Lukas Schäfer spent three years secretly shovelling earth through his home forest. The result: "Mufflon" - an edit that could catapult him onto the Rampage shortlist. A conversation about calculated risks, bone-breaking backflips and the question of why German freeriders are an endangered species.
"I probably wouldn't survive a double backflip"
BIKE: Did you see Elias Ruso's enormous double backflip at Darkfest in South Africa?
BIKE: How do you feel about these all-or-nothing stunts?
Lukas Schäfer: I admire everything that pushes the sport. It's not necessarily my style, but it's definitely something I admire. It's cool to see how everyone brings their own thing to the sport. For me, freeriding is about everyone being able to develop their own style.
BIKE: There are two different approaches to freeriding: some people ride according to the motto "champagne or coffin", others - such as Jackson Riddle, Finley Kirschenmann or you - focus on style and fun instead of maximum risk. Can you put it that way?
Lukas Schäfer: I always try to be very calculated. I probably wouldn't survive a double backflip. That's why I push myself in a different way, it's true.
Wild sheep, winter light and an insane amount of shovelling
BIKE: Why is your new video called "Mufflon"?
Lukas Schäfer: Mouflon - these are the wild sheep we have here. They live exactly where I filmed my edit. I'm happy every time I see them. I spend a lot of time in the forest. The mouflons and I are kind of partners.
BIKE: The scenery in your clip is crazy - you filmed it yourself in winter with very elaborate structures. You get the feeling that such edits are the hard currency in freeriding today. You used to have a video segment in New World Disorder, a whole crew would turn up, now you have to do everything yourself. That's a huge effort.
Lukas Schäfer: That's it. I've already released a lot of edits, the whole thing was always planned, thought through and agreed. But with "Mufflon" it was just before I changed sponsors. When I started, I didn't have a bike sponsor. Monster Energy was at my side and they always trusted me. That was an opportunity for me to say: OK, I'm going to do exactly what I do now. I didn't have the pressure to ride events. And then Canyon approached me because they realised that after the first part and said: "We want to support that."
BIKE: What was the most time-consuming part?
Lukas Schäfer: The drop into the tunnel wall. The stunt stood around for two and a half years before I dared to do it. I didn't feel it in the first year. It's important to me that I recognise a risk and know how to avoid it. I wasn't able to do that for a long time.
BIKE: If you look at it - all the construction work is crazy expensive. You could almost build a house.
Lukas Schäfer: (laughs) Absolutely. I put all my free time into it. You can't sell this video. You can't say to a sponsor at the beginning: "Hey, I've been building for two years now, we need this and this budget." You can only do it with passion, in every spare hour.
BIKE: What would the whole thing have cost - in materials, time, labour?
Lukas Schäfer: I started building the first feature at the end of 2022, after the last video project. It took just under three years in total. It's impossible to calculate how much it cost. My filmmaker Patrick Sturm came along because he wanted to, in between his work at MTB News. If we had sold it regularly, nobody would have been able to pay for it. Patrick was always at the start. I took part in the editing as much as possible and then finalised it with Patrick.
BIKE: Was there pressure for it to work?
Lukas Schäfer: Just our own claim. We wanted to do this thing for ourselves. Even if the clip had only got a thousand views, it wouldn't have been the end of the world.
Edit inflation: between Wibmer's recipe and personal vision
BIKE: This whole edit business is becoming more and more complex - whether it's Fabio Wibmer, Brage Vestavik or Thomas Genon. An edit used to be an awesome edit, today we're drowning in a flood of awesome edits.
Schäfer: Yes, full.
BIKE: How much pressure is there to be creative, to always have to go one better?
Schäfer: Sure, there's pressure. But because I do it out of passion and don't have to - I don't feel that much pressure to succeed.
BIKE: Gabriel Wibmer said he knew the secret recipe for successful edits. It is: show stunts, repeat them from different perspectives, add some slapstick - that way the mainstream also understands the act and only then will it get clicks. In other words, a recipe for success instead of self-realisation.
Lukas Schäfer: Maybe. These are two different approaches. Cycling has always been my passion. I only want to do what I'm passionate about. Not just to be successful. Otherwise I'd rather go to work or work on bikes.
The source of inspiration: From Semenuk to BMX
BIKE: When you look at current edits - what catches you?
Lukas Schäfer: Brage Vestavik for sure. Eliott LaPotre too. Edgar Briole - great style. Of the younger guys, I think Hayden Zablotny & Finley Kirschenmann are cool. And especially BMX videos. Generally everything where you can see the passion. And I like it "raw".
BIKE: Name a specific edit that has flashed you.
Lukas Schäfer: (deliberates) Matt Cordova, BMX rider - his last video. Mega good. He also edits his videos himself. It's super cool how he sets it up. If I have to pick one: the last Matt Cordova video.
BIKE: Your top 5?
Lukas Schäfer: The list is long. But Brandon Semenuk has to be in first place. Corey Walsh, also BMX. Brage Vestavik. Wade Simmons used to be a blatant influence.
Rampage dreams: "I hope Mufflon is the ticket"
BIKE: It's a shame that "Mufflon" isn't running for X-Games Real MTB.
Lukas Schäfer: Who knows, maybe it will come round again. I actually have no idea how X-Games Real works. I was also a fan of this series. If it is again: I'd be up for it. (laughs)
BIKE: Are you the last freerider in Germany?
Lukas Schäfer: (laughs) That's a great compliment. I don't think so. I hope I inspire a few of the young riders so that there are more freeriders again.
BIKE: We recently spoke to Leo Erhard, who is currently applying for the Red Bull Rampage.
Lukas SchäferI've known Leo since we were children. I hope he is successful with his application.
BIKE: Do you also have this Rampage dream?
Lukas Schäfer: Yes. I still have it.
BIKE: Really? I wouldn't have guessed you like that.
Lukas Schäfer: Yes, full on. I'd love to go to the Rampage. That's why I'm hoping that "Mufflon" could be a ticket. I rode at "Natural Selection" in New Zealand this year and won a wildcard. That's also an event organised by Todd Barber - the same organiser as Rampage. Unfortunately, I got injured the day before the final and was out.
BIKE: What is your gut feeling - next year, the year after next?
Lukas Schäfer: Next year would be realistic. I want to have a look at the desert now. The Rampage invitations haven't gone out yet, so it could still be this year.
BIKE: And your approach would be more like Jaxson Riddle?
Lukas Schäfer: My approach is: don't get distracted by what I think I have to do or what others are doing. Stay in my zone. What I enjoy is the feeling on the bike. You can see that when you ride clean. In short: switch everything off, find a line that I like and ride it exactly the way I like it.
BIKE: Have you ever been to the desert?
Lukas Schäfer: Never before. I'll have a look next week. Let's see what happens. It's also possible that afterwards I'll say: I'd rather stay with myself in the forest.
Edits you need to see!
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
