Backcountry Bonanza
Three-time 4X world champ Jill Kintner and former World Cup downhill pro Bryn Atkinson custom-designed this van with NW Conversions for their MTB van life adventures
“Travelling around with our gear nice and secure gives us peace of mind and everything is really functional. The helmet/shoe/pack storage zone is one of the best features, maximising interior cabin space and keeping the dirty stuff contained in the garage area. This van is amazing, I love it so much! Being able to drive somewhere and pull over to sleep is great for roadtrips. We don’t live in the van full-time, but for race support, ride adventures and ripping around town you can’t beat this set-up.
“I love going up to Whistler for a day or two and being self-contained with a workshop, bed, food, etc. Or rolling up to the cliffs in Santa Cruz, opening the side-door and having tea and sushi by the sea. Montana roadtrips are fun too! Our worst moment was on the way to California, when an Oregon gas attendant put gasoline in our diesel van! We had to leave it there at the Mercedes dealer for them to fix everything. Luckily insurance covered it, but having to drive around in a Dodge minivan [MPV/people carrier] with all our gear was a pain. People definitely don’t give as much respect on the road to minivans as the big Sprinter.
“It’s so easy to drive, I have nothing but love for this rig! I’m so proud of the design. I love the van’s amazing reliability, huge size, and stylish looks. It has bags of character and loads of sentimental memories for me. In future, we’d like to install an inside shower and bathroom. As bikers, we get pretty dirty, of course, so at the moment we have to stay in a friend’s driveway or find some other way to get clean!”