Scott plus dirt equals tradesman, equals a consummate professional, equals a skilled AF laborer. And Scott Miller is as skilled as they come. For 12-plus years, most of that in new construction, Scott's been working full-time building mountain bike trails and pump tracks from the South West to Washington State. 

Ever ridden Side Hustle?

Side Hustle      photo courtesy of: Scott Miller  

Love that flow, the feel of the wind in the fro as you smash a smooth, catchy berm before you rip off a well-shaped lip? Well, side Hustle was Scott Miller and Dyson Fowler's brainchild when Scott was over working with the DNR.

The idea, two years in the making before an excavator bucket even touched dirt, was to create a blue flow trail with jumps that everyone could fly and progress down. Talk to Scott about Side Hustle or any flow trail he gets his hands on, and you'll hear terms like speed resets, optional doubles, and fun pumps. Go ride Side Hustle after the conversation, and those trade secrets will all make sense. And now that Scotts with Evergreen, he's passing those secrets and all of that knowledge on to us (and we're never letting him go… for real, Scott, you are officially a lifer. And DNR, please stop calling!!).

 Photo By: Jack Lambert

Seriously though, Scott Miller was a lifer before Evergreen and has put in his time. In a position that is often seasonal or hit and miss when it comes to full-time work due to budget and conditions, Scotts managed to stay busy and work professionally in the dirt for the last 12 years, pretty much uninterrupted. Scotts the kind of person to take tasks head-on (next time you see him at the bar or coffee shop, ask him about his latest drywall project), and when he found trail building at a young age, he did just that and ran with it.

Actually, let's say he rolled with it. See, after hitting some DH trails in Colorado and, of course, riding where he grew up and really finding mountain biking in a similar way to a lot of us, being outside, staying active without the need for a core sports schedule, and playing in the dirt, as he puts it, Scott began building trails near his house in a place where pumps and rolls and flow was necessary— flat as a flapjack, Texas (yes, Washingtonians, there are trails in Texas).

And, of course, playing in the dirt led Scott to really digging it, and to digging in it more seriously. And that guided the consummate craftsman towards making a career of it, and on the way, even advocating for more local trails.

Back near the beginning of that mountain bike journey, when Scott was finishing his degree in parks and rec (Lil' Sebastian anyone?) at Texas A&M, he had the opportunity to participate in a MTB parks design course. Combining that course with his love for biking, his backyard build knowledge, and some awe-inspiring advocacy skills at a young age, Scott was able to help build his first community pump track.

And from there, he wasn't just hooked on the riding or the casual build. Scott was interested in the ground-up construction and how that vision from the start of a project to the end can help change a community. Scott was set on the path of a true craftsman.

STM Trailbuilding flow trail       photo courtesy of: Scott Miller  

 And the rest is history! 

Valmont Bike Park      photo courtesy of: Scott Miller  

From working as the lead trail builder at Boulder, Colorado's Valmont Bike Park to starting his own trail builder contract company, STM trailbuilding, and building pump tracks for LeeLikesBikes Lee McCormack (running my downhill bars at 800mm Lee, change my mind), Scott Miller has done it all. And doing it all has helped Scott become a true trail builder tradesman. I've worked with Scott on trails myself, and the guy is theee deepest well of knowledge. 

 STM Trailbuilding Backyard pumptrack      photo courtesy of: Scott Miller  

 And that deep well has shifted Scott's focus a bit. Building trails from the ground up, the advocacy, the community, that's still all there for Scott, but now he has something else to offer: that knowledge just waiting to be passed on.

 Photo By: Jack Lambert

As of late, Scott's been working alongside a couple of other Evergreen builders, Matt Blossom and Sean Sweeney, with the Donut Squad on a new combination flow/tech trail up on Raging, where Scott, Matt, and Sean have been able to spread a little bit of that knowledge wealth they all have. And I've seen, on my bike, first hand how far that knowedge goes. Like Side Hustle, the trail rips!

All three of you, thank you for getting it! 

Trail building is a craft, a skill, an art, a science.. Something to motivate yourself in and be cultivated by. Skills like trail building and doing it the right way need to be passed on. Need to be seeds planted in the good dirt for the future. A good trail doesn't just need to go down or around the hill; and it doesn't always need to just be as hard and complicated as you can make it. There's the big and small. From the multiple user groups and the trail systems as an entire ecosystem to the grade reversals and proper ways to clear a drain, there's more forethought, planning, and precise execution than the average rider would ever know. 

Thankfully, we have builders like Scott on the ground (and work parties and an entire trail-building school) to pass this knowledge and passion for the craft on. 

And speaking of craft, Scotts is a North Bend local. Next time you see him at South Fork, maybe buy him a cold one and give him good cheers to, as Scott likes to say,

"building it, raking it, toting it, letting a little rain hit it, and walking away."

And maybe ask him about that dry wall project or his weird attachment to that metal corona rake.. Or how you can help him on his next Evergreen project.

Cheers to Scott Miller.

Scott + Dirt = A Tradesman, and so much more.