TRAIL TALK

SAM PILGRIM

WE CATCH UP WITH THE YOUTUBE FAVOURITE TO FIND OUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION!

Words James Costley-White Images Canyon

WHAT IS TRAIL TALK?

In this new feature and video series, MBUK TV presenter Tom Marvin will be meeting up with top riders, heading out for a ride and quizzing them about everything from their careers so far to what it takes to earn a living from mountain biking.

Sam’s known for jumps, but he’s not messing around on the downhills

irst up in our new Trail Talk series is none other than Sam Pilgrim, who’s gone from up-and-coming dirt jumper to slopestyle world champion to content creator. And very successful content it is too – his main, self-titled YouTube channel has an incredible 2.3 million subscribers.

After heading out to Germany to meet Sam as he picks up his new bike from his sponsors Canyon, Tom joins him on the trails near the company HQ in Koblenz. The first item on the agenda is YouTube...

Video killed the contest star

“I started the channel in 2006,” says Sam, as he and Tom pedal up the fireroad to the top of the trails in the Koblenzer Stadtwald, a large public forest to the south of the Rhineland city. “It’s actually the way I got into my first contest – I had to send in a video of the skills I had. That’s what got me invited to the Vienna Air King contest.

“Back then, people did ‘edits’ – you’d film [your riding] over a while and then post it. So, I’d do four videos a year or something. And before vlogging as we know it was a thing, I’d do vlogs at contests – I’d take my camera and film the random stuff we did. If you go far back on the channel, it’s quite funny to see the vlogs, because I put way worse stuff in! It was way more raw back then.