy prize for entering and WINNING our Mind Maintenance contest!! A brand new custom-painted Norco sight with his design was brought to life by Made Rad by Tony!!! This bike turned out amazing, and we got to hand-deliver it to Zac to see the priceless look on his face!!!

Hosting a contest to inspire young riders to get creative for a chance to win a custom-painted Norco Fluid 24 with their own design was adorable. 1100 unique entries made choosing a winner extremely difficult, but Sully’s watermelon bike design was a stand-out with the vibrant colors, fun summery vibes, the hillarious expression. We loved it and Made Rad by Tony brought this bike to life as no one else could!! Thank you to all my partners; Red Bull, Norco, Made Rad by tony, Groundkeeper, Sully and his mom for making time for art! xoxox

Jill Kintner invites YOU to take a break and do some Mind Maintenance to stimulate your creativity for a chance to win a custom painted Norco mountain bike (week 5) and an annual membership from Headspace, plus weekly prizes from Ground Keeper!

Download Week 3 Template

Download, print, and color:)

8.5”x11” Black and white (mostly) coloring poster.

Custom Helmet - Bell helmets and the painters at Airtrix surprised jill with this custom Queen of Crankworx helmet celebrating her 5 titles. WIth all the stops of the world tour, gold foil, and an insane portrait of Jill, this is truly a masterpiece!! Thank you!!

Monterey, CA - APRIL 13-14, 2019

The Sea Otter Classic rolled into its 28th year at Laguna Seca raceway this past weekend under sunny skies, drawing in exhibitors, racers, and fans alike to the unofficial North American Season opener.

Jill Kintner competed in both the slalom and Downhill events against a stacked field of international talent to claim victories in both events once again. This marks Jill’s 9th consecutive win in Dual slalom , and 7th in DH, giving her the most successful run of any athlete ever at this event…….

ENDURO WORLD SERIES #2
DERBY, TASMANIA - MARCH 30-31, 2019

In her debut into World Enduro, Jill Kintner took the field by storm this past weekend in Tasmania, placing 2nd amongst the World’s best. Enduro is a true test of skill and fitness, riding for nearly 6 hours and competing in 6 race stages or downhill-ish type runs for the cumulated timed results. 6000feet of elevation gain and about 28 miles of riding, Derby delivered a beautiful mix of granite rock gardens and flowy rainforest single track. Anything can happen over the stretch of the day, so consistency at the end was quite an achievement for Jill who can now add a World Enduro podium to her long list of accolades…. 

WHISTLER, BC

Jill Kintner and Sam Blenkinsop won the coveted “King and Queen of Crankworx” titles this past week at the final stop of the World Tour in Whistler BC. This award goes to the rider who collects the most points from the 4 stops world wide.

Jill won this title for the 3rd year in a row, but 5 times total, while Sam was finally able to clinch it after coming second a few times.

She had this to say,
“Crankworx is my main goal, as it’s such a good series to showcase your skill, get sponsors in the lime-light, and be rewarded for the effort! ”

CRANKWORX EUROPE - AUSTRIA + FRANCE

Over the past couple of weeks, Crankworx hosted the European segments of the 4-stop Crankworx World Tour with stop #2 in the city of Innsbruck, Austria, and #3 in Les Gets France. Jill Kintner competed in several events including; Downhill, slalom, and pumptrack and extended her lead and finishing no worse than silver in all 5 events she entered. With just one more stop to go this August in Whistler, Jill is in prime position to try to reclaim the overall title of Queen of Crankworx once again…. 

( See the current King and Queen overall points standings here.)

2018 SEA OTTER CLASSIC

Monterey, CA - APRIL 19-22, 2018
The Sea Otter Classic rolled into its 27th year at Laguna Seca raceway drawing exhibitors, racers, and fans alike to the unofficial North American Season opener.

“ It was interesting to see a more natural build to the slalom course this year with off-camber grass turns, ruts, and fewer man made sections. The racing was difficult because of the traction and rewarded control. Slalom is my favorite event, and I try to be better and better each year, regardless of what I have done in the past. It feels great to win a big event in front of so many people, so thanks to my sponsors who make it possible:).”

This marks Jill’s 8th consecutive win in Dual slalom , and 6th in DH, giving her the most successful run of any athlete at this event…

CRANKWORX NEW ZEALAND

ROTORUA, NZ - MARCH 17-25, 2018 - The first stop of the Crankworx World Tour began in New Zealand last week with 9 action packed days of gravity mountain biking. Adding more events and new courses to the line up this year, Rotorua continues to push the limits as one of the world’s premiere biking locations. 

Jill Kintner competed in 5 events this time, claiming 3 wins and all top 5 finishes (Redwoods DH, slalom, Air DH, Pumptrack, and skyline Downhill). The points system for the prestigious King and Queen championship had changed from 2017 with double points for enduro, whip points, added slalom, etc, so getting solid points in every event was a huge success. 

SANTA MONICA, CA

Well, I left in early December on a road trip, and have been gone for 2 months:) I wanted to put a chunk of time into training at the Red Bull Gym in Santa Monica and discovered a lot more motivation than suffering through another soggy winter at home. My normal life involves sitting on the trainer in the basement, riding in the mud, washing bikes, and going to the gym. Here, I do the same, but there are super athletes everywhere and sunshine. Plus I get to learn new things from the best. Red Bull is such a valuable resource for me as an athlete, and I want to be the very best I can be:) Bryn came for the last month as well, so there is no reason to go home now:).... Keep the good times rollin.

Offseason

I get a couple of months off now to chill:) This time of year is kinda weird not to have structure, but there is still lots going on, and it's the best conditions at the start of fall. Activities include: riding for fun,  I raced an enduro, a halloween slalom, tested a new DH bike, did shuttle day at PA, went to Red bull HQ in LA for baseline physiological tests, Spent a boatload of time at the local pumptrack, trail dig days, made a vital vid, an Evergreen membership vid, insta vids, ran a few times, lots of walks in the park, etc. :). 

New new year, new goals. Stay tuned. Crankworx will still be my main objective, but I always strive to improve my skills. Should be able to get creative, race, and do all the things I love about bikes with most all of the same great sponsors. 

PORTLAND, OR

Well after Crankworx I was hoping to go to Cairns for DH World Champs, but didn't really have the right preparation as I was pretty sick for a few weeks:(. Still lingering actually.

Instead, I decided to up my certification for coaching, just to be better at explaining things to others, and more pro all around. Another tool of the trade. I learned more than I expected actually, and with a refresh on the fundamentals, I not only improved my personal riding, but feel a lot better about giving instruction effectively. Any who, I enjoyed it and will probably do a bit more with private lessons for people in my community. :) 

WHISTLER, BC

Last week was the conclusion to the Crankworx World Tour, which is a worldwide mountain bike festival spanning every gravity discipline of race and freestyle. It’s massive, with something ridiculous like 300,000 spectators over 10 days in Whistler.

People come to ride the bike park, watch events, compete, party, etc. In general, it’s a pretty good time with all the stars of mountain bike in one place, and lots to do. 

Jill had a great week, winning gold in Air Dh and Slalom, plus a silver in Pumptrack, which secured the the overall series win worth $25,000!....

SNOWSHOE, WEST VIRGINIA

USA NAtional Champs - July 19-23, 2017 - Located deep in the Appalachian mountain range, Snowshoe resort hosted the USA National championships for Enduro, XC, Short track, Downhill, and slalom this past weekend. Stormy conditions kept organizers on their toes all week, as even the slightest rumble of thunder could shut down lift operations and cause delays. Rain continued every night leading into race days, which made the combination of clay, mud, roots and tons of rock sections quite challenging. Jill managed to win both slalom and the downhill making this her 18th and 19th elite national titles......

STEVENS PASS RESORT

Every year, Bryn and I try to do at least one coaching weekend at our partner resort- Stevens pass. The bike park has everything you need; chairlift, fun trails, food, bike shop, rentals, good people etc. It feels good to share our knowledge and help people with their riding. World Cup riders have spent a lifetime tweaking on set ups, changing things, training, studying efficiency, evolving the small details, and I'd like to think we have well trained eyes for improvement as a team. We can geek out forever on this stuff:). Just wanted to say thank you to people who attended, and Stevens for making it easy for us to do these. Keep an eye out for the next one:) 

CRANKWORX
FRANCE + AUSTRIA

Two stops of the Crankworx world tour took us over to the Alps for sunny conditions and a lot of racing...

Les Gets is one of the coolest zones in Europe with the Portes du Soleil , which connects 12 resorts with chairlifts, and Austria, a new venue with a ton of potential. Both stops offered different flavors of culture, language, and riding, but the sunshine was constant, for once:) 

PUMPTRACK CREATION

Well, after deciding we need a pumptrack in my home town, then raising some money, getting the WMBC and city onboard, messing around with permits, site visits, city council, etc , and then bringing in Momentum Trail builders to build and design this thing, the city of Bellingham now has a pumptrack in the parck across the street from my house!!! Dream big people :) Stoked to make a difference and bring people together with bikes. Special thanks to Eric Brown team leader:)

SEA OTTER 2017

Monterey, CA- April 19-22, 2017 “It’s pretty obvious that slalom is the main attraction at Sea Otter. Year after year it delivers some of the best racing, and I think the minor change they made gave us something to think about. I woke up excited for it, and kinda just appreciated how much fun I was having... wish we could race it more often. The optic handled the course amazing, and the sunshine and dust felt good :).”

“For Downhill, my legs were feeling it in on Sunday morning from all the pushing up hills and sprints. Practice is early and there is so much explosive pedaling in this “DH”. The course seems simple, but there is very little room for error and every movement counts, so I enjoy piecing it all together.”

CRANKWORX NEW ZEALAND

Rotorua, New Zealand- March 22- April 2, 2017 - The first major event of 2017 headed to the southern hemisphere to try to capture a piece of the New Zealand summer. The week started out quite wet from neighboring Cyclone Debbie off the coast of Australia, effecting both the EWS and and early Crankworx events. Luckily as the week unfolded, the sun came out and dried things out, a bit:). 

Jill Kintner competed in 3 events (Air DH, Pumptrack, and Downhill) to demonstrate her ability once again across several disciplines. 

Crankworx Interview

"There is only one Jill Kintner. This is one athlete who doesn’t stop, who takes podium after podium, who gives back to the sport and her community, who knows her limits, and never stops pushing. And as a competitor, she’s keenly aware of her threats, humbly, and unfailingly, working to stay on top. The numbers speak for themselves:

• 34 medals won at Crankworx
• 8 Crankworx pump track golds...

ROTORUA, NZ

Finally the start of a new season. Winter was a tad brutal, and the rain followed us over to NZ for the first few days of Crankworx. Oh well, ready for it. Bikes are all tuned up by our new mechanic Brad Kelly, and I'm feeling really good. A bit of rescheduling for a few events and we should be ready to roll. Wish me luck. 

AUSTRALIA

Well, we were meant to have Christmas in Europe this year, but as it worked out, our product launch in Spain was cancelled, and we quickly switched our tickets to visit our other homeland of Australia!! Christmas with Bryn's whole family was pretty fun. We also stayed with our besties in the Blue mountains for a few weeks, got an amazing wedding in, saw a ton of homies, a surprise 50th bday party, caught up with a couple other pros for some mid day heatstroke riding weather, dinner with Jared Graves at his new place, and a little drive up the coast to Queensland. So fun.

Home, USA

The regular race season is over, so now it's time to do whatever the hell I want and be out enjoying fall weather in the NW. Resting, hiking, Chilling, catching up with homies, and regrouping. It's a time of randomness till my body feels like training again. Peace. 

WHISTLER, CANADA

Pretty rad to have just wrapped up the Crankworx world series championship! Three rounds, 12 events, 8 wins, all top 5, not too shabby. Thx to Tris my mechanic, Bryn, fans, and sponsors for making the best gear!!! Feels good to wrap up my main target for the year!!.... 

RIO IS STARTING

I'm pretty excited to watch the Olympic Games. Obviously I have a few special memories, and wish the Athletes in the 2016 games the best of luck. Our BMX Squad has a lot of potential to bring back some hardware!! Good Luck Alise Post, Brooke Crain, Corben Sharrah, Nick Long, Connor Fields!! XC bandits as well!! USA

MAMMOTH, CA

Jill wins the Downhill and Slalom national championships, making for her 16th and 17th USA title across 5 disciplines. Aaron Gwin won the men's DH event, and Mitch Ropelato won the slalom and enduro titles.