Deep Winter Photo Challenge
This year I teamed up with Reuben Krabbe for the Arc’teryx Deep Winter Photo Challenge.
This event sees 6 invited photographers and their chosen teams of athletes compete for a $5000 prize for best slideshow. Each team has three days at Whistler/Blackcomb in bounds to capture imagery and create a show that is judged on action, creativity, storyline/theme and overall impression.
While conditions were extremely difficult (we hadn’t seen fresh snowfall in a couple of weeks) we still had a blast cruising around the hill looking for good light, interesting features and patches of fresh snow. Our team consisted of Tatum Monod, James McSkimming, Rupert Davies, myself and photo assistant, Michael Overbeck.
When it was all said and done, our team took home the second place prize! However, the contest isn’t over yet. Please take a minute to swing by and vote for Reuben Krabbe for People’s Choice here:
Thanks for the vote!
Enjoy the show:
December Ski Adventures
Skiing this December has been unreal!
Here are some “behind the scenes” photos from some of this months outings. Access was primarily ski touring but there was some heli/cat/lift action tossed in as well to keep the balance 
Happy New Years everyone!
Speed Wings, Table Tops & 50/50s – Sunshine Village commercial shoot
This past week I found myself at Sunshine Ski Resort in the Canadian Rockies. Each time I ski in Alberta I’m amazed at the sheer beauty of the surrounding peaks and the difference in their limestone mountains and our coastal granite faces.
We were shooting on location for an ad for the Japanese Railway. The stunt persons included myself, slopestyle skier Yuki Tsubota, freeskiers Chris Rubens and Eric Pehota, snowboarder Rupert Davies and speed flyer Sean Dillon. The ad saw each of us involved in an on mountain relay race where we passed off an “icon” which was basically a replica of a tablet computer. In my stunts I had to perform a 180 off a table top and pass the icon to Rupert mid air as well as ski a line next to Sean while he was flying his speed wing and then get close enough to grab the icon from him while he was still suspended in the air. Both stunts required careful planning and concentration but we were able to nail it within a few tries.
The busy week flew by for me and it was awesome having such a special group of people together for this project. Thanks to everyone involved for making it a memorable stay at Sunshine Mountain.
Paragliding Mt. Currie
Got up close and personal once again with one of my favorite mountains in the world, Mt. Currie. I spent my entire childhood playing on trails, in fields and by rivers while Currie loomed high overhead like a protector of our valley. Each time I’m on Currie, whether with skis, my paraglider or hiking boots, I feel a great connection with the mountain.
My most recent adventure was a heli drop with Luke, Alex and Dirt. We hopped in the chopper from Pemby airport and caught a lift to the col by the first summit (West Face). Alex and Luke brought speedwings and were able to fly with the terrain until about 4000 feet where the ditched and landed over the Green River at the golf course. Chris aka Dirt and I caught lift off launch and were suspended in the crisp, stable air for around 30 mins before touching back down in the valley.
This flight was a great way to gather some beta on Currie’s terrain for future ski/paraglide/speedride adventures. Thanks for the great day boys! Looking forward to our next excursion!
Origins
Here’s the latest from Sherpas Cinema and Selkirk Wilderness Skiing, “Origins.”
This was one of my favorite trips last season. We had awesome snow conditions, a great crew and a beautiful lodge with some of the delicious food! What more could a ski bum like me ask for?
Wedemount Lake
Kye, Hoji, Callum and I made our way to Wedemount Lake yesterday. Hoji, Kye and I made the climb in 95 mins from the truck to the lake (our personal bests). It was a non stop hike/jog/climb to the cabin followed by a good ol stretch session on the flat rocks by the water and then a dip in the pristine, blue, alpine lake. What an awesome way to hammer the legs and get some recon for lines we want to ski in the future… Thanks for the day boys!
Kye & Hoji near at our rest point by the cabin
The Lake
The Glacier
Stoked!
Scoping lines...
Shared a snack with this little guy
Great colors up there
Heading to the water's edge
If only this were a hot spring...
The lake hanging on the edge
The Rethel couloir calling my name
Rainbow Mountain across the valley
Hoji (aka Eric Hjorleifson)
Time to test the water
REFRESHING
A great way to spend an afternoon...
Paraglide camping @ Mackenzie Launch
Spent last night overlooking the Pemberton Valley from the Mackenzie Launch. We flew in the afternoon, ate dinner off the fire, played music in the moonlight and then woke this morning to soar the skies again. Not bad, not too bad at all…
Soaring above upper launch
Looking South. Whistler Mountain, Black Tusk & Tantalus in the back
Mt. Currie in all it's summer glory
Sam Daniels begins his evening flight
Sam searching for thermals
Snapshot from my flying lawnchair
Selfie from a few hundred feet off the deck
Our landing zone 
Redbull Paraglider Pal Takats is in town
Mom & me on launch
Taking 5 in my tent
Grillin for dinner. 3 types of meat.
Bon nuit!
Arc’teryx Deep Winter Photo Challenge – Revisited
I recently linked up with Whistler local and professional photographer Mason Mashon to grab a few photo samples from our 3 days of shooting on hill at Whistler for the Arc’teryx Deep Winter Photo Challenge this past winter. We had a very talented crew of skiers and boarders and I’m pretty sure our laughs echoed through the valley as we dashed from locale to locale in search of good light and unique features. Huge thanks to Mason and the rest of the gang for their hard work and all around awesomeness! I hope I can be a part of this competition again next year.
To see the rest of the collection check out my 11/12 Photo Samples Page under “BIZ.”
Wind lip handplant on 7th Heaven, Blackcomb
Spine slashin' in Lakeside Bowl, Blackcomb
Tackling a quick mixed climb near Blackcomb Peak
Rappin in
First line on this chute
Just the way I like it!
Heni planting one in my goggle reflection
En route to Saphire Bowl
Tight to ski is alright with me!
Camp of Champions Recap
Why I love Whistler reason #176: Summer glacier skiing!
When the regular ski season ended I made my way into the British Columbia wilderness for a couple shifts at tree planting camp. I started out on beautiful Shuswap Lake North of Salmon Arm and then spent a two weeks East of Vernon near Cherryville. Planting trees is hard work but I really enjoy it. To me it’s a great way to keep the mind and body in tune simultaneously. What other job can you listen to your favorite tunes 8 hours a day while cruising around on uneven ground with weighted bags on? Shoot, when I put it that way it does sound a lot like ski touring… haha.
When I finished pounding trees into the earth I made my journey home to Whistler for a completely different summer gig; coaching skiing on the Blackcomb Glacier at Camp of Champions. Campers of all ages from all over the world make their way to Whistler in the summer to ski one of the best terrain parks on the planet. I really enjoy meeting other people with a genuine stoke for the sport of skiing, and summer camp draws these folk like ants to a picnic. Personally as a coach I have three general goals for my campers. 1) They leave having learned something, 2) They play safe and 3) They have fun!
Here are two letters I received from campers after their sessions at camp:
“Hey Austin, it’s Percy, one of your campers from Session C… I’d like to say thanks for being my coach and making camp a super fun place and teaching me so much more than I expected to learn!”
- @PercyHoltz (15) via Instagram
“Thanks again for the great week! Hopefully I make it out to Whistler this winter to shred!”
- @Andy_Black7 (16) via Instagram
For more information on summer camp and to see video and photos from this summer check out www.campofchampions.com
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the awesomeness this summer and I hope to see ya’ll again next year!
Peak Chair laps with the Red Cam
Kevin Arnold hired me and Matt Elliot for the day to ski some of our favorite lines off the Peak Chair on Whistler Mountain while he captured the action on the Red Epic cam. This is what we came up with, hope you enjoy.
“This winter, I had an opportunity to shoot with the RED EPIC camera. The EPIC is typically used on large sets, but RED provided me with a custom, pared-down rig for handheld shooting. The idea was to create print-worthy stills and cinema-quality video at the same time, with the same camera. Though not without it’s challenges, the experiment was a success, and the still images will be featured in RED’s upcoming brochure for the camera.” – Kevin Arnold
My international music video debut…
Never one to turn down a day or two of contemplative “soul searching,” I obliged when Leo Hoorn at Sherpas Cinema invited me to take part in their most recent project, a music video for Universal Sweden’s Urban Cone.
Once again, Leo was armed with the Red Epic cam which we had used in Selkirk Wilderness catskiing lodge earlier this winter. Cruising some of Vancouver and Squamish’s most scenic areas, we did our best at rounding out the story for the bands music video. I really enjoyed thinking of some epic locales and scenes for the video and I hope we can do more fun stuff like this in the future…
Here’s what the Sherpas had to say on their site:
“A few weeks back, Sherpas Cinema had the great honour of hosting and hanging with a young band from Stockholm, Sweden.
Urban Cone and the good folks from their label, Universal Music, teamed up with The Sherpas to shoot a video for their new song Black Ocean, spending an action packed week in the Sea to Sky working hard and taking it all in.
Starting in the studio in Vancouver and eventually marching into the rainforests of Squamish, the shoot was an awesome success and tons of fun. The band absolutely crushed it during our brief shoot window, hopping right off the plane into the studio and then enduring seemingly endless takes in the classic cool n damp Squamish forests. Actor and Pro Skier Austin Ross came in to bat clean up rounding out the story for the video. What a machine! Truly a jack of all trades.”
Blackcomb Rime w/ Eric Berger
Me on one of my favorite lines; DOA from Blackcomb Peak
- Me & Rosie skiing DOA
Rosie & I pushing for the summit of Blackcomb
First visit back @ RMR
Some Iphone shots from my first trip back to Revelstoke of the 11/12 ski season:
Standing on top of Mt. Mackenzie; 1845m
Set to drop in on Brown Shorts couloir
Lap two, dropping in on Thumbs Up
Shreddin’ with Zoya Sauce!
Zoya Lynch and I went skiing together at Revelstoke Mountain Resort and passed around her new Canon 7D. It was lots of fun getting behind the lens for a change! I even got my first photo of Zoya published from this sesssion!
This is the shot seen in the Rad Boob Club Calendar
Fissile Edit
On Friday four of us set off for Fissile from Whistler Peak to ski the Banana Chute and spend the night in the Himmelsbach Hut near Russet Lake. The good snow conditions and amazing light made for one memorable overnighter. Thanks to Shaun Gillis, Hans Christian Gulvik and Geoff Bate for the tour!
Check the video:
Skinning Up To Whistler Peak
Zoya and I decided to take advantage of the bright skies this morning and went for another day trip up Whistler Mountain, we called Turpin in Pemberton and he was down for an adventure and before we knew it we were driving towards the freshies. It had snowed a fair bit since Pierrot and I went so we were able to put our skins on earlier and ski out further at the end of the day. It’s always nice to have to work for your turns a bit because it makes it that much more special when the lifts do start spinning.
