Vital RAW - #TBT Gold Hill, Colorado, 2001 19

Take a trip back 15 years to the mountains outside of Boulder, Colorado. A dedicated crew of riders had developed a steep, technical, jump-filled DH trail network on private land with permission from the land owner so they could hone their skills during the off season. Like any great trails, word about them spread despite the vows of secrecy, and eventually the influx of riders led to the location's demise.

These clips are from my first two days ever filming downhill mountain biking, but more importantly to me, the footage is a visual scrapbook of the first time I met a lot of these riders - incredible humans who became life-long friends and weren't afraid of being guinea pigs as I learned how to shoot photos and videos. It's a fine thing to see how so many of these riders have become influential in our sport today with their trail-building visions.

Here's to the good old days of winter-time shuttles at Gold Hill with Big Crank Racing, Santa Cruz Super 8's with 1000-pound shock springs, Manitou X-Vert Carbon forks, Intense M1's, Razor Rock and Rob Sears (RIP).

Riders in order of appearance -Matt Thompson -Dave Ziegman -Judd De Vall -Gale Dahlager -Rob Sears (RIP) -Eric Jean -Mihai Moga -Unknown scraping down the slab -Ross Milan -Bernie Frederick -Kent Setsma #dirtfarm