Return of Winter (Part 3) | January 21, 2014
What a ride it’s been.
So grateful to have a patient touring crew for Tuesday, -10 degrees and not a single complaint all day from anyone. We checked out an old zone that I haven’t ventured into this season and it paid off pretty well. Bolton was reporting like 10″ since the weekend started but it seems as though this East aspect we were skiing (Bolton being West) had atleast another 4-5″. Our crew consisted of John Howland, Sam Chalek, Ryan Kinner and a wonderful new addition – Morgan Marzo. Enjoy!
Fall on the Seacoast | October 1, 2013
Finally! What a release.
After a long, flat, ordinary summer and a dismal hurricane season (so far?), we’ve received a welcomed autumn swell. The small Easterly swell direction and funky tide made for wobbly and sometimes walled out conditions in many of our favorite spots. Alternatively, it lit up some not-so-frequented spots along the coast that accept the E swell exclusively. Regardless, I spent most of the morning Tuesday doing the run around bullshit. The ‘is it better over there?’ complex.
I face this conflict all the time when we go skiing. I ski at Bolton enough to know what spots will be poached first and which spots don’t see much traffic. The conflict often arises on powder days, evaluating the risk/reward for going to spot A on first chair vs. spot B or C? The classic maneuver is leaving your super secret stash for later in the day because you’re confident no one’s going to poach it. It’s more practical to ski out the more popular and usually better/steeper/deeper terrain until it’s tracked out.
Short but semi-relative tangent – My brother used to tell me that when he arrived in Bozeman, MT in 2007 and got his first season pass to Bridger, The Ridge terrain was preserved until the afternoon. Skiers wouldn’t hike The Ridge from first chair, primarily because everyone was under the ‘code’ that inbounds terrain was first to get tracked out and when it’s done, then everyone can pillage the ridge. This was well before the Slushman’s backcountry access lift was put in.
You’d think that a new lift put in place to turn previously out of bounds terrain into new resort sidecountry might help to spread skiers out but instead it seemed to just add more chaos, and with the chaos came the cave-in and relinquishment of the ‘code’. It’s difficult to draw a parallel here and I guess there’s really no way to compare the two sports in this manner.
…..BUT if there ever was a similar code in surfing, the last bit of the foundation caved in when the first stand up paddled into a wave.
Crowds aside, most of the time these small one day swell windows make for crunch time decisions on the high tide. My solution is simple, and probably common:
Follow the speed limit and scope every friggin spot in question.
At the least get some recon from a friend. As annoying and unnecessary as it may sound, I can relax knowing I made the best possible decision. Additionally, for as long as I can remember I haven’t had to endure any ‘Oh man, you should have been there’.
I’m sure everyone scored on this last swell. It looked like there were good waves at every spot I passed but for me, in the end it’s about the adventure and maximizing the potential of the day, the lighting, the subject or the equipment and it’s also about producing an image I’m happy and confident showing to other people. Unfortunately for me, these photos just don’t come from simply driving down to Rye and clicking the shutter.
The photographer has the ability to reference the images and prove that the team has made the best decision, in the case that they did make the best decision. Unfortunately Matt and I didn’t win on any images Tuesday, we didn’t even come close – but it’s good to work the rust out, remind the surfer of his weaknesses (just kidding, not his flailing arms) and explore new spots that we’ve never seen break.
DAMNNN it feels good to be shooting at the ocean again.
A little all over the place on today’s blog – it’s been a while since I posted anything and I may be in a state of seasonal confusion.
This Weeks Photo Dump
A record 80 degrees in Bridgeport, CT yesterday! It was beautiful up on the Seacoast as well – I’ve been getting into the bad habit of coming home after a shoot and putting my camera bag down without importing to the computer. I guess the weather is just too nice to stay inside.
Here’s this weeks take. Sorry, no sports this time. Spring skiing is in full effect and it looks like the next few weeks could be incredible up on Mount Washington. Remember, if you decide to travel up to Tuckerman’s and surrounding terrain, check the Avalanche Advisory and stay safe. After all – summer, bikinis and 80 degree weather are right around the corner.
Disclaimer: We do not condone illegal artwork, in the second to last image the subject is lighting the wall with a candle – we do not condone the defacing of state property nor are we graffiti artists. All light painting photos were made with all of the safety precautions necessary. Fire extinguishers were on hand, at the ready.
Spring
Spring is here and there’s been some nice weather down on the Seacoast. The skatepark is dry, there’s been some trace of surf the last few days and the sunsets have been gorgeous. I think it actually hit 60 the other day but it’s still Winter up in Vermont. Stowe is reporting 7-12″ in the last 48 hours! It’s going to be an awesome spring up there for sure – the resorts close down pretty soon but it’ll be prime for spring touring. There are deals galore if you’re looking for a touring setup, this is the time of year to shop.
On another note, I started a new website for my own personal work – check it out at www.ryandenning.com
Bolton Valley | March 30, 2013
Wednesday was amazing, lowest water content I’ve skied all season. Last year we had an epic 30″ dump of pure blower powder and Wed. was almost as good. I headed up early and met up with John Howland and Dane Weister, Wilderness and Timberline were both closed for the day so we had plenty of prime terrain for shooting. Four hikes later and a full memory card I found myself cruising home with some serious wind burn and a perma-grin. Enjoy the photos and get your butts up to the mountains this weekend.
Spring Verses | Part 4 & Incoming Swell
Well it’s been a roller coaster week, we did see some waves but it turned out to be disorganized and mushy at practically every spot in NH. MSW came through again with accurate models but the swell reaching the beach just wasn’t favorable, hopefully this upcoming swell (which is looking mighty fine for the north country) will fair a little bit better for the Northeast. In hope of getting some good surf I put together Part 4 of the Spring Verses series, mostly to clear out my folder so it’s nice an empty for some real surf footage.
I also made an attempt at using the new ND filter with a super wide angle lens – needless to say it doesn’t really work. Here is what I came up with, somewhere in Maine…
Side Note: Key phrase of the week is “petting the cat”….I would tell you what it was but I don’t even know – stay tuned cuz I’m gonna make Lockwood explain this shit to the camera.
alpine-live.com 