Matt Hunter

Recent Matt Hunter Videos:
Matt Hunter's Gear:
  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkFamily.jsp?sid=12DemoFSR&scid=1100&scname=Mountain

    Demo 8

    When you ride this hard, your bike has to ride harder.

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkFamily.jsp?sid=12EnduroFSR&scid=1100&scname=Mountain

    Enduro

    Attack the big stuff, the small stuff and everything in between....

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkFamily.jsp?sid=12P.Series&scid=1103

    P-3

    Jumps, tricks and berms—as long as you've got the skills.....

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqSCLander.jsp?scid=1008

    Tires

    The product that started it all.....

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  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=64178

    S-Works MTB Helmet

    The lightest certified helmet in the world, worn by 2008 UCI World XC Champion Christoph Sauser...

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Demo 8

I was born in Kamloops, British Columbia in 1983. Singletrack zigzags through the hills behind my parents' house; bikes were freedom. I explored the hills and trails wherever and whenever I could. I was 12 when I got into XC racing. I was really into it until I was about 15, when I started focusing more on DH riding. Some of my friends who I raced with made the same transition, and we started to learn together. We started building big jumps and aggressive trails. We filmed ourselves riding and I made a short video. I entered the video in an online contest, the "Ultimate Freeride Challenge" and ended up winning. That was the beginning of my sponsored career in 2003. Specialized sponsored me then and I have been with Specialized ever since.

My focus has always been shooting photos and filming video segments, that is what I love to do. I really enjoy finding adventure in the mountains - whether it be challenging moves and airs or maybe it's a multiple day ride.

I like watching big mountain skiers and snowboarders, the way they shred the mountains in the snow inspires me on dirt. Besides riding, I surf, fish, and backcountry ski as much as I can.

Sponsors: Specialized, Shimano, Clif Bar, Chromag, MRP, IXS, Fox Racing Shox, Dakine, Contour

Switz Sampler Pack

September 12, 2011

One thing that is really popular in Europe is "trekking". I'm not sure what makes trekking different from walking around or hiking, but from my observations, it involves a lot of extra gear like special poles and long socks with knickers. Spandex is also popular.

I like trekkers. They are usually really friendly, and often they have good trail knowledge if you need to know where to go. But the main reason I like trekkers is because they make great singletrack.  People have been trekking all over Switzerland for centuries! Old people and young people and everyone just session the trails in their trekking boots and poles, churning up the swiss soil in ribbons across the Alps.

My last blog post was a weirdly philosophical BS paragraph about something related to riding. It was late, I couldn't sleep, and I was sitting on a plane over the Atlantic on my way to Zurich. Enough with the excuses but I was really excited for that trip, so maybe that explains it.

We went there to film a segment for Strength In Numbers. I brought a specially built up S-Works Enduro as my trail shredder. It was the right bike.

The trails around Verbier and Zermatt are hard to describe. They are really long, mostly alpine, and usually follow a perfect (fast) grade. A lot of them have trains or trams to the top. There are a lot of intersections with other trails, so there are lots of options. It makes for a pretty amazing time on a mountain bike! If you ever find yourself looking for a place to go ride, this one delivers the goods.

The film trip was a success. The sun cooperated with us, the mountains were big, the glaciers were huge, the trails were fast. I didn't want to go home when the time came, but lucky for me I had another good trip planned when I got back! More to come about that trip soon.  

Go ride!
Matt

Stats for Matt Hunter are coming soon.
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