COVER “Last winter, we met only one other group during 11 days of ski touring in central Hokkaido, Japan. It was young Swede Edvin Olsson’s first time in Japan and he had never seen terrain like this before. Olsson handled the opportunity well, stacking shot after shot, including this gap to pillow tap in the Kamikawa backcountry.” Photo: Mattias Fredriksson TIPS UP 01 • “After weeks of COVID-19 lockdown, we were able to move up the mountains again pretty late into summer. Sämi and David Ortlieb found some nice spring snow and the 9 p.m. sunset made a beautiful backdrop for bringing the ski season to a dignified end.” Photo: Ruedi Flück 02 • “A lone skier trying to get ahead of the masses across the street from Alta, UT. I was parking to go to my locker and thought I could make something work with the snow piles on the cars. I only had 15 seconds or so to grab the shot—too often pics that are unfolding in front of me disappear before I can get my act together. Not this time.” Photo: Lee Cohen 03 • “Mountain guide Per Ås captured in the tiny ski area of Les Marécottes in Switzerland’s Trient Valley, close to the French border and not far from iconic zones such as Verbier and Chamonix. In fact, the big mountain in the back-ground is the iconic Grand Combin (14,154 feet) near Verbier. Les Marécottes only has four lifts, but the terrain is big and it snows a lot. You might even see extreme skier extraordinaire Jérémie Heitz in the lift line—it’s his home spot.” Photo: Mattias Fredriksson 04 • “Sometimes it feels like I’m playing a video game through my lens. This was one of those days. Sam Kuch is incredibly talented in the air, and this 30-footer proved absolutely no match for the high flyer. He took one quick look and sent it straight to Stompsville.” Photo: Adam Barker 05 • Classic early morning blower pow with Mali Noyes at Alta, UT. A day after a storm, it had cleared out with frigid temps and perfect snow. Mali sent this turn subterranean, and her ponytail is about the only thing that stayed above the cold smoke. Photo: Lee Cohen 06 • “This was our third time trying for sunrise during a weeklong period of unsettled weather in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. With a 3:30 a.m. start, the third time was the charm, but even the charm time was pretty fleeting. The sun filtered through for about one minute right after the sun rose, and Michael Barney crushed it.” Photo: Jeff Cricco 07 • Even though there are a lot of groomed slopes in central Switzerland’s Engelberg region, the area is best known for its backcountry—the Big Five offer a bucket list of classic off-piste zones. Wendelücke is one of them, a north-facing run that has dozens of options. Kilian Echallier sending into the sunset last February. Photo: Mattias Fredriksson 08 • “A little after sunrise near the town of Silverton, CO. We woke up to -23-degree temps. I dont think it ever got above 0 degrees the whole day. It made for some awesome, crisp light, but the snow was slow. Andy Wenberg readies on the right and Tanner Rainville transitions on the left. Rainville was cranky, probably hungover and not too stoked to shoot lifestyle shots, but I don’t shoot Rainville for his lifestyle skills. Photo: Jeff Cricco 09 • “Halfway through a trip to Haut-Valais, Switzerland, we spent a full day on this transfer feature to get shots of Laurent de Martin and Will Berman. Light is always an issue when shooting outdoors and on this day, the clock was definitely ticking. The sun was going down as Laurent nailed this beautiful transfer into 270 tail.” Photo: Mathieu Tranchida 016 The Ski Journal
The Ski Journal Volume 14, Issue 3: Page 16
