The search for snow continued today at Snowbasin, but one member short. My sister caught a flight to Costa Rica this morning to make the most of her vacation, while ma dukes and I hit up Snowbasin to poach some powder & catch some core shots from the rocky backcountry. While on the gondola I spoke with a Vermont native, who is working as a ski patrolman at the resort, he told me that this has been the slowest winter for snowfall in the last twenty years; insert sad face. One thing that did make me smile, was this hyperactive dog constantly running circles in the truck ahead of us. The short 40 minute ride to the mountain (compared to the usual 3hr hike to VT) was a welcome change & full of surreal mountain scenery. Today was sick, but I’m stoking for Alta tomorrow!
Spent big baby Jesus’ birthday over at Canyons with the fam enjoying the day, some fun five star corn, and the occasional roped-off powder field. I even got ma dukes behind the camera for a few shots today which turned out pretty well. After a full day we headed back to the spot for a laid back night, with some awesome Christmas pizza & tasty brews. Merry Christmas everyone & pray for snow!
Flew into Salt Lake City last night, just in time for one of SLC’s fabled sunsets was a pretty damn good start to my Utah trip. Today we hit Park City Resort – but with the lack of snow Utah’s seeing this season, and no storms in sight, we stuck to the groomers and ducked a few ropes to find some real snow. Either way I was just stoked to see some snow, get to ride, and of course some Apres. My sister and mom both have a twinge of altitude sickness; needless to say I went out solo and have a ton of footage from the first day alone, so an edit will be a little farther out – but here’s some shots & shenanigans from my first couple days in Ootah.
With winter rapidly approaching & all this crazy hurricane weather lately, got me thinking thinking back to last winter and the absurd amount of snow that fell in the North East. I was lucky enough to get invited up to my good friend Eric’s camp, in Rangeley, ME – that was absolutely amazing. Views of Rangeley Lake right off the back deck & thousands of miles of trail to ride just outside the front door. Definitely one of the highlights of the winter – can’t wait for round two this season!
While waiting for Hurricane Emily & with ski season rapidly approaching, I decided it was a good idea to actually get my ass in shape this year. Mainly due to the mild-strokes I experienced filming last year while hiking & climbing lines (not to mention falling down several). So lately, I’ve been rolling up to Mt. Agamenticus in Maine to put some vertical into my running – granted it is just shy of 1,000 vertical ft. but its a great spot on a nice day. I’ve brought my camera with me every time in a backpack to try and catch a series of sunsets, long exposures & other lifestyle shots that include the infamous White Mountains – our winter playground in less than 150 days. Stay tuned for some swells.
(Updated 10:30pm)
After the sunrise I got some shots at the red carpet a.k.a. shit shacks.
I purchased a new photography tool called a Reverse Grad ND filter, it’s a pretty simple concept but I wouldn’t really be able to explain it very well. Basically the graduated tint in the filter allows me to place the filter along the horizon and block out some of the light from the sun, allowing the foreground to maintain a proper exposure. A lot of sunrise and direct sun photography will be blown out or over exposed in the foreground because of the sunlight. Here are my first attempts at using it:
It’s been pretty quiet around here lately, I have given up on my ski season (not voluntarily but because of shin bang) and started transitioning over to the summertime. Yesterday was 70 degrees in Hampton and I felt like it was time to put together a Spring Reel for myself, a lot of the edits I’ve posted in the past 6 months are from one particular day and there is a ton of footage that gets lost in the editing process. I’d like to thank a few of my friends for helping with these shots including Lucas, Andy and Haleburger as well as my best friend – Nala.
Here’s to 80+ days on the hill this winter and some sick spring surfing. Cheers.
-Ryan
