You’re still just asserting this, you haven’t proved it. I can think of three MUni adventures which have happened within the last year which are never-done-before rides (Panama, Tibet/Nepal, Great Divide).
Almost all sports have their schisms. Skiing had to make way for Snowboards. In surfing longboards had to make way for short boards and then back again for longboards as the old guys got back into surfing. All surfers had to make way for boogie boards. Bicyclist had to make way for mountain biking and now fixies are the fad. Water skiers for Wake boarders. Skateboarding is being reborn with long boarding. Dirtbikers had to make way for ATV’s… the list goes on and on, and yes typically the new inovations are brought in by the Youth who are not satisfied with the status quo, and that is not a bad thing but it does produce a cutural difference.
Here is the way I see it. ‘Fat’ tire Uni is growing with Muni/Flat/street. Skinny tire is alive and well with freestyle/distance/commuting. Yes video is bringing in more riders and thats a good thing… some go ‘fat’ on pavement, some go fat on dirt, and some do some combination of styles depending on what day it is. Many end up with a stable of Uni’s. Myself I am shopping for a tweener. Not really a freestyle but not quite a 19" trials. Something like the Koxx Slicky 20.
I guess what I am trying to say is I don’t see that their is an issue here, besides the issue of Video and that is a moot issue as I see it. I’ve never seen a video of Uni Basketball but I know its something I want in my future riding. The world did fine before Video, its valuable but it is not the litmus test for the validity of something.
Justin - great thread!
We really need to define the terms here. Talking about “Muni” growing or not growing, or styles getting better or worse, etc. is hopeless. We end up with arguments like “slopestyle and hard technical downhill isn’t growing” being countered by “yes but someone went on a really long ride somewhere”, which makes no sense as they are completely different. So in the interests of clarity let’s stop discussing whether or not “muni” is goiing someplace without clarifying which kind the writer is referring to. For a description of styles see http://www.krisholm.com/khu/en/unicycling. And furthermore, the role that videography plays in all of the above is an additional layer that also needs separate clarification.
In terms specifically of videos:
There’s no doubt that the emergence of videography has changed our sport as well as lots of other parts of our lives. It’s obviously a very influential tool to communicate about a sport and with some parts of our sport, with some riders, the riding and filming go way beyond that. For these riders, life, film, & social media in general may pretty much merge together into one single activity that can no longer be broken apart. Even if many riders (probably most riders) personally ride for themselves and are not concerned about the larger growth of the sport, the main point of this thread is concerned with the larger growth, so we might as well talk about it.
I think that the perspective that videos are an integral part of a sport conflicts with people who view videos as just a way to communicate about riding, and - at worst - as distraction from getting people out actually riding instead of living their life vicariously through the filmed accomplishments of other people.
I don’t see either perspective as a problem - there’s lots of diversity in this group both in terms of age and riding style. However, while I think videos are really useful, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that a sport isn’t progressing if videos of that sport aren’t progressing (or aren’t doing so very fast).
And for sure videos shouldn’t be seen as the measure for validity of accomplishments - ie. that if it wasn’t filmed then it can’t be legit (not!).
For example, in 2002 I filmed a Monster.com TV commercial on a very high ladderbridge on the North Shore called the Ridiculator. It had just been built, and the builder had already ridden it. I naively thought, based on my climbing experience, that now that it had been ridden it was open for filming. But I got in trouble with the builder because, in his eyes, the first ride meant getting filmed riding it, not just the personal satisfaction of being the first to ride it. I have trouble with that perspective.
On a separate note, the mainstream public has a completely different view of muni films versus the core riding community. Most of the general public can’t identify with hard street/flat videos, and view trail riding (no matter how hard) as more hardcore. For this reason, innovative filmmaking has more effect on communication than doing the hardest moves (unless the riding happen to be really dangerous, which trumps everything). There has been some good innovation in that regard, such as from Terry Peterson with his huge quantity of cable cam muni videos.
Kris
Beautifully articulated Kris, and you’ve made very valid, thoughtful and concise points. And I am greatly appreciative and humbled by your recognition and inclusion of my UCC as a positive innovation for our sport. I have tried to contribute as best I can to MUni and Uni in general, and will continue to do so-with great enthusiasm-for as long as I am able. 
this isnt about how far you’ve ridden or where you’ve been to ride. Like i stated before, im basing this all on the actual style and how muni is being ridden these days and how it would be great to see something new and exciting, example: freeride muni ( a combination of whats already happening with a street element thrown in).
and i think kris is right, this thread has swayed a little off topic and the message isnt clear enough.
muni is dead in the sense that nothing new has been added in years, while everything else is advancing it stays the same ( not that the same is any less extreme, just the fact that we can make it a lot better if we give it a chance to grow).
Ive only read the first few pages of this (it took about 10 mins and i got a bit bored) but I do agree that Muni is hard to record, and cant be done everywhere. I for one live next to a disused sand quarry that is now woodland which makes for great riding and i reckon there are likes there that would challenge everyone. But I don’t have the skill, strength or endurance to do so much riding.
I want to be able to get out and ride and make videos too, but what i want with the recording, never happens, my friends just tend to record from one place instead of trying anything creative and that just annoys be. I have footage on my laptop which took ages to get right to ride the line, but the recording is just terrible and i don’t want to use it. It does annoy me as I love Muniing, and going out and riding, but i also want to make videos. I listen to music and see the shots i want to get, and it never happens.
I do agree that Muni may not have improved at the rate that other disciplines have, but I think it is probably one of the most demanding disciplines and many cant manage that. I am not the fittest or strongest person and i cant manage a lot of things, I ride for fun and to push myself, I cannot push the sport because I am not at that amazing level of riding. I wish I was and as I said I push myself to do better and get better.
However, I am activly trying to get better places to ride where I live, but working with mountain bikers to get a mountain biking park (the proposed site is basically my back garden) So I can improve the riding facilities available and encorage unicycling, while riding with cyclists which pushes me to keep the pace over all terrains which i by far the best ride i have had in ages.
Justin, I think people like kris have set the bar for riding enormously high and it will be hard to push them further for most riders. I know I wont be able to get to that level, but i will have a dam good try and have fun trying it! That for me is what Muni is, challenging and fun and i dont have the need to push sport boundries, I cant.
Suggest no more use of the term “muni” in this thread without qualifiers of type…
Wheres that natural trials guy’s video? He did some insane crankflip tiregrab drop/gaps that most Muni riders can’t do normally 
For clarity too - Freeride is usually defined as simply riding (mostly downhill) on the hardest terrain the rider can find. No requirement for tricks. Slopestyle might be a better word for the latter.
The message isn’t clear because you’re saying two completely different things, one of which is ridiculous. “There aren’t many videos of people doing MUni things bigger than Kris did years ago” is a defensible and perhaps reasonable statement. “MUni is dead” is a ridiculous statement. As long as you keep making ridiculous statements which aren’t really aligned with what you’re trying to communicate, the message will not be clear.
I agree, just because its not always there and making itself seen, doesn’t mean its dead. I’m not always on the forums, yet I am still alive!
(quote stolen from another thread)
To expound on what Kris posted, you have to define what you mean by “style” and “progress” before you claim it’s not happening… 'cause there have been some developments in muni over the last several years, even though there isn’t much videographic evidence.
For example, new “muni styles” have been developed, such as the SoCal guys’ “tractoring” (think rolling trials) or the “brake assisted coasting” we’ve been seeing from a few riders here in NorCal. I’ve even seen street riders break out some impressive tricks on technical singletrack… although I wouldn’t call it a new muni style as I doubt these riders get on a muni trail more than once or twice a year.
As to progress, what are your criteria? Do you want to see more tricks from riders? Riding more continuously steep terrain? Bigger drops? Faster rides? We’re going to hit some limits very quick, if Kris hasn’t already. One can only drop so far, or ride something so steep, until we end up with broken riders. Despite this fact, with the advent of the KH/Schlumpf muni hub, we’re just starting to see what is possible with geared muni…
You’re definitely poking a hornet’s nest here, Justin… what exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Awright, another one!
Say, this isn’t like golf, where if you get a hole in one you have to buy everyone a beer is it?
With all your threads, all the build up, all the months of promising a new video that will push the sport of MUni into new, uncharted territory and, with all the attendant expectations, I’m confident that it will live up to all the hype!
I know that it will be something so new, so fresh and original that it will be THE MUni video of the century!
We’re all waiting to be blown away! :D:)
In order to talk about different styles of unicycling, it’s easier to have agreed upon definitions.
I started a new thread to hopefully help do that without cluttering up this thread.
Please help myself and others understand the different types of unicycling.
As an incentive, I’m giving away a free 24" KH '10 muni to the first poster.
Oh wait… that’s me! OMG! I’ve never won anything before in my life! Sweet! 
Give me a mountain, and I will be happy to push MUni
although to be fair, that’s because my trials and road are both broken… Lol.
yeah sam, I would too! living in the flattest part of the country isnt great for muni 
Lol, my god the U.K. sucks… I can’t even attempt to get better at trials, because our country is full of do-gooders who shout at you for even looking at that wall of their’s you are tempted to ride…
yes, we have had people walk up to us and tell us to get of public pins because its “theirs”, that is why i love muni, I can go out and not see anyone for most of the day, often on my own i cant record, but i still push myself
The most boring thing about a lot of mtb videos = the way they just jump stuff and do x-ups all the time. The best thing is when they are riding great / impossible trails, and doing it well, with a flowing style.
I think that’s where Kris’s video is so great - just how flowing it is, how fast and well he just rides everything like it was an easy trail.
If by ‘muni’ you mean doing street style crankflips / shifties etc. but off road on challenging terrain, that is all fun and nice, and I’m sure some people, particularly trials riders, are really into that, but not what riding is about for a lot of us riders - tricks are a laugh okay, but they just seem to disrupt the flow of the riding.
Joe