skiing

Eclipse- Salomon Freeski TV

Eclipse premiered at the start of November at the Banff Mountain Film Festival and claimed the Best Snow Film Award which was a huge honour. 3 days later it went live on the Salomon Freeski TV Youtube channel where to date it has over half a million views and counting. Along the way the film picked up a Vimeo Staff Pick as well as a stream of main stream media buzz. National Geographic adventure blog featured an article with Brody Leven while Outside Online featured the film and article by Devon O'Neil. 

Brody, Reuben, myself and Mike accepting an award at Banff

Brody, Reuben, myself and Mike accepting an award at Banff

Eclipse has since picked up 3 more awards including Best Visual at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival, Best Adventure Film at the New York Wild Film Festival and Best Mountain Culture Film at the Whistler Film Festival. Photographer Reuben Krabbe also claimed the prestigious Photo of the Year award at the Powder Awards for his image.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive and the film has appealed to skiers, photographers, outdoor people and non-outdoor audiences alike. 

To compliment the film Salomon, along with Origin Design and Switchback Entertainment, created an interactive multimedia website with behind the scenes videos, maps, photo galleries and even a Google Street View tour of Pyramiden. I worked with the Origin team to help layout the narrative and bring the bonus footage and stories to life. You can explore the multimedia experience at www.freeskitv.salomon.com

Iceland- Salomon Freeski TV

In March, 2014, I had the chance to return to Iceland for my third trip. I was a filmer on a Salomon Freeski TV shoot joined by Jeff Thomas, Mattias Fredricksson, Leslie Anthony, Mark Abma, Chris Rubens and the late Andreas Fransson. It was great to go back to a place that I find truly magical. The Icelandic reverence for the mystic is fascinating and connects them to their landscape and heritage. 

We spend our time skiing with Jokull Bergman at his families heliski operation based in the farm house he grew up in near Dalvik on the Troll Penninsula. It was not a trip with an abundance of skiing due to one of the most intense and exhilarating storms any of us has sat through. The wind blew for 3 days straight at close to and over 100km/hr, burying roads, blowing a shipping container into a house in town and making the 30m journey from the barn to the dinning room an expedition. To read a great account penned by Les Anthony, read his Mountain Life Annual blog here. But in the moments between the elements flexing their muscles, we skied some unique mountains, even down to the dark North Atlantic Ocean, and this is one of the most aesthetically unique episodes I have shot. I hope you feel the same.

We finished the trip with a few days in Reykjavik--one of my favourite cities--sightseeing and partying for Jeff's birthday. If you ever have a chance to spend some time there, do it. Make it a trip, or extend a layover en route to somewhere else. Vibrant, friendly, chic and brimming with arts and culture, you won't be disappointed.

Huge thank you to Jokull and his Arctic Heliskiing crew for their warm hospitality, incredible food and access to some stunning mountains.

P.S. The voice over in this piece was read by Ollafur Dari. For those that have seen "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Olafur is the drunken helicopter pilot. I love that he was excited to read for us.

Salomon Freeski TV- S7 E2 Fjord Norway

In March I travelled to Norway with the Salomon Freeski TV crew to film an episode for season 7. The finished product released this week. Watching it, I had some fond memories of a great trip with Chris Rubens, Andreas Fransson, and Greg Hill along with filmer and editor Jeff Thomas and photographer Mattias Fredriksson. The narration was written and crafted by Leslie Anthony and really brings it all together.

A huge thanks to the great Norwegian folks whose hospitality we received. 

Fjord Norway for arranging the entire trip. 

Arne and Stein-Mangna at Actin Adventures for our sailing adventure.

Knut Slinning at the unique hotel Juvet Landscape Hotel

Our guide Oscar from Ute Guiden

 

Salomon Freeski TV: Austria-Roots

In January last year I travelled to Austria to shoot a Salomon Freeski TV episode. Austria is the borth place of modern skiing and coupled with its zealous following of ski racing, it is a place that one must visit as sort of skiing pilgrimage. This episode pays tribute to the past, the racing culture and new freeride movement. Hopefully it makes you want to go ski. Enjoy!

A Hundred Year Storm- Powder Mag Latitude

Last March I travelled to Eastern Europe with Jordan Manley, Forrest Coots and Chad Sayers in the hope of skiing some of the snow that fell across vast swathes of the continent. The storm eventually became a state of emergency and what we encountered was part of the aftermath- a little less violent, but equally as insightful. I joined the crew as a writer and the story was published in Powder Magazine.

Jalpak Tash World Premiere at IF3 in Montreal

It's that time of year again when the International Freeski Film Festival (IF3) lights Montreal up for 3 days of films and parties. This year I was glad to have Jalpak Tash, the short film I directed in Kyrgyzstan, make its world premiere to an open air crowd at The North Face Outdoor Theater. Playing on the first evening along side some of the years best films was a real honour and it is always nice to know that your work is appreciated and that skiing remains diverse and open. 

A huge thanks goes out to Felix Rioux and his IF3 team for continuing to develop an awesome event and platform for the freeski community to gather and for filmmakers to showcase their work. Secondly thanks again to The North Face for making Jalpak tash possible.

The North Face Kyrgyzstan Yurt Trip

In February I made it to Kyrgyzstan to ski and film in the Tien Shan Mountains based out of a yurt, or traditional nomadic tent. Teaming up with photographer Nicolas Teichrob and The North Face athletes athletes Mike Hopkins, Leah Evans and Izzy Lynch, we spent 2 weeks in a part of the world that we largely knew nothing about. Flying into Bishkek we were greeted with -25 C temperatures and a thriving metrolpolis. Making our way to Karakol a more agarian aspect of the country presented itself. Skiing the local ski hill was a novel attraction before we spent a night with a local Kyrgyz family. Once in the yurt, we had everything we needed for a great week of skiing. Kas and Anarbek, two local Kyrgyz, cooked and kept the fire burning while we ventured out with Ryan Koupal of 40 Tribes Backcountry and our guide Ptor Spricenieks. Koupal launched the operation as a means of helping to develop winter based tourism in a country still recovering from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Working around dangerous avalanche conditions, altitude and myelf recovering from being struck down with pneumonia, we enjoyed numerous first descents and some incredibly warm hospitality from the local people.

Despite it's challenges we came away with some great imagery that we will distill down to a short film to released in the fall. A big thanks goes to The North Face for making the trip a reality and to Ryan Koupal and his team at 40 Tribes Backcountry.

Look out for the film and an assortment of feature articles on stands near you.

Check out Nicolas' blog for more images here.

Skiing in Bulgaria and Kosovo

Linking up a wicked winter of travel, after Austria and Kyrgyzstan I headed directly to Bucharest, Romania. Joining Jordan Manley, Forrest Coots and Chad Sayers we converged hoping to catch some of the monumental storm that had forced large parts of Eastern to declare a state of emergency. What we arrived to were rising temperatures and not the bottomless powder we had hoped for. What ensued was a not an ideal situation for skiing but a refreshing travel experience that I haven't had for a long time.

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Kashmir Dreams- Salomon Freeski TV

Last winter I was chilling on the beach in Mexico when Mike Douglas asked if I wanted to go back to Kashmir to heliski with Billa Bakshi, one of the vibrant characters from AZADI. 10 days later I was lifting off in a helicopter with Chris Rubens, Tristian Knoetzer and photographer Blake Jorgenson. What we got was deep powder and some of the best tree skiing any of us had ever seen. Now the episode is live so sit back and enjoy the show. Then get your backside over to Kashmir for some good times of your own.

Salomon Freeski TV- Selkirks Touring

Last Spring I ventured up to Sentry Lodge and Fairy Meadows to put the new Salomon Guardian touring binding through it's paces for Salomon Freeski TV. I was joined by Chris Rubens, Elyse Saugstad and Kim Havell as well as photographer extraordinaire Bruno Long and Greg Franson from Blue Bird Guides. What we got was all the incarnations of winter: blue bird powder, big alpine couloirs, and deep winter pillows and trees. It was a good time to say the least. Check out the video and make up your own mind.

A Birds Eye View of a Burn

Bird's Eye of a Burn- A b4apres Edit from b4apres media on Vimeo.


Between Christmas and New Years I had the good fortune of skiing at Great Canadian Heliskiing. Each year, Jordan Manley travels to GCH to experiment with ideas for original still images and he invited me to join him to shoot video. This year we explored the incredibly aesthetic burns that GCH have and got this great bird's eye view.

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The Upside to Backsides- Whitewater, Nelson, BC

Visiting Nelson for the first time is like returning home. The place accepts you with open arms and one can feel at ease. In the same way, returning to Nelson is much like visiting for the first time—the energy of the place hits you in an epiphany and the people are refreshingly laid back. For myself returning after five years to ski the place where I truly learnt to “ski the trees”, a lot has changed. The cult ski resort of Whitewater has expanded much to the initial chagrin of some locals, but you would be hard pressed to find someone adhering to that sentiment these days. Whitewater simply just got better.

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Aka Skidor- Kashmir Article

If you are Swedish or read Swedish, check out the latest copy on the shelves of Aka Skidor, the Swedish ski magazine. The article is based on the Salomon Freeski TV. I was fortunate enough to do with photographer Blake Jorgenson, Chris Rubens and Tristan Knoertzer. We had an awesome trip exploring the new heli ski terrain with Gulmarg Heliski

I also called in to the Salomon studio last week and got a sneak peak of the Freeski TV episode we filmed. I think you will all be stoked so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the trailer here.

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