Love me some proper XC photos. Pinkbike has been doing a great job in the last couple of years of improving the quality of reporting, getting some interesting photos and beginning to make people realise the skills involved.
I remember watching the Albstadt world cup last year on Red Bull. There’s a shot of Schurter and Absalon climbing up the switchbacks. The camera angle made it look pan-flat, and like they were crawling along. It wasn’t until you looked over at the spectators crawling on their hands and knees up the same slope that you realised how steep it was. XC is never going to look particularly good on camera, but we just have to live with that, and enjoy the amazing photos that do occasionally get captured that really reflect how fun and challenging some new courses are.