Graham Hunt at the Post Office Dirt Jumps – 2007

Posted by Photo-John on June 4, 2015

Graham Hunt, launching the Post Office jumps in Aptos, CA, in 2007.

I’m not going to try to say anything about who Graham Hunt was or what he did. I’ll leave that for Interweb know-it-alls and the people who really knew and loved him. However, for those of you who don’t know, Graham recently died in a much-publicized wingsuit accident with Dean Potter, in Yosemite National Park. I didn’t realize that I’d met him until I saw friends from the mountain bike community posting about his death on Facebook. Eventually, I realized I’d actually met and photographed Graham Hunt at the Post Office dirt jumps in Aptos, California, back in 2007. So I dug into the archives to see if I had any good shots of him in action.

Zach Dank – Post Office No-Hander

The main reason I’m sharing these photos is for Zach Dank. His honest and passionate Facebook posts about his fallen friend inspired me to make this gallery (below). About ten years ago, Zach and Graham were riding together and building beautiful, sculpted dirt jumps in Chico, California. I’d admired their work and lifestyle from a distance and jumped at the chance to meet up and take some pictures when they came through Santa Cruz on a mountain bike roadtrip.

Graham Hunt – Post Office X-Up

Sometimes photos end up being a lot more important than you think. In this case, it’s not just that I have photos of Graham in action. This gallery is also a little slice of history in other ways. The Post Office jumps, which nurtured and inspired a whole generation of Santa Cruz dirt jumpers and freeriders, were recently bulldozed. Some of the riders in these photos have since become very prominent, as well. Not that they weren’t already getting attention. But Tyler McCaul, Martin Soderstrom and Andrew Taylor (see photos, below) are more than up-and-coming pros, now – they are the establishment.