The SR Suntour Freeride Roadtrip 1

“Shoot me an email once you have an idea,” Hoshi told me as we parted ways. It was July 2024; we’d just spent the day filming around my hometown of Squamish. Hoshi Yoshida—longtime industry legend and SR Suntour marketing executive—liked my locations and creative ideas enough to suggest I pitch a project of my own in collaboration with SR Suntour.

That was all the encouragement I needed. Over the next few weeks, I brainstormed ideas for a video project. At that point, I had spent almost my entire riding career in the Sea to Sky, so I knew I wanted to head to a new location for this video project. I also knew that I wanted to make a film with a bit more personality and story, instead of a straight action shredit.

With those things in mind, I came up with the idea that lead to this film; a freeride roadtrip across Southern BC searching for steep, natural lines.

A few weeks later, we had a crew and a start date. The plan was to explore Kamloops and then head deeper into the Interior toward Rossland and Trail. I was fired up to ride steep, loose freeride terrain—something we don’t have much of on the coast.

The crew was imperative to making the trip a success. Mason Gautry and Mateo Quist were perfect athletes to join for the trip. They both have incredible bike control and unmatched braking, which was critical for the terrain that lay ahead.

Equally as important, they both have great positive attitudes, and aren’t afraid to hike! The film doesn’t show it, but we hiked a TON that week—often in deep sand on brutally steep slopes. “I’m never hiking my bike again,” Mateo joked as the week wrapped up.

Another critical component was the filmers. Harry Wilson and Gleen Mackie both had great attitudes and were ready for whatever challenges came their way. They listened to my direction carefully while also putting their own vision into the cinematography. Having such flexible filmers that were stoked made all the difference! Big shoutout to them!

The planned dates of the trip were from October 1st - October 7th 2024. I had two main concerns leading up to the trip: 

1. I hoped that our Toyota Sequoia with over 400,000 km would survive the drive. 

2. I really hope it would stay dry! Given the time of year, rainfall is common. 

By some miracle, the truck ran perfectly, and it didn’t rain once.

When October 1st came, we piled into the 2001 Toyota Sequoia and hit the road. Me and Mason were equipped with fresh Durolux 38s with 180 mm of buttery travel. These were the perfect tool for the trip and fueled our confidence. 

Day one in Kamloops was a blast. We spent the morning at the iconic gravel pit and quickly found ourselves on the seldom-ridden far side—steep and full of boulders, a theme that continued throughout the trip

Later, we moved to a new location where we found more chutes as the October sun dropped behind the hills. Great vibes and fun lines!

In Kamloops, we were lucky enough to have a great place to stay with friends Josh Heathcote and Kaden Steeves. Josh was planning on doing some riding for the film, so that night we swapped Josh’s fork for a fresh SR Suntour RUX with 200 mm of travel. Following that, we woke up the next morning, and Josh put on a clinic at the Bike Ranch, even frontflipping the Cabin Jump on Fistful of Dollars—absolutely wild to watch and so hype. 

Before leaving the ranch, I had my eyes set on a line into the parking lot. It was a steep chute into a phat to flat drop. The drop lands right into the parking lot, and it's hard to ignore. I rode it about as expected and made it out fine. Glad to have done it… won’t be doing it again anytime soon.

From Kamloops we continued to Rossland, staying with longtime family friend Michelle Cordiez. Although we slept in Rossland, all our riding happened down the hill near the town of Trail BC. I grew up in Rossland and had always imagined riding the riverbanks of the Columbia River. This time, we made it happen. After scouting from the opposite shore, we hiked up onto the raw slope. It was incredibly steep, littered with loose boulders, and had no obvious lines. Eventually, we were able to figure out something to ride, but it was rowdy!

On our drives to and from the river, a certain rooftop kept catching my eye: a perfect roof covering a steep set of stairs that looked rideable. Trail is full of hills and staircases—JP Auclair’s iconic All I Can street ski segment was filmed in these neighborhoods. Inspired by JP, the next morning we sessioned the roof. It became one of the trip’s standout memories.

Following the stairs, that afternoon, we switched gears entirely and hit the links! My family owns the local course, so we had access and everyone was stoked for a change of pace. We filmed an entire golf vlog's worth of footage, but only a couple shots made the film. Shoutout Redstone for a fun and challenging course!

The next day was our final day in Rossland. We had been told about an old washout that was shot for the original Kranked films. After a bit of research, we were there. These lines ended up being some of our favorites. Wide open sand chutes with good runouts, quite the contrast from the tight boulder field slopes by the river. There was even a perfect vantage point on a parallel hill for Glenn to post up with his long lens.

The next day, we packed up and made the long drive back to the coast. To break up the drive we ended up riding an incredible freeride zone. The fluted dirt spines that surrounded the slope made it feel like we were backcountry skiing! A perfect way to wrap up the trip. 

Late that night we rolled into the Sea to Sky. The trip was done; an unforgettable week of bikes, friends, and good times. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

A big thank you to SR Suntour for supporting me and my vision for this film, as well as making such great suspension!  

-- Ryder Bulfone