Miranda Miller conquers her own fears (and really big drop)

Riding at the limit of your comfort zone is scary, no matter where your comfort zone lies. Hitting big gap jumps is definitely scary. Squamish, B.C.’s downhill world champion, Miranda Miller, does both for MGM Alternative’s latest video. All with her trademark honesty and humor. And all with the pressure of being filmed the entire time.

MGM Alternative, Miller’s new YouTube channel with fellow Sea-to-Sky residents Jesse Melamed and Remi Gauvin launched last week.

After a hilarious debut, the trio are moving on to weightier topics. Like fear. And crashing. As well as the fear of injury as a result of crashing. And hitting really big gaps.

MGM Alternative: Miranda Goes Even Bitter and Achieves Her Goal of Hitting a Huge Roadgap! (Part 2)

RELATED: Miranda Miller, Andréane Lanthier Nadeau and Brittany Phelan star in “On Falling”

While Miller is phenomenally talented, she didn’t just rock up and send “Brutus” sight unseen. Hitting this massive road gap was a big project, that involved smaller steps. Much of that groundwork is documented in MGM Altarnative’s Part 1 to today’s episode, which you can watch below.

As part of the project, Miller works up to hitting “Brutus,” starting with “Poacher.” For non-Sea-to-Sky locals, these are two notorious local features. Here’s Miller’s description of what led to the goal, in her own words:

After a strenuous year racing downhill in 2018, I felt that I had reached rock bottom. I had no confidence in my abilities, was ashamed of my performances and was extremely burnt out from forcing risk on myself when I wasn’t 100% healthy. Lately, I have begun to feel stagnant in my riding and was fed-up of not having any confidence. At the end of the day, I am the only one that can change that, so while it has taken me longer than I would have liked, it was time I began to prove to myself what I can do.

Through the process of hitting both Poacher and Brutus it has helped prove to myself the strength of my mind, how to properly focus again and how to methodically work on taking bigger risks. Remi and Jesse helped pushed me in a supportive way that was sustainable. We think it is important to remember that there is a difference between taking a bold and blind risk that is hard to repeat versus one that teaches you how to continue to take risks.

Watch Miller in the process of challenging herself below:

MGM Alternative: Miranda Miller Pushes her Comfort Zone and Hits a Big Drop!(Part 1)

What’s MGM Alternative say about it’s sophomore effort?

Adrenaline is the main reason we got hooked on mountain biking in the first place. We spend every day trying to see how far and how hard we can push ourselves. Whether it’s going faster, lifting more in the gym, hitting a bigger jump, a bigger drop…it is a relentless pursuit. Our Comfort Zones series is all about finding ways to push ourselves in a supportive environment. We’re pushing ourselves in areas we’re uncomfortable in- this doesn’t always mean going big and getting gnarly- it means progressing as humans and athletes.