Cut Brayton in half and you will probably find he has DOT 5 blood and a carbon spine, he’s built from downhill. That said, he’s also a rider who relishes a challenge and someone that will swing a leg over anything with two wheels and give it hell.

This fact led Jones to dial the Kestrel and ask Brayton to fly out to Chile last month and take on the Andes Pacifico. The race is tough, grip is scarce and belting down narrow single track at warp speed throws some sections of the Mega Avalanche into a Borrower’s perspective.

We also took Aaron ‘Mono’ Bartlett to Chile to capture the whole thing from airport to finish line. Brayton was surprised, he’s a racer and when things don’t turn out exactly as planned the approach has to change. Crashing is a regular occurrence but some of the stages are sublime and a new respect for Enduro racing grows after each day.

You can also read the full article in the latest issue of Dirt #146, which should be hitting the shelves today.