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Just over a year ago I got to road trip up to the one-and-only Jibtopia in Semora, North Carolina. The park was yet to open to the public, but Kevin Henshaw, Nico Von Lerchenfeld, and Felix Georgii all had unrestricted access while they were filming for The Debut with Andy Kolb. While still totally raw, the Jibtopia park was already full of potential for the guys to do some insane shredding. I could also tell just from looking at the setup the that the park was also going to be really special once opened to the public. We spent the next three days in some less than ideal conditions (read: cold) shooting and shredding. I had a blast watching the guys ride and Andy film. They came up with some really unique ideas that made for great video clips and photos.

Originally the trip to Jibtopia was going to be its own story in an issue of Alliance, but the world of magazines is constantly changing and we decided to make a larger story about all the trips and filming that went into The Debut. This left me with a lot of leftovers from Jibtopia. Some were randomly scattered in other issues of Alliance like the Photo Annual and The List, but many have gone unseen. I figured now that The Debut is out for public consumption now is as good a time as ever to share a good chunk of the photos from our trip. Some of these you may recognize, many have never been seen. Props to Kevin, Nico, and Felix for shredding and many thanks to all the guys at Jibtopia for making an awesome park and letting us run around like kids in a candy store for a few days last year.

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Henshaw walking to the park

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The first night there I set up some flashes around the giant corrugated tube the guys had set up on the incline rail. Felix went to town on it

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Nico and the utility boat

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The infamous Jibtopia bus provided all sorts of fun for all of us: riders, filmer, and photographer

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Nico set up a barricade in front of the hand rail and we got a few killer photos up close

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The Germans couldn’t get enough of the dirt bike

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Kevin gapping to the corrugated tube

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Each day consisted of at least two walks from the RV’s by the park to the main house in order to get on the Internet

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Andy got stoked

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The original speaker system at Jibtopia was pretty sweet

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Bus top backlip over Jibtopia’s Alex Hamrick

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And now a tail press. Henny’s hits on the top of the bus were insane to watch.

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Nico tube riding

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Henshaw, as seen from inside the bus

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“Cheers, mates!”

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Felix loves the peace

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This photo ran as a Big Picture in an issue of Alliance last year as a tease to The Debut’s pending arrival

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Nico inside the Germans’ RV home for the weekend

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Pizza party of 1

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Henshaw’s sunset session on the gap