The North Face
DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
PRODUCER
EDITOR
DoP
MOTION GRAPHICS
FEATURED ATHLETES
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
PRODUCER
EDITOR
DoP
MOTION GRAPHICS
FEATURED ATHLETES
Rob Wassmer
Kaki Orr
Justin Sund
Brittany Delph
Ethan Newberry
Ryan Thrower
Yassine Diboun
Tara Fraga
Bryan Bhark
Dylan Bowman
Ethan Newberry
Dylan Bowman
Kaytlyn Gerbin
94 miles. 24,000 feet of climbing. The average thru-hiker completes the Wonderland Trail in 10 - 14 days. The North Face team athlete and trail runner Kaytlyn Gerbin’s goal? 19 hours and the fastest known time (FKT).
The Ginger Runner and The North Face teamed up to document Kaytlyn’s FKT attempt around the Wonderland Trail. Known for its challenging elevation gains and rugged terrain, this 94-mile hiking trail encircles Mount Rainier in Washington State and traverses through forests, alpine meadows, and glacier-covered peaks.
The FKT attempt was made near the end of the Covid-19 crisis and, as one of the most demanding trails in the ultra-running scene, had no clear outcome at the outset: could Kaytlyn beat the FKT? Adding to the uncertainty, Kaytlyn is a top athlete (read: extremely fast) in the midst of a record-setting attempt, so the filmers had to rely on cinéma vérité style coverage at break stations because it was not possible to track alongside her to capture action shots.
These unique variables created some interesting challenges in post. For instance, a lot of the footage trails behind Kaytlyn. That meant footage of her running toward the camera, where you could see her face, was sparse. Faces are important in editing for building an emotional connection for viewers with the main character. To solve this problem, creative editing techniques and heavy use of motion graphics were used to build a solid story structure and construct emotional peaks and valleys.
A beastly project and the longest video I’ve cut, this project pushed me as an editor and brought about great learning opportunities.