Snowboardin'

Sunrise over Mt. Olympus from Mike and Patti's porch, January, 2007.

Feeling the doldrums of late November and no snow I grabbed my snowboard and boots and headed to Killington for an afternoon of riding.  No expectations of good riding due to the rain and freezing temperatures we've had the last week or so.  Low and behold, good snow, good light, and good riding.  The snowmaking crew must have been busy because I didn't find any ice and the surface was very carvey and fun.  A bonus, I came home to an email that Northern Vermont is expecting a good sized storm over the weekend and into early next week.  We'll keep our fingers crossed.  

Below find a few pic's of yours truly.  I got to thinking today while taking a ride on the gondola by myself that I spend most of my winter not really skiing but "getting around" shooting other's skiing.

A little place we call the "white room".  photo: J. Robinson

Me trying to ski and make it look deep.  Photo: J. Robinson

Again me skiing.  Photo: J. Robinson

No snow yet.

Tim Normand, Solitude Backcountry.

Almost December and no snow in sight.  Not here in Vermont, not out in Tahoe, Utah or Colorado.  I've gone back through my archives and pulled out a few ski shots to get us through till the first big storm.  Enjoy.

Jeff Powers over Alta, Utah.

Take a close look and notice Jason West launching a monster cliff!  Biggest huck I've ever seen! Also notice photographer Steve Lloyd in the yellow jacket.  Solitude Backcountry.

This is Mike Burton triggering a tiny little avalanche that took me for a tiny little ride.  No harm done, although I did have a pole buried never to be found.  Solitude Backcountry.

Happy Thanksgiving.

One of the great American days.  Turkey, Booze, Football, Sleep.  Who could ask for more? Smoking a 11 pound turkey for the big meal tonight.  I've never smoked a full bird, so we'll see how it all turns out.  Here is the bird with it's coating of dry rub and a pic right when it went on the smoker.  I'll update you all on the turkey later this afternoon.  Enjoy the day and go Packers.

**turkey update**

I am now 3:20 into the smoking of the bird.  Coming along nicley.  Beer is tasty.  Been basting the bird with straight butter every 1/2 hour or so.  The Jets are really horrible.  Updates to follow.

top temp is the meat, bottom is the smoker.

I went skiing.

Woke up yesterday to about 2 inches of snow in my backyard.  I guess my hopes for one more week of warm weather went right out the door.  On the other hand, Killington opened last Friday so I guess I could go skiing.  Despite today being a little warmer than yesterday and a considerable "mist" in the air I dusted off my tele-boards, pulled the long underwear out of their storage container, found a coat, loaded the ipod with some Stones and headed up to the "Big K".  I have to give a big thank you to Tom Horrocks and the Killington marketing department for the ticket hook-up.  Seems my pass is a little late in coming this year.  Going up the access road I made a quick stop at Evolution Freeride, Killington's premier freeride ski shop, to see if Ben Kubas was heading up to the hill and if he was, wanted to try to shoot something...anything?  Being the camera whore that I'm thankful he is, he was up for it.  After a little look around the mini park we set up for a few shots on the "big red tube".  Kubas did his best and I tried real hard, but you know sometimes "it's just not working".  The "mist" in the air was getting a little thicker so I called it a day.  The run to the bottom was fun.  The snow was real carvey and fast.  Kubas did a sweet spread eagle, I dropped the knee for all my Utah friends who get a kick out of me tele-in' more than I snowboard and I was back in the car heading home to brine my turkey before you can say ... gobble gobble.




for all those folks in Utah who don't think I went tele-in'

Getting cold and blowin' snow.

Nights keep getting colder and colder up here in Vermont.  Killington has been blowing snow non-stop for over a week now and plan on opening this weekend.  If the weather holds the snow should be fun.  Justin Cash Photography had a productive meeting with the Killington brass last Friday.  We chatted about the upcoming season and where they want to take their photography. From everything I heard it sounds real interesting and should provide some fun opportunities to create some cool images.  On the magazine front, a few new images to note.  Once again, Nordica skier and Smith goggle wearing, Ben Kubas, landed the top spot in The Ski Journal with a double page spread on an article about Jay Peak.  The Ski Journal is a coffee table style ski magazine in it's second season out of Washington State, so all my friends out west should be able to get a copy.  Or you can check it out HERE.  Also to note, a few small images in Backcountry Magazine, November issue.  No Kubas in Backcountry, but a great but small shot of Mike Horn snowboarding in the Chic-Choc's of Quebec, Canada.

Ben Kubas, Jay Peak, VT.

Mike Horn, Quebec, Canada.

 

You got any NADS?

The issues keep rolling in and the ski season keeps getting closer and closer.  Killington blew some snow on Monday and are getting geared up to open soon.  In this months instalment of Skiing Magazine I once again have a few images in the "East Scene".  The first is a "East Feature" I shot late last year up at Jay Peak.  The feature covered the final race in the North American Downhill Series. (N.A.D.S.)  NADS is an "open to the public" downhill race.  People of all ages coming out (18-7o) to point it down Jay's downhill course.  Top speed registered: 88mph.

Jay Peak

The next photo published was from the Sunday River Heat Harvest 2.  The HH2 was an invite only park jam.  These kids keep pushing the envelope and were spinning and going huge.  This was my 2nd year at the "harvest" and Alex K. from S.R. puts on a top notch event.