Category: ski up hill

First Snow of the Season

After months of waiting for a fresh coating of the white, powdery cocaine, snow is finally filling the mountains of Colorado. Like addicts falling off the wagon, Eric Poore and I met before dawn to get our fix. We headed to St Mary’s Glacier, where we were guaranteed at least some rock free skiing with a layer of fresh on top.

We were the only car in the parking lot. I was giddy taking my first gliding steps uphill, the nylon skins gripping the heavy, wet snow. God, I’ve missed this!

Navigating through the rocky trail we made it to the lake to find a beautiful winter wonderland. Needless to say, I’m excited for more of this.

Eric has had his right hand in a cast all summer with a broken wrist. He’s psyched for the freedom of the brace, but can’t wait till he can fully use his hand again.

Eric flips his binding’s risers as we get onto the glacier.

It was white out conditions when we got to the top of the glacier.

Halfway down our first run Eric swaps out his Dynafit skis for a pair of snow blades.

Eric scopes out the slope skier’s right of the glacier.

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Eric really wanted to ski the couloir we skied back in early August. He had broken his skins earlier and was having to boot-pack, so he decided to boot-pack the couloir to see what the conditions were like. I skinned around to the top and waited for him. I loved this tree weighted by the burden of the fresh snow.
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Back from the Fury of Outdoor Retailer

For the record, when I refer to OR I’m usually talking about Outdoor Retailer not Oregon. Sorry Oregon, I really do want to talk about you / come explore your wonders. Several of my friends in Oregon thought I was coming to see them and friends ask me, “How was Oregon” when I got back from Salt Lake City. Outdoor Retailer is a tradeshow where the entire outdoor industry is in one place showing off it’s goods. I go to network with all of the marketing departments and scrounge up future work.

Another OR is over. I rushed to get my new portfolio magazine (take a look!) prepared for the show and skimped on setting up meetings, but the show went well despite my lack of preparation. It was a slow show, so many companies had more time to talk with me. (Many are hurting because of the lack of snow in much of the country).

Now the real work begins, the constant contact after the show. Get companies engaged and make them think of you first when they have photography needs. It’s a balance between not contacting them too soon when they’re swamped with all the other inquiries and not too long when they forget about you.

So…I have work to do. And I leave you with a random photo from last month.

The Crested Butte backcountry on Mt Evans last month when I was out with Donny Roth for Dynafit