CEDAR DUST REVIVAL
Words: Tyler Deschaine
Photos: Josh Woodward, Colin Wisemann
Video: Spencer Arps, Evan Bradley, Tyler Deschaine
The Cedar Dust Pro Line has been a staple in the Bellingham community since 2018. Originally flagged by Skye Schillhammer and Lars Sternberg directly following the logging of the area, myself, Skye, and Oliver Parish, along with many others in our community (you know who you are), stacked lips and packed landings, and the trail began to take shape, offering Galbraith its first real “pro level” jump line. The Bellingham Community had its fair share of off-the-map jumps, but offering something legitimate that riders could hit day in and day out was desperately needed.
Nobody truly knew what this level of public jumps would lead to. We could imagine that it would foster the next generation of free-riders and bigger jumps in our community, but the rate at which it happened was mind-blowing. In a few short years, riders like Talus Turk and Hannah Bergemann took multiple "first to dirt" moments on the Cedar Dust step up, showing that there was a need for something bigger in our community. This led to the birth of lines like Blue Steel and Mohawk and elevated riders' skills to the highest levels.
Before long, Cedar Dust Pro Line no longer felt pro; it felt… small. Riders would often ride past it on their way to bigger, better hits, and the weather began to take its toll. Year after year, the jumps withered away in the shadows of their byproducts.
In early 2023, Skye reached out to me to see if I would be interested in taking over the sponsorship of Cedar Dust. Transition had a lot of new trails and existing build projects on its plate for the year, and he didn’t think they would be able to give it the attention it needed. Tenet was the next logical owner. A quick call to the WMBC’s Director, Eric Brown, and we became the new official sponsor for the legendary trail, and immediately we went to work. I first called up Tenet athlete and Director of Sensus Rad Trails, Cody Wilkins, to see if he would be interested in taking on the project. We had been talking about collaborating on a build, and this was the perfect opportunity. Cody and I met up on Cedar Dust and laid out a build plan with the help of Talus. It only made sense to bring Talus into the fold on this project as he’s a living example of what this trail can produce. As Talus snuck in laps before class as a high schooler, it was no surprise that he would progress fast. Every other week, he would take a personal "first to dirt," and before you knew it, that trick was taken to the 30+ foot Blue Steel jumps. Now was his chance to give back to the hill that brought him up, to leave his touch for the next generation of riders.
Having spent last winter in Virgin, Utah, Talus had mastered the art of building jumps. With Cody stacking lips and Talus and his crew of YTC Groms (WMBC Youth Trail Corps) shaping and packing, the revived Pro Line quickly took on its new form. When summer hit and water dried up, Talus brought his Utah build knowledge and carted 60 gallons of water up each session to keep the project moving along. Bigger, steeper, and blastier was the name of the game. Cedar Dust finally got its second lease on life with a full blown makeover, and boy it's a beaut, Clark.
I want to give a special thank you to Cody Wilkins at Sensus Rad Trails, The WMBC Youth Trail Corp Groms, Talus Turk and his army of builders (SO MANY TO NAME), Eric Brown at the WMBC, Skye Schillhammer and anyone and everyone that carried a jug of water, slapped a lip, and raked rocks—this project would not have been possible without you. We are proud of the hard work that went into this trail, and I hope you are too.
Special thanks to Spencer Arps, Evan Bradley, Colin Wiseman, and Josh Woodward for documenting the process and contributing to telling this story.