A Week of Snowboarding in the Tetons

I’m back home in Colorado after an epic week of snowboarding in the high peaks of the Tetons in Wyoming. What a great time… I really dug the town of Jackson almost as much as the mountains themselves. I was sad to leave, but I am thinking that I will be back there for sure sooner than later.

This trip was more about the snowboarding than the shooting, but I did come away with a few good riding shots. I’ve posted a few of my favorites below.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL MY TETONS SNOWBOARDING PHOTOS!

Snowboarding the Middle Teton
Jason King snowboarding down the steep northeast face of the Middle Teton, with the Grand towering behind.

Snowboarding Mt. Moran
Darrell Miller drops in to a steep southwestern couloir on Mt. Moran.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL MY TETONS SNOWBOARDING PHOTOS!

Spring in the Tetons

I am currently in Jackson, Wyoming, where I have been hiking and riding some epic lines in the Tetons. The Tetons provide massive vertical relief, and the snow this season extends all the way to the base of the mountains. The weather has been perfect so far, with warm sunny days and cold nights, making for some nice smooth spring corn snow conditions.

My friend Jason and I have been riding big mountains for the last three days in a row. The first two days were 4,000+ vertical foot descents with quick access from the truck. Yesterday, despite being pretty worked from the first two days, we made a big expedition to Mt. Moran, where we rode down an obscure 5,000 foot couloir.

We’ll rest for today and tomorrow while the weather is a bit unsettled, then the forecast looks good for more adventures later in the week. Once I get back home later in the month I’ll post a bunch of photos from the hikes and descents in these burly peaks.

Dusty Colorado From the Air

Sawatch Range Colorado aerial photo

[+] Here’s some photos from a flight today over the Colorado Rockies, from Denver to Montrose. I had a window seat on the south side of the plane, with good views of the Sawatch and Elk Mountains. I noticed that the snow became more and more dusty towards the west side of the mountains; the western-most peaks were completely smothered in orange/brown dirt.

More photos below.
Continue reading “Dusty Colorado From the Air” →

Springtime Above Ouray

View of Ouray, Colorado

This afternoon I got out for a four hour hike above Ouray. The trails around here are mostly dry, at least on all but the most northerly facing slopes. I did a nice bushwhack hike to the top of a peak that I always see from my house, complete with a slightly hairy scramble to the top of some big outcropped rocks. It felt so good to get out hiking in summer weather, especially after being cooped up at the computer for a few weeks. It always amazes me how much simple exercise improves my mental health.

P.S. – I boosted the contrast on this photo to make it a little more viewable… the camera doesn’t do so well in flat sunny afternoon light like this.

Flying Squirrel People

This video has me pumped. Not because I would ever do this sort of thing, but because of the incredible Norwegian scenery these guys are jumping off of. As some of you may know, I am traveling to Norway this summer for six weeks! I actually bought my plane tickets way back in January, which was probably too early since I’ve been fairly obsessed about it since. I can’t wait.

I have no other news. This spring has been a big disappointment here in the San Juans; the dust storms of last month have destroyed the snowpack. Not only is the snowboarding season finished two months too early, but the snow looks so ugly that I don’t even want to do any photography in the mountains. The upside is that I’ve gotten LOTS of work done!

In about a week I’m headed up to the Tetons for a week of riding big lines there, where the snow is [hopefully] untouched by the desert dust.

Skiing Arizona (in Colorado)

Skiing snow with dust layer

This morning I got out for some skiing/snowboarding with some visiting German friends of a friend of a friend. There is still a little bit of white snow partially covering up the horrendous Arizona dust that smothered our mountains these last few months, so the riding was still ok. Crossing the zebra patterned snow was pretty funky… the white snow smooth and fast, then the brown snow sticky and slow. At times it felt like riding down sand dunes. I’m afraid that unless we get another late season dump, the ski season here in the San Juans is pretty much done since the dust is already starting to ravage the snowpack.

Continue reading “Skiing Arizona (in Colorado)” →

All Photography Dreams are Nightmares

Photography Dream or Nightmare

Every so often, I have vivid dreams about photographing an amazing landscape bathed in fantastic light. The dreams are often very thorough, including the events preceding the shoot, scouting the location, the actual photography with the camera itself, and the sometimes the stoke of successfully capturing the moment. In the more frustrating dreams, I’m confused and fumble with my gear, or I’ve forgotten some crucial equipment, or I’m too late for the light, rushing around trying to find my spot and missing the moment. Those are actually the forgiving dreams. The worst are the successful shoots, because I always wake up extremely disappointed that it was a dream and all my photos have vanished.

Corbett from Ouray

Corbett Sneffels Range, Colorado

Corbett covered in fresh snow this evening, as seen from the north end of Ouray, Colorado. Corbett is the eastern-most peak of the Sneffels Range.

It’s been snowing all day today, and the storm broke right before sunset. It almost looked like it would be a spectacular sunset, but the clouds didn’t lift quite enough. Too bad, since I was all set up with the 4×5. Maybe next time.