PRO GRT 1 - PORT ANGELES, WA
May 13-15, 2016 - The First round of the USA Downhill national series (Pro Gravity Race Tour) went to Port Angeles, Washington. This zone is particularly familiar for Jill, with plenty of time riding these trails over the winter she took a convincing win in the Pro Women’s with a time close to the men. This home turf advantage gave Jill the early lead in the National series. Pro and Junior Men saw first time winners of Tanner Stephens, and Steve Walton. Top 5 pro men’s times were separated by under a second. Bryn was not in attendance as he spent the weekend filming for his next filming project up in Bellingham.
PROGRT#1 RESULTS
Pro WOMEN
1. Jill Kintner - 2:50.81
2. Jamie Rees- 3:07.38
3. Britany White - 3:09.17
Pro MEN
1. Tanner Stephens - 2:37.92
2. Mitch Ropelato- 2:37.96
3. Luca Cometti - 2:37.99
4. Forrest Riesco- 2:38.07
5. Mikey Sylvestri- 2:38.14
________________________________________________________________________________
PRO GRT 2 - VERNON, NJ
May 26-29, 2016 - Stop #2 of the ProGRT went out East to MountainCreek Bike Park in Vernon, New Jersey -home of the former US Open. Mountain Creek is an awesome venue for it’s proximity to NYC and Newark, the lodge on site, chairlift access, fun trails, and all around a good crew of people. Vastly different terrain to Port Angeles, Mountain Creek is extremely rocky, dry, loose, and quite short in time, making for an all out sprint. The high speeds test your will to lay off the brakes down the ski run sections and then looking ahead into chunky square edged rock gardens. The USA’s top World Cup contenders from the men’s field were in attendance, including; Aaron Gwin, Luca Shaw, Neko Mulally, Mitch Ropelato, etc, and the racing was exciting with lots of carnage and tight times. Gwin took the win over youngster Luca Shaw by .8 of a second. Jill cleaned up again by just a bit more of a margin than that:) Big thanks to Fox and Shimano for the tech support, and Mountain Creek Bike park for hosting.
PROGRT#2 RESULTS
Pro WOMEN
1. Jill Kintner - 2:20.17
2. Lauren Daney- 2:35.89
3. Angelina Palermo - 2:38.85
Pro MEN
1. Aaron Gwin - 2:01.77
2. Luca Shaw- 2:02.59
3. Mitch Ropelato- 2:05.18
4. Kiran Mackinnon- 2:05.45
5. Shawn Neer- 2:06.18
________________________________________________________________________________
OTHER PROJECTS
________________________________________________________________________________
NYC + BROOKLYN BIKE PARK
May 25, 2016- Making the most the trip to the east coast, Jill teamed up with fellow Red Bull Athlete Aaron Chase to make a little video edit riding through the streets of NYC en route to the Brooklyn Bike Park. Chase is a legend in the sport, and also works for Red Bull media house and Gopro to create content. Their little social media video sorta went viral @aaronchase ’s Instagram and, after a few days, collectively, their viewership surpassed 100,000 views. https://www.instagram.com/p/BGDO-w8KHWg/?taken-by=aaronchase
________________________________________________________________________________
JILL SHIMANO Di2 COMMERCIAL WITH ANTHILL - SQUAMISH, BC
May 1-4, 2016- Shimano recently launched the XT version of Di2 electronic shifting and asked Jill to shoot with Anthill Films for the commercial. This video features Julian Absalon (World Cup XC), Neko Lau (enduro), and Jill (DH/enduro) and showcased this product with Jill in Squamish, BC.
________________________________________________________________________________
WINGS FOR LIFE WORLD RUN- SANTA CLARITA, CA
May 8, 2016 - The Wings for Life World Run is the largest running race in the world, and raises money for Spinal Cord Research via the Wings for Life Foundation. Everyone starts the race at the same time in 34 different locations all over the world, and runs until a catcher car passes and eliminates them. This was Jill’s second year running, and she went 12km, which was defiantly painful the next day. Red bull athletes love to support this cause because so many of us have friends who have been directly effected by spinal cord injuries. Case in point, Jill’s old racing rival , Tara Llanes was injured a few years back while competing at an event, and the 6.6million Euros raised by this #WorldRun can hopefully help her with the resources to walk again. xoxo
________________________________________________________________________________
LEAVENWORTH VELOSOLUTIONS PUMPTRACK
May 12, 2016 - The second ever asphalt pumptrack was built by Velo-solutions in the USA, just 3 hrs from home, in Leavenworth, WA near partner resort- Stevens Pass. Claudio Caluori asked Bryn and Jill to come ride the first few laps, and help make a video for a Leavenworth tourism on Icicle TV . Having a skills park like this, with almost zero maintenance, is an incredible boost for the community of developing riders. Bryn and Jill loved it!!! “This pumptrack is a real gem and we are lucky to have open access to such a place."
________________________________________________________________________________
WHISTLER OPENING WEEKEND
May 20-22, 2016 - Opening weekend for the Bike Park in Whistler is amazing. Lines were long, trails were buff, and plenty of friends and media were in attendance. Lift assisted downhill riding makes life better, and Jill was there busting out laps and sneaking into the Pinkbike coverage with a bike check, and a couple seconds in the highlight reel with Brett Tippie:)
PINK BIKE VIDEO- Jill at 4:06: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/just-the-tip-whistler-bike-park-opening-day-2016.html
________________________________________________________________________________
STEVIE SMITH MEMORIAL- NANAIMO, BC
May 21, 2016 - Bryn and Jill attended their friend’s memorial on Vancouver island to pay tribute. Hundreds of people were there to tell stories and celebrate such an action packed life of one of the sport’s biggest stars. Stevie was in an off-road motorcycle accident and suffered a severe brain injury from the head on collision. Jill wrote some heartfelt words for a tribute article.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/stevie-smith-long-live-chainsaw.html
________________________________________________________________________________
MARGUS RIGA PHOTOSHOOT- FREEHUB MAG
May 16-17, 2016- Freehub Magazine, a quarterly national MTB publication based in Bellingham is printing a 12 page feature on Jill’s life story. Margus Riga, a Vancouver based photographer came to shoot with Bryn and Jill in their hometown to create some stunning photos to accompany the article. Look for it in the Next issue out July 26th...
________________________________________________________________________________
BRYN
________________________________________________________________________________
BRYN BELLINGHAM EDIT
May 13-30, 2016- Bryn has been hard at work filming and editing his next video on the trails of Bellingham onboard his Norco Optic 29er. Out soon….
_______________________________________________________________________________
BRYN -MICHELOB ULTRA BEER COMMERCIAL
May 23, 2016 - Bryn was the riding model for a commercial featuring Seattle Based Photographer Ian Coble. Shot on location at Duthie Hill mountain bike park (Issaquah, WA), the commercial highlights Ian’s active lifestyle by showing him photographing mountain biking, running, and going to the gym, then kicking back with a Michelob beer at the end of the day. Bryn met a full production team from Time Inc. based out of NYC.
________________________________________________________________________________
BRYN- BELL SUPER 2R PHOTOSHOOT
May 12, 2016- Bryn shot photos with Paris Gore to show the new color-ways for the super 2R helmet for the Bell product Catalog.
________________________________________________________________________________
NEXT UP: CRANKWORX FRANCE!!
####