Here is a recent cover from the Italian magazine 4Skiers. Dave [Treadway] had broke his collar bone 2 weeks before we shot this, and decided he was healed enough to do a few runs at Monashee Powder Snowcats for the camera (and for fun). I’m not sure what the lesson is there exactly.
Full episodes online as of November 28th. Stay tuned!
Here is a new cover (though actually kind of an old photo) from my friends at Aka Skidor in Sweden. 5th cover with them, they have been quite good to me – thanks Tobias and Örjan!
I’m stoked to see that one of my images from last summer’s Deep Summer photo competition was selected for Bike’s Photo Annual issue. Bringing the image to life is the revered freerider, Thomas Vanderham. And it gets me thinking of the past.
Above, one of my early mountain bike (film) images. Thomas Vanderham, circa 1999/2000. Mount Seymour, BC.
During high school Thomas and I rode bikes together with my twin brother and a group of other friends at school. The freeride scene was really just developing, and we felt like we were a part of it on the North Shore. I got my start making photographs and little movies of our group of friends riding the North Shore mountains, simultaneously trying to emulate the cutting edge bike movies of the day, and the athletes that were pushing the limits of what mountain biking could be. Though, it wasn’t long before Thomas was making his own ascendency into the star light of the mountain bike world – his masterful and unparalleled stylistic command of a mountain bike caught the attention of the industry’s best – freeride legend Wade Simmons, photographer Sterling Lorence, and film maker Bjorn Enga, to name a few. By the end of highschool, Thomas had a secured firm place amongst the freeride greats.
Following different paths, it would be a long time until Thomas and I would shoot together again. Last year, we reunited for the Deep Summer photo comp along with Darcy Turenne and Mike Hopkins. We were fortunate with great weather (the rainy and foggy kind) and we captured some keepers, evidenced by the forthcoming Bike magazine cover.
Below are a few other covers – with my great friend Andre Charland bringing those to life!
Here is a new cover I shot with Kip Garre (seen en rappel) during a shoot for Mountain Hardwear in Chamonix, France last winter. Good times in the Poubelle Couloir!
I recently got a call from the Wall Street Journal (actually it was an email) to shoot an assignment about Whistler. Here is the final product from last weekend’s Travel section of the paper.
Here is a Tourism Whistler commercial that features some of my images [animated still photos]. The first 15 seconds worth of images, and the last image are ones that I took during Deep Winter Photo Challenge contests in years past and other ski days around Whistler and Blackcomb.
Last fall, over a tasty beer with my friend Tobin, we found ourselves discussing a friend of his: Kevin Fogolin. Kevin has one of the cooler jobs in the world. He controls avalanche paths around the province, but predominately above the coastal waters of Toba and Bute inlets. He’s one of the only guys up there on skis, regularly, dropped off via helicopter, checking out the snowpack and making sure whatever projects going on down below are somewhat safe from avalanche activity above.
A few more gulps of beer later… [I thought] He’s not the only guy with a fascinating job in that field. I thought of Scott Aitken and Doug Tuck on the Duffey Lake road, working for the Ministry of Transportation, and have been skiing ‘the duffey’ (their office) before virtually anyone else . And who else could there be? What about exploring the careers of a few avalanche professionals that work outside of the ski industry, but both rely upon skis to conduct their work, and are driven by a desire to ski day in day out. I ran the idea by my writer-friend Dan Kostrewski from Seattle, and we pitched it to Skier magazine, and off we went. It was an amazing opportunity to try to learn from some of the most seasoned avalanche professionals in BC, and get a privileged look into their day-to-day worlds.
Check the article out on Canadian and US magazine stands (or HERE), and watch the little video I put together during our time with Scott Aitken & Doug Tuck , Kevin Fogolin & Rich Barry (Chris Stethem & Associates), and Eric Dafoe & Jim Phillips (Parks Canada, who work in conjunction with the Canadian Military, Rogers Pass – Trans Canada Highway).
From the UK. Cody Townsend shredding the Toyabe Range in Nevada last year. Sometimes a photographer wishes there were less pasted graphics on covers to show things like the trees that make that place so special…
And here is one from Aka Skidor in Sweden. Chad Sayers on Mt Matier off the Duffey Lake Road, BC.
