10 Things You Didn't Know About 'Dollar Bet'

Shawn "Elf" Walters' new video production "Dollar Bet" is the epitome of the indy video. It's funded entirely out of Elf's own pocket, filmed mostly around Salt Lake City, and the positive vibe/comedic feel throughout the video is perfect. With familiar names appearing throughout like Cameron Wood, Tate Roskelley, Mike Aitken, Matt Beringer, and Elf himself, there are also sick sections from some of the young bucks of the Salt Lake scene like Brady Tweedy, Manny Kilpack and Trent Steel.

Being based on Salt Lake City area riders and produced by Elf, It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that Dollar Bet is a sequel to the legendary SLC scene videos “That’s It!” and “Killjoy." But it’s actually not. Those prior videos were a collaborative effort between him and Jordan Utley; Dollar Bet is Elf’s first solo effort. And even with an at times frustrating learning curve on video production from start to finish, he nailed it. Elf breaks down 10 highlights/bits of info from the video; one or two that may or may not be fully true. You can scoop up a copy HERE.

The man and his creation. Photo: Rob Dolecki

1. The first time I went to film Tate's last trick where his wheel comes off, it rolled through some human shit... he accidentally touched it and freaked out and had to call it for the day. The next time we went he was trying the trick for awhile, and a worker from the building next door walked over and said, "I see your wheel keeps falling off; I have a wrench you can use to tighten it up". It was a huge monkey wrench.

2. Somewhere in the video is a quick clip of a Pizza Hut delivery man being punched in the face... he was way out of line and driving at Tate like an asshole! The punch was thrown while holding the camera in the other hand. A chase ensued afterwards so they could keep a tab on us for the cops; luckily there was a clean getaway. Thanks again Riley and MJ for picking us up!

3. The art on the disc for the DVD is the end of a worn-out peg. After talking to a few people, I have come to find out that they thought it might be a mushroom or maybe even poo.

4. Brady has a clip in the intro riding on a roof and airing a steep bank. No words could explain how sketchy that roof was. It was about three stories up and there were holes all through it as he would ride up to the bank; it felt like the whole thing was going to give away at any moment.

5. The intro to the video has a clip of a bank robbery in progress. We were downtown filming at a spot and and across the street we heard some noise a sketchy van pulled up to this bank so i started to film the commotion and then all of a sudden there's a gun shot and a guy falls over and the van takes off. We were all in disbelief and couldn't believe what we just witnessed.

Trent Steel with a LDS approved rail to rail.

Cam Wood and a curve rock ride to 180.

Elf and Tate placing dollar bets for highest wall ride from flat.

Another Sunday out finding spots that most would ignore. Cam Wood with a gap to double peg to tire slide down a steep tranny.

Brady Tweedy finishing up a line with a big 360.

I'm sure you've heard of Tate Roskelley's riding. So this shouldn't be surprising to have your head shaking and thinking how the hell did this come about. A car did crash into it a few days before, and Tate devised a hot tree icepick.

Elf had been planning this trick ever since this rail had been de-knobbed. Of course as we are setting up, the police come. This is the first time I've ever truly seen Elf bummed in all the years I've known him. After an hour cruising around we came back with a skeleton crew and of course he smashed this crook rollercoaster first try.

6. Cameron's uncle owns the Classic water slide park, where he has some clips in his section. We received permission to go there as long as we wanted . It was really cold out the day we were there and Cam's wrist was hurting him pretty bad. We filmed for a few hours until it was almost dark. He manualed across the boards in the water then wanted to ride into the water afterwards for a victory soak, even though it was so cold out. You can hear when he hits the water how cold it is. On a side note, he had his wrist looked at later on and it ended up being broken. Cam is a tough dude!

7. Tate set up a pole on top of a chain that went out onto a sidewalk about head-height. He tried his move for awhile; as it began to get dark, I heard some foot steps behind me. I turned to see a jogger going by, then thinking to myself, "Oh, he has to see the pole." Nope; he proceeds to run his forehead straight into it and stumbles around holding his head. We all thought he was going to be bleeding profusely and angry because he hit the blunt end of the pipe. I asked if he was alright, and he didn't even get mad; he was just confused (probably concussed). I thought I wasn't filming, but when I got home I realized to my pleasure that I had captured the whole thing. The clip was used as a transition between sections.

8. After finishing editing the video, I burned roughly 20 different test runs... to which I was never fully satisfied with the outcome; it was driving me crazy! I emailed a bunch of friends, and in the end Scerbo came through with some help and saved the day. Thanks BOB!!

9. Rob Wise was supposed to have a full section in the video. We started to stack some clips and then he just disappeared from SLC and BMX. Leaves me to wonder if those are the last clips we will ever see of him?

10. The transition between Rob's clips and Cameron's section is a tweaker who called herself Cocaine Katie. I probably filmed her for two hours straight, loving every minute of it. The clips I did use of her could be considered mellow compared to the ones I didn't use.

This trick is hard to call because initially it's a 60/40 grind but mid way through it become a pedal feeble then back to 60/40 at the end. Call it what you want; Elf gets it done.