Sponsored riders
A REAL TRIP,
NOT A SHOOT
You ride at cost. Your sponsor covers the difference and gets more out of a week here than out of a studio day. Two seats per departure, never more.
Talk to usYou already know how the other version goes
Flown somewhere, met by a crew, handed a shot list. Everybody stands around waiting for light. You hit the same feature eleven times because the angle was wrong, and the footage comes out looking exactly like what it is, which is an advertisement.
Your audience knows too. That is the part that costs you, and a bigger budget does not fix it.
What this is instead
A departure that was running anyway, with paying guests on it who can keep up. Terrain chosen because it is worth riding, not because it frames well. A guide who has been there in every condition, and a videographer already on the trip.
You ride the week. The film gets made because the film was always getting made. Nobody is going to ask you to hit it again for the angle.
How it works
Two tiers, gated on engagement rather than follower count, because follower count is buyable and engagement is not.
Factory, or 250K plus
Tier one
- You ride at cost
- Two ambassador seats per departure, never more
- A guide, a filmer, and a proper edit at the end
- Your own footage from the week, cleared for your channels
Factory-sponsored riders qualify regardless of following.
25K to 250K
Tier two, at 3 per cent engagement or better
- You ride at cost
- Your sponsor is invoiced the top-up to an affiliate rate
- Everything in tier one
We will talk to your sponsor directly if that is easier than you doing it.
Paid for by a guest
The one nobody expects
- A client pays for you to be on their departure
- Costs covered, plus a fee
- No deliverables, because you are not there as marketing
More common than people realise. Say on the form if you are open to it.
It is a working trip
You owe content, and we are going to say exactly what up front rather than leaving it in a contract you signed months ago. One long-form edit, three posts and ten stories inside thirty days of the trip ending, tagged, kept up for twelve months.
Miss them and there is a cure period, and after that the difference back to full retail is invoiced. Nobody wants that and we never have. Telling you now is the respect.
There is also a real trip happening around you with people who paid full price. Two ambassador seats is the cap, because three stops being a departure and starts being a shoot, which is unfair to them.
Tell us what you ride
Engagement is checked by hand, so give it a few days. You will get a straight answer either way, from Dan rather than from a system.
Why engagement rather than followers
Follower count is buyable. Engagement is not, which is why the gate is a rate rather than a number. It gets checked by hand rather than by a tool, it takes a few days, and inflated numbers are obvious and waste everyone.
If the numbers do not hold up you still get a straight answer rather than silence.
The risk does not care how good you are
Being very good at this is not a mitigation. The riders most likely to be at the sharp end of a day are the ones with the confidence to be there, and the mountain does not know who you are. The same warning and the same pre-trip training applies to you as to a paying guest, with no exception for skill.
On the clawback
The description above is plain language, not the agreement. The wording that binds sits in a contract you will be sent, and it is with a solicitor. Nothing on this page is an offer or a term.
Questions
Do I have to pay to come on a trip?
You ride at cost. On tier two your sponsor is invoiced the difference between that and an affiliate rate. If you have not had that conversation with them yet, leave the sponsor field blank and we will work it out.
What are the deliverables exactly?
One long-form edit, three posts and ten stories within thirty days of the trip ending, tagged, and kept up for twelve months. Unspoken Union also holds usage rights to content from the trip.
What happens if I miss the deliverables?
There is a cure period first. After that the difference between what you paid and full retail is invoiced. It is flagged for a person before anything goes out, and if something has gone wrong in your life we would much rather have a conversation.
How many sponsored riders are on a trip?
Two at most. Beyond that it stops being a departure and starts being a shoot, which is unfair to the guests who paid full price and makes the footage worse anyway.
Can a client pay for me to come?
Yes, and it happens. Somebody books a week and would rather spend part of the budget riding with you than on more flying. Costs covered plus a fee, and no deliverables, because you are not there as marketing.
Do I still have to do the training?
Yes. Skill in one discipline does not transfer to reading avalanche terrain or remote country, and the people around you are relying on you being useful rather than being another person to look after.