Meet a Team Rider: Ryan Kremsater
Ryan is known for finding and riding the most difficult, most impressive lines down a section. And because those aren’t enough just yet, he likes building even harder wood structures in his backyard. We talked to Ryan about all the things he did in this year's season as a member of Kris Holm Factory Team.
Hi Ryan! How is your riding season going?
2015 has been a busy year thus far. I graduated with my Bachelor of Science degree in May, did a short field course, and then started working on a 4 month summer research project. With the end of summer a new chapter in my life begins; a two-year Masters in Geological Engineering. In alignment with my summer and fall schedule, the majority of my plans in 2015 (and early 2016) are local video projects focused on pushing my boundaries as a rider.
I have been building two trails over the past several years, which are slowly nearing completion and will hopefully be filmed later this year or early next spring. The catch is, before I can film the trails, I have to be able to ride them! My building philosophy causes all my creations to be well above my current skill level, so before I can ride them successfully, I have to become a better rider. I have stunts I built three years ago and still haven't even tried because they’re way too hard.
The first trail, named “The Ex”, is home to elevated skinnies that are over 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, often ending with drops of equal or greater height. I currently do not have the confidence to ride truly narrow skinnies 10 to 15 feet above the ground, and I am not able to land drops of that height either. The next few months will see a lot of crashing, and hopefully, closely followed by a lot of improving!
Other filming projects include the North Shore Shred series, which I would like to continue, showing fast, flowy, technical riding on the unicycle. I am currently filming a project on Bowen Island, which is where a large portion of Atlantis was filmed. Bowen Island is the place that inspired the name “Atlantis”. It is incredible. I am very excited to see how this project turns out. The Project Muni Tutorials never really got off the ground in 2013 for various reasons, but I would love to start working on that again next year.
What have you been up to last year?
For me, last year was the metaphorical roller coaster of good times followed by bad spells. The year started with the Moab Muni Fest where I got to meet a lot of unicyclists, a few other members of the KH Factory team, and was reunited with Jacob Spera for some big desert freeride. The trip was skilfully captured by John Lesage, granting our sport some well-deserved exposure. The trip ended with a sprained ankle and a piggyback tour of the town of Moab.
The sprained ankle stubbornly persisted into a 4 month injury (with rehab), successfully derailing all of my personal projects, riding goals and aspirations in Ultimate Frisbee. The bad spell was partially salvaged by a 13th place finish in the UNICON Downhill.
The pinnacle of the summer was a 10 day freeride trip with a group of amazing riders and friends around British Columbia. Everyone pushed the limits of their riding ability despite the challenging conditions, resulting in a well-received video; This Is British Columbia.
Fun Fact about you?
I used to be terrified of downramps. Drops? No problem, I would jump over the downramp if I could - anything but ride down it... Now I love downramps! Nothing better!
What do you like about being in the KH Factory Team?
The KH team has given me some very good friends and has made some very memorable adventures possible. The support from Kris is incredible and he has put me in a position where I can give back to the unicycle community.
Thanks your insightful answers, Ryan. Good luck with all your other projects, we are looking forward to the outcomes.
Check out Ryan's team rider profile and follow him on instagram.
Ryan is co-sponsored by Unicycle.com (Canada).
Riding photos by Glenn Jasechko, portrait by Amanda Porsild.