Description
Photos and interview by Fred Robinson
I first met Wil White almost ten years ago, at the bottom of a local Downhill trail in San Diego, CA. He was standing there with his Mom and Dad, who approached our group asking if Wil could shuttle up with us. I believe he was only 11 years old at the time, maybe 12, and he looked just like he looks today, only a miniature version of his current self. We warned his parents that this trail had some pretty big features on it, to which they assured us that Wil would be fine, so off we went.
I remember telling Wil what the first few features were like and how big they were, just trying to feel out whether or not I should lead him off them or take the b-lines. Needless to say, he hit everything and stayed on my rear wheel the entire run. At the two stopping points on the trail, while we rested, Wil was riding around looking for anything he could climb up and huck off. Boulders, ten-foot bench cut drops to flat, you name it… if it was within sight, Wil was riding off it. I recall thinking, “Jesus, this kid’s nuts! He's just constantly going for it.”
Since our initial introduction, I started seeing Wil at events like Sea Otter and the Fontana Southridge Winter Series races. He had that same non-stop energy he had on that day back in San Diego. At Fontana, while everyone else was watching the awards after the race, Wil was in the background sending a no-footer on the final jump of the 4X course, pushing back up and doing a no-hander the next time.
Fast forward to today, and Wil is getting ready for his fifth Red Bull Rampage, having started attending the competition when he was only 16.
We recently headed out to Wil’s new house, nestled away in deep East County San Diego, to snap some photos and sit down with Wil White, the 21 year-old professional Freerider.
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