The Canadian superstar on breaking boundaries with his new freeriding documentary

How did you get involved in the movie?
Well, I had been working with Freeride Entertainment for the past few years and we all sat down together and said we should do something new together. There was probably about a year of throwing about ideas before we settled on making a movie about riding in these really remote places. The story itself just kind of evolved while we were making it. It wasn’t until the last year that we really had an idea of the direction that we were going.

So the theme of the film from the start was about riding in the most extreme natural places you could find?
Yeah, that was the plan. We really just wanted to push our riding and push our exploration.

Did you discover anything about yourself while you were out there?
Absolutely, you’re pushed in just so many different ways. For one, you’re in crazy locations and crazy countries and you have do without home comforts likes showers or a hot meal. You have to spend all your time in these really dirty clothes, while at the same time you have to go out and push your level of riding. It was difficult but really rewarding.

What countries did you actually travel to?
We went to the Gobi Desert in China twice, we go to go to Nepal and we also went to Argentina, Utah and Fraser River in British Columbia. Culturally-wise, Nepal was the biggest eye opener. It’s not every day you go to a place where not everybody has a refrigerator and there aren’t Coke signs hanging outside of every store. That sort of thing gives you the impression that you’re never too far away from home, but in Nepal there wasn’t anything like that. It was like the Stone Age – the people wore knitted sweaters instead of big labels and the only running water was the nearest creek.

There were a few accidents among the riders while filming. Did you escape unharmed?
I went at a steady pace the whole way through, I was pretty timid. The last thing I wanted was to be in the back of a truck in the middle of nowhere driving for hours to find the nearest hospital. I’ve had accidents in my own country and that was bad enough, I didn’t want to be hurt in one of these remote places.

The director, Jeremy Grant, has revealed he has plans for a sequel. Would you like to be involved?
Absolutely, there are always longer trips to take and places we never got to go. We were in China and I was trying to get the boys to go from Northern China through to Tibet and from there work our way west into Nepal. I was literally packing my bags to go and I was told that the trip wasn’t authorised by the Chinese government – they really were on all fours watching us and making sure we weren’t depicting their country in a negative way.

How do you think audiences will react to Where The Trail Ends?
I think it will create a lot of interest in the sport of freeriding. We have a pretty competitive spirit and we’re all about trying to outdo each other - if anything I’d like this film to motivate people to go out there and have an adventure, whether it’s on a bike or not.

BONUS INTERVIEW: Five questions... On Where The Trail Ends 

Andreu Lacondeguy, Cameron Zink, James Doerfling, Kurtis Sorge and director Jeremy Grant answer a fistful of queries about their new movie 

Andreu Lacondeguy 

What's your favourite part of the movie?

It’s cool to see how different the world and people is... we are going to the craziest places on earth to just ride a bike and film a movie... it’s a cool feeling!

What segment was the most challenging to film?  

I wasn`t there but the hole filming crew and all the riders say that Nepal was the most challenging... the riding is insane but being out there on those conditions make the riding way harder! 

What was your scariest moment?

Trying a double backflip after knocking myself out on the same jump and same trick 20min before. 

What did you get out of the overall experience?  

I learn a lot with it. I would say that it’s been the biggest learning experience!

Would you do it again? I would for sure do it again... 

Cameron Zink 

What's your favourite part of the movie?

China was definitely my favourite part of the movie. I didn't get to go the first trip, but once we started finding a few new zones everything culminated.

That place is the perfect mix of big mountain lines where no work is needed to ride, plus all the drops and harder packed features among it all. The perfect place to ride but incredibly hard to get there and live. 

What segment was the most challenging to film? 

Nepal was the hardest with 4 days to even get to where we wanted to first try to ride, which ended up being horrible. 5 days of traveling to get to a good spot.

My bike was lost and was somehow delivered to me 4 days after we got to Kathmandu by a porter who I never saw; it was just dropped in the middle of a village and waited for me... 

What was your scariest moment?

My scariest moment was my first line in China. I couldn't breathe after crashing, my face started to turn purple and I thought I broke my back and some ribs.

After not being able to catch my breath for over an hour, until some painkillers kicked in and we got to the hospital, I found out I had nothing broken. I took a day off and went on to have some of the best riding of my life in the days following. 

What did you get out of the overall experience?

The harder you suffer; the more you smile 

Would you do it again?

Definitely. Just give me a few months to catch my breath...  

Kurtis Sorge

What's your favourite part of the movie?

Well I have not yet seen the movie... But I trust the boys at Freeride Ent. and I've been holding out to see the movie for the first time in Vegas for the world premier!

What segment was the most challenging to film?

Well I would say all the trips were very challenging but if I had to pick one I would say our trip to Virgin, Utah because not only was it 40 plus degrees out, we were eaten alive by the bugs!

What was your scariest moment?

The scariest moment I had was probably when I crashed in Bug Water, Utah and had to go to the hospital because I thought I had hurt my back pretty bad... no fun.

What did you get out of the overall experience?

I have got more then I could have ever imagined out of this project. I have a seen and ridden places of the world I never thought I would and I got to do it all with a great group of friends! 

Would you do it again?

In a heartbeat! 

James Doerfling

What's your favourite part of the movie?

My favourite part of the movie is probably the Fraser river seggy, just knowing that it is right by my hometown gets me fired up.

What segment was the most challenging to film?

I think most of the trips I went on were pretty equal in the sense of going there and having to find and build all your lines in a certain time frame.

What was your scariest moment?

Probably when one of our drivers in china clipped a car on the highway right I front of us.. They weren't going slow either

What did you get out of the overall experience?

The fact that we rode lines all over the world that no one will probably ever ride again is a pretty unreal feeling

Would you do it again?

Hell yeah

Jeremy Grant – director

What's your favourite part of the movie?

We wanted to make sure each segment had its own feel and elements that added to the entire story but the stand out segment for me was Nepal. That trip was so much work and so exhausting that it made the simplest thing seem amazing and I really think that came through in the segment.  

What segment was the most challenging to film?

The most challenging segment would have to be Turpan China in the Gobi desert. There is so much red tape over there and the region we were in was very politically sensitive. We had police following us around and had to show the military our footage to prove we were shooting mountain biking and nothing political. 

What was your scariest moment?

The scariest moments were the crashes in the remote regions away from roads and hospitals. All the riders went for it and with that comes some serious crashes in places where there is no help for miles or even days. There were a lot of trips to the hospital during the project; so many that we actually cut some from the film to make sure the story didn't get repetitive. 

What did you get out of the overall experience?

I got a lot out of this project both personally and as a filmmaker. Personally it was just awesome to get to go to all these amazing locations with such a great crew of people. As a filmmaker it was an incredible opportunity to tell the story of what these guys go though to ride landscapes that have never been ridden.  

Would you do it again?

We are already throwing the idea around for a sequel to WTTE but the scary thing about that will be pushing further than we did with this film. During this project we pushed ourselves as deep as we could into some of the most remote regions we could find and to have to outdo that will be an exciting challenge. We have some pretty good ideas already though. 

Watch the red carpet action live from the premiere online at 1:30pm (AEST) Thursday 20 September and the full movie from 2pm (AEST) at: http://www.redbull.com/wherethetrailends or check out the video on demand at the same links for 24hrs afterwards. 

You can also Pre-Order the movie at iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/movie/where-the-trail-ends/id557844866