Lost Village- Salomon Freeski TV

This trip to France last year with Salomon Freeski TV was a real treat. We spent 10 days living in a chalet in the mountains above Val d'Pres, near Briancon. Emile Roman, the owner rebuilt the chalet himself with wood from the surrounding forest. Th chalet has been in his family since the 1700's. The chalet is off the grid with no phone or internet and powered by solar. With some incredible terrain for ski touring right out the door and no resorts, it is a unique location. 

The story centred around Emile and a local group of conservationists inspired by Emilie Carles, who have fought to keep the valley free of a highway and tunnel into Italy, along with the development that would have come with it. That Roman and his wife Annick allowed us to stay in their chalet was extremely generous of them as it is not usually open to anyone who isn't family. 

I was joined by Bjarne Salen, Scott Markewitz, Mark Abma, Leo Ahrens, Tony Lamiche and Timothee Theaux. It was a great trip where we all got to enjoy some time off the grid ourselves.

Look out for some editorial from the trip written my myself and accompanied by Scott Markewitz's photos.

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.

A Long Overdue Vacation: Indonesia

In July I took off to Indonesia for a long overdue vacation. After the completion of STAND, a break was in order so I prescribed for myself a month on the beach with little to no computer. I landed in Bali and spent some time recovering from a mountain bike crash in Canggu, before exploring Ubud for a few days. I spent the last part of my trip on Gili T learning to dive. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time and I am so glad I finally did.

I did my advanced open water with the fine folks at Manta Dive  (Aan is an incredible teacher and a spectacular human being). I also put to good use the dive housing that Ikelite supplied myself and Nic for the production of STAND. It was great to be able to shoot without the pressure or a production and experiment. It was awesome to have full control also with a proper dive housing. The underwater world is an astounding place and makes wonder why we ventured into space before fully appreciating our oceans. Needless to say, spending time and shooting underwater is something I foresee a lot of in my future.

After the month I was refreshed and ready to get back home and onto the next project. Watch this space.

Norway with Salomon Freeski TV

This March I managed to escape the edit suite working on STAND for a 2 week trip to Norway with the Salomon Freeski TV crew to ski and shoot. Our itinerary situated us in the Sunmore Alps, exploring the steep fjords surrounding Alesund. Joined by athletes Chris Rubens, Greg Hill and Andreas Fransson, along with filming cohort Jeff Thomas and photographer Mattias Fredrikson, we spent each day ski touring from sea level making for big days. 

The highlight of the trip was utilizing Maud, a 100ft wooden sail boat to access Hjordenfjorden. Skippered by the amicable Arne, we would set sail in the morning to the mountains of our choosing and begin climbing from the waters edge. Each evening was punctuated by feasts of fish--salmon, cod, cod tongue, and monk fish all caught from the waters out front. Some venison from the surrounding forests was served for variety, all washed down by the local brew, Slogen, named after the highest summit in the Fjord.

Over the duration we experienced perfect weather with a great snow conditions and incredible alpine glow each afternoon as we skied back to the boat. It truly was a highlight of my travels skiing.

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

Fjord Norway for arranging the entire trip.

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

Knut Slinning at the unique hotel Juvet Landscape Hotel

Our guide Oscar from Ute Guiden 

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- A Kyrgyzstan Epic ONLINE

Jalpak Tash- A Kyrgyzstan Epic from b4apres media on Vimeo.

Last week Jalpak Tash was released online for your viewing pleasure. By the weekend it had made the Vimeo Staff Picks list which I am extremely stoked about. A big thank you goes to The North Face for making the trip and film happen.   I must also thank Ryan Koupal and his crew at 40 Tribes Backcountry for arranging everything, not least the yurt that he lived in for the week. And finally Nicolas Teichrob for all his hard work and creativity shooting in Kyrgyzstan. 

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.

Salomon Freeski TV- Austria

The new year kicked of with a trip to Austria with Salomon Freeski TV. I was joined by Chris Rubens, Mike Henituk, Blair Richmond  and photographer Christoffer Sjostrom. Our task was the document the deep roots of ski racing in Kitzbuehl during the famous Hannenkam race, and contrast that with the deep roots of freeride in Sankt Anton. What ensued was two weeks of hard work and almost as much partying. Put simply, Austria loves to ski and to drink.

Rubens gets it good on the first day in St Anton.

Kitzbuehl was a good start to the trip, offering an interesting insight into the race culture. It ended up snowing a lot making for some good skiing, but causing the race course to be shortened. Sankt Anton was incredible. The terrain is huge, the lift complex vast and with no glaciers, unlike many places in the Alps, the riding much friendlier. We had everything from deep powder to bluebird Alaskan style spines. And not to mention apres-ski. You haven't apres-ed until you have apres-ed in St Anton. Take my word for it. 

The Arlberg is steeped in history with the first ever ski school being started in the valley and the old Gasthaus' and bars are almost time capsules. The Museum is a great place to get a sense of the history and a nicer place to eat. 

So check out the episode coming in Season 6 of Salomon Freeski TV starting next Fall.

Oh, one more thing. It ain't apres unless you still have your ski boots on. Just ask Chris Rubens.

Outer Edge Magazine Article

I was fortunate enough to return to Gulmarg this winter with Salomon Freeski TV to film. I was joined by photographer Blake Jorgenson, Chris Rubens and Tristan Knoertzer. We had an awesome trip exploring the new heli ski terrain with Gulmarg Heliski. Look out for the issue on shelves in Australia.

From Dough to Woe- The Story of Naan

In India, despite the chaos, there is a rhythm. Jarvan, the naan baker at a popular street side restaurant in New Delhi, has that rhythm. Many comment on how the colors of India are vibrant, but so are the sounds. So are the rhythms.

After arriving in Delhi, I had a day to spare before my flight to Srinagar. For the most part, I ran around haggling at markets for all the small things that were excess weight on an international flight- shampoo, soap, batteries, etc. By early afternoon I was spent and went for some food at my favorite restaurant in Pahar Ganj. Sitting there eating, the sounds and the scenes were just awesome, with Jarvan Clapping away baking naan in the open air kitchen on the street. With nothing to do for the afternoon, I came back with my camera and hung out, trying to capture some of the sounds of the smaller metronomes of this city.

Kashmir Revisited

Simon Thomson, a friend who I traveled and skied with last winter in Kashmir, finally got around to putting together this video of our trip. Four days away from heading back to Kashmir, this gets me doubly excited.

Commitment to Something

Stevie snapped this picture on the bus to the Hirafu ski hill yesterday. It is a Japanese boy doing his algebra homework in the condensation of the bus window. In down town Tokyo, I might not think twice, but on a bus bound for a ski resort, I really don't know what to make of this. Whatever I think about it is really beside the point, but for the record, I think it's great.