The Al Hajar Traverse

The Production

In February of 2017, Tim Koerber, Cooper Lambla, and myself embarked on a bike packing trip across the Al Hajar Mountains in Northern Oman. Without any outside support, we attempted to cross one of the most rugged mountain ranges that any of us had ever encountered. After a few days of riding, it became apparent that our planned route was impossible. EXPLORE. The Al Hajar Traverse documents the team's change of plans and compares what could have been to what actually happened.

This film was my first attempt at a documentary story structure.  Since the story is simply about a bike trip, I needed to focus on capturing external elements (such as the environment or cultural moments) to supplement the storyline. This piece was shot on 2 GH4s, a Canon 16-35, 70 - 200, and a fixed 20. We had a small tripod and a Glidecam. All equipment and supplies were fixed to bikes or carried in backpacks.  We charged batteries where we could in various towns and villages. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I look forward to working on more in this particular genre. I did most of the shooting and all of the postproduction.