Fiji Project Excerpts & Extra Photos: February 19, 2008

Joel202

February 19 2008
200 views
1 comment

Click here to see 21 left over photos from the Fiji Project!

The Crew:
Given the complexity of the project, there were a number of people whose roles were crucial in order for this venture to be successful. Josh Kendrick was Red Bull’s brains behind Tabua—no matter how hard you were working, Josh would make you feel like you were slacking because he was always so gung-ho and ready to do whatever it took to get it done. Australia’s Jonnie Broi was the Project Manager, he spent a total of about six weeks in Fiji over three separate trips doing just about everything besides actually riding the obstacles and shooting the photos. One of the builders of the famous Red Bull Elevation dirt jumps, Nick Halsey, was recruited to build the obstacles. Fiji surf guru, Ian Muller, was our main local connection, and without him none of this would’ve been possible, I think Jonnie put it best, “What can you say about a guy who looks like a native superhero in the most troubling of times? His confidence in surfing big waves gives him an excitement for life and determination to get a job done. His knowledge of the landscape and connections in Fiji helped us immensely.” Another local we simply knew as Dillon, again, Jonnie said… “Dillon, renowned woman slayer, jungle boy, and pilot. Dillon was our do anything brother who killed it when needed.” Then there was Sola, a village elder who was, “instrumental in making the Table mountain shoot happen.” The lucky riders who got the exclusive on the obstacles were Corey Bohan and Corey Martinez, and finally, Dave Mavro from Fuel TV and I rounded out the crew on the media end.

The runway… Photo by Zielinski.One Day On Table Mountain…
While still in the building stages, Jonnie had arranged a truck to drive their supplies to the base of the mountain. However, once he told the driver where they were going, the driver handed him a small block of wood with a phone number for another driver. Jonnie said, “After having a further look into his eyes, I truly saw the fear and worry in him and called my mystery driver on the wood block.” A few days later, while the guys were building in what Jonnie described as, “some of the craziest thunderstorm weather with all the crew huddling [and] freezing underneath the quarterpipe on the tip of the mountain,” a very angry woman came storming over the hill on a horse. Not only was Jonnie amazed to see someone make it up that hill on a horse, he was a bit confused because he thought he had already appeased all of the villagers who owned the land. Apparently, the land was owned by people in a few different villages and it was more complex to get the green light then he originally thought. This is where Sola helped smooth things over. He spoke the language and knew the people, and he arranged a few sevu sevus with the remaining tribes and an agreement was reached. After the pertinent villages were pacified there was still the threat of someone taking advantage of the obstacle and/or the supplies stored underneath it for their own benefit. We knew we had to wrap up shooting at that spot as soon as possible because a ten-foot-tall sub-rail on the edge of a mountain wasn’t too hard to spot—especially in such a remote location with villagers who could probably build a small house out of it.