Category: Skiing

Ski Salt Lake Shootout 2009

February 27th, 2009

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. That’s me breathing a big sigh of relief after finishing the Ski Salt Lake Shootout for 2009.

The competition was hard! I love to ski and always have fun in almost any conditions, but the warm temperatures and lack of fresh snow made it tough. On top of that, we were dealing with completely grey skis almost the whole time.

Despite the adversities, I had a great time working with Alexa Miller and am proud of what we produced. Shooting quality ski photography is incredibly difficult but we did some interesting things and I’m excited to see where these photos end up!

Alta Powder

City Lifestyle

Mountain Lifestyle

You can read more about it here:

http://www.visitsaltlake.com/ski/shootout/

Next week, I may be heading up to Big Sky Montana with Alexa for a fun girls road trip!

Posted in Film & Photography, Skiing, Travel, Uncategorized

Powder Footage from Japan

February 22nd, 2009

Here’s an edit from Sweetgrass Productions of me skiing near Niseko Japan.

The last few weeks have been filled with battling a horrible cold and trying to ski and shoot and hike as much as possible.

This week, the Ski Salt Lake Shootout Begins.

Here’s a description of the competition:

Ski Salt Lake and its four resort partners–Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude–are hosting six of the world’s most recognized ski photographers and the freshest local big-mountain skiing talent in a peak-packed venue that receives more than 500 inches of "The Greatest Snow on Earth" each year. Two positions are also dedicated to local photographers poised to break onto the scene.

You can read more about it here http://www.visitsaltlake.com/ski/shootout/.

I’ve been scouting lines and locations and making detailed shot lists to bring my A-game to this event. The grand prize is $2,000 for the overall best photo, but there is $1,000 for each category, powder, air, big mountain, city lifestyle and mountain lifestyle. It starts on Monday and I’ll be super busy with that until Friday. Stay tuned for photos from the event!

Posted in Film & Photography, Skiing, Travel, Uncategorized

Life Since Japan

February 12th, 2009

The day I got home, I got a call to go heli skiing to do a photo shoot. Unfortunately, United Airlines left my ski bag in San Francisco, so after some frantic phone calls, I got my skis on the next flight and picked them up at the airport at 10 pm before an 8 am heli.

The snow in the Wasatch has been so good and making some long heli runs was the perfect way to return.

Sunny days at Snowbird. It was almost like springtime.

Skied 3 days at Snowbasin for a Roxy on snow demo. Did some fun runs down Mt. Ogden.

After Snowbasin, I came down with some illness, but I’m feeling better now and scouting lines for an upcoming photo contest, the Ski Salt Lake Shootout, that I’m doing with photographer Alexa Miller (www.alexamiller.com).

But I do miss Japan and can’t wait to get back to Niseko:

photo by Mikah Brown/Sweetgrass Productions.

Posted in Film & Photography, Skiing, Travel, Uncategorized

Sweetgrass Productions Trailer from Hokkaido, Japan

February 3rd, 2009

Here’s an edit that the Sweetgrass Crew put together from the time they have been in Japan so far.

The snow was so good while I was there.

As I said before, it was either greybird or snowing the entire time I was in Japan, but you get the idea from the above photo by photographer Anthony Bonello.

Anthony was staying at our apartment for a few weeks before heading to Kashmir in 2 days with Stephen Brawn. Check out his blog to read some insight about the Japanese experience we had in Kutchan:

http://anthonybonello.squarespace.com/

I’ve been back for 3 days and the jetlag is rough. The backcountry in Utah has been good to go, so I’ve been hiking around during the day so I can sleep at night. Friday, cardiac ridge was good to go, Saturday, I hit up Scottie’s bowl from white pine at Snowbird and found some creamy snow in Wolverine Cirque yesterday. Pics of that soon.

Next week, I’m heading up to the Sawtooths to hike around and stay in some yurts and film a bit for Kavu and the Elements tour.

Last day in Japan

January 28th, 2009

I’m kind of sad to be leaving! When I left Salt Lake City 18 days ago, I didn’t really know anyone on the trip or what to expect from it. Now we’ve become a little family here at our apartment in Kutchan.

From left to right, starting with the sake bottle:

Charlie Cannon, Nick Waggoner, Forrest Coots, Anthony Bonello, Stephen Brawn, Me, Ben Sturgulewski, Matt Phillippi, and Ian Hock (not pictured Yuki, our translator and team manager, and Mike Brown, the photographer).

I’m surprised at how well we’ve got along given the close living conditions and the amount of time we spend together each day. My Kutchan roommates have become like brothers (in a really large family)–always teasing and picking on me, but still watching out for me, and me for them.

Nick Waggoner cooking up a big curry dinner for Forrest and my last night here.

Japan has been a giant daydream of powder pillows and magical light. The Hokkaido way of life is ocean and mountain driven, laid back and intense at the same time. We get up at 4:45 to rally out the door and chase bluebird powder, yet relax with leisurely meals, sake, and onsen (Japanese hot springs).

I’ve tried my hardest to make sense of the rhythm of the clouds here, spending countless hours studying them, waiting for the light to come through. I’m still confused. They seem to spin around at random, and you never know when the 10 minute window of yellow, blue or pink light will pop, and then disappear.

The elusive Mount Youtei, an inactive volcano, popping out to say goodbye to me today.

Anyway, I have a long flight tomorrow. First, a 2.5 hour shuttle from Niseko to Sapporo, then a 2.5 hour flight to Osaka, then a 10 hour flight to SFO and finally, after customs and another layover, I’ll be home after one last 1.5 hour push. All toll, I’ll spend about 19 hours flying. The cool part is that I leave Japan at 3:40 in the afternoon and I get back the same day at 3:55. That’s right, I’m traveling through time.

Wish me luck! More photos from the trip soon!

Also, please keep reading about Sweetgrass’s filming in Hokkaido this season:

http://sweetgrassproductions.wordpress.com/

Posted in Film & Photography, Skiing, Travel, Uncategorized

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