Sweden’s Jens Nyström has made a living teaching people how to ski via YouTube. Based in Laax, Switzerland, he also hosts ski camps with some guests arriving from as far away as Silicon Valley. In March 2022, I spent some days with Jens for a magazine feature and have to say he’s one of the most complete skiers I’ve ever worked with. Seeking perfec-tion in all aspects of his skiing, even carving in the pipe, makes sense in Nyström’s world. Words TOBIAS LILJEROTH Photos and Captions AXEL ADOLFSSON IN early September, all of Stockholm was plastered with campaign posters for Sweden’s upcoming general election. One of the posters featured a bespectacled character with a wry smile, standing in the middle of a sunny street flanked by single-family homes with branches from verdant apple trees hanging out over wooden fences. It was an idyllic scene meant to portray trust and comfort, featuring Sweden’s soon-to-be prime minister, Ulf Kristersson. he and Daggberg spent a full winter on skis between the French, Swiss and Austrian Alps, living out of a beat-up rear-wheel-drive BMW 3-series. “We had no clue what we were doing and what we had gotten ourselves into,” Adolfsson says. “Our skis were beat and heavy, and our avalanche safety knowledge was even worse. We had watched a bunch of ski movies during the fall and we thought it looked nice to ski powder just like the pros.” But something else happened on that rite-laced journey. Before he left Sweden, he bought his first camera, a Nikon D5100 with two lenses, an 18-55mm and a 55-200mm. Adolfsson’s father was an avid hobby photographer and cameras were always lying around the house. After his older brother Gustaf started picking them up, Adolfsson learned the basics and began building on his skills by bringing family cameras to the mountains in his teens. “I got hooked right away,” he says. “The kick of shooting and real-izing I had captured a proper banger was invigorating.” The new camera wasn’t just a hobby however—it was a window into a whole new world. Together with Daggberg, Adolfsson started a photo-infused blog named “Yweski”—why we ski. During that 2013 season, Adolfsson dove headfirst into his craft. When his work started getting notice (and eventually print space) with outlets such as Sweden’s freeski forum freeride.se, a bigger picture came into focus. “To see my own work right next to my [photography and ski] heroes still blows my mind a bit,” Adolfsson admits. “To see how far I can take it is still what drives me.” About the same time, a different type of propaganda landed on door-steps across the country—the fall issue of Swedish ski magazine Åka Skidor. The publication set imaginations alight, particularly a 10-page feature from Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo in the heart of the mighty Dolomites. Mountains, adventure, food, culture—the images evoked a rugged beauty that felt foreign and a tad dangerous, the kind of story that makes you book a plane ticket immediately. At the center of the two opposing forces, and of those two projects, sits 29-year-old Axel Adolfsson. Part-time political pho-tographer and part-time mountain creative, Adolfsson walks with a foot in each world, not only creating, but also living the contrasts of his push-pull duality. IN MANY WAYS , Adolfsson’s story reflects those of many successful Swedish skiers and ski photographers. He grew up in an academic home in Skövde, in southwestern Sweden. The closest thing Adolfsson had to skiing there was 997-vertical-foot Billingen, a place where cross-country skiing was preferred over alpine. The Adolfsson family did have a holiday home in the ski resort of Sälen, some five hours north, but they usually only visited for about 15 days spread over the winter holidays. That was a teaser for the young Adolfsson, and it was enough to get his wheels spinning. By the time Adolfsson was in his teens, he dreamed of spending a winter in the Alps. A week after high school graduation, he and his friend Victor Daggberg headed to Oslo, Norway and worked two jobs each for seven months to make that dream a reality. At 19, Axel Adolfsson Gallerie 083
The Ski Journal Volume 16, Issue 3: Page 83
