Season Edit from NW Montana Crew, White Dumpster
Sledding video production crews run the full gamut, from groups of friends riding together and capturing footage to full-blown professional operations producing commercial products. Somewhere in the middle is the White Dumpster crew based out of northwest Montana.
The crew has been publishing sledding videos as White Dumpster on YouTube since 2016, and they’ve recently released their 2018 season edit entitled, We Out Here. The footage follows the gang as they shred some of the very deep snow that was present in Winter 2018-19.
Mountain Sledder contacted producer, Travis Berro, to find out more about White Dumpster and their latest production.
Photos by Kyle Haugen
White Dumpster and We Out Here
MS: First things first—how did your crew come up with the name ‘White Dumpster’?
TB: We wanted something off the wall and original, but simple and bold at the same time. Snow is white and it dumps. White Dumpster.
MS: How was it that the White Dumpster crew came to ride together in the beginning? Are you friends from way back, or have you gotten together through snowmobiling?
TB: It’s a combination of both. Three of us attended college for engineering at Michigan Technological University in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we rode 3-4 times a week. We separately moved to different areas of NW Montana, then all ended up around the Flathead Valley. Since moving here we’ve met other like-minded folks through the local snowmobile scene, social media, at the trailhead and on the RMSHA circuit.
MS: Being based in Montana, is most of your riding done in your home state?
TB: Yes, most of our riding is done in northwest Montana. The snow has been so good the last few years, so we haven’t wanted to leave. It look us years of exploring to find all the honey holes of our local areas, which allows us to focus on filming.
MS: No need to hand out any secret spots, but do you have any favourite riding areas that are well-known?
TB: We are sworn to secrecy by the locals, but we do enjoy taking a trip to Revelstoke a few times a year. It’s fun to ride the more open terrain that Revelstoke has to offer vs. our very technical tree riding of northwest Montana.
MS: In the Winter 2018 edit, we see the crew discussing the avalanche forecast, making a plan and performing a transceiver check before heading out for the day. What resources do you use to help understand the avalanche hazard where you ride?
TB: We are very fortunate to have the Flathead Avalanche Center here in the valley that is committed to posting detailed avalanche forecasts everyday. They are an excellent resource for staying on top of the conditions. We also pay attention to the weather patterns throughout the seasons, even on days we don’t ride, to try to keep up with the changing snowpack. We use an app called ‘Avalanche Forecasts’ by Sebnarware that ties into our local avalanche center. It is a very easy-to-use app that covers every forecast center in North America.
MS: How do you and the other riders find the time to commit to filming and producing edits?
TB: It is a huge time commitment—from setting up the shots down to the editing. When the snow is really good, it is hard to stop the group and take out the cameras. We love sharing our photos and videos with other sledders, our skier friends, and our families, so it’s all worth it in the end.
MS: It looks like much of the We Out Here edit was filmed in deep, mid-storm snow. What are your favourite conditions to ride and film?
TB: Our favorite conditions are bluebird and pow. Nothing results in more high fives. But as we are usually weekend warriors, we don’t get to choose the days we ride. Winter 2018 dumped snow non-stop on us, so we kept at it, no matter the conditions. We ended up with one of the deepest snowpacks in the country, so it felt like the whole season was mid-storm.
MS: Are there plans to produce a feature-length film at any time?
TB: Yes. Keep your eyes peeled in Fall of 2019. We have some great riders and locations lined up to make this happen.
MS: What does the White Dumpster crew have planned for this upcoming winter?
TB: We are currently working on the outline for the season. We are excited to be throwing a leg over new sleds this year, and expanding our riding crew. Our film equipment is expanding allowing us to capture new perspectives we haven’t presented yet.
To see more of White Dumpster’s sledding edits, check out the White Dumpster YouTube channel here.
– MS
