Young Guns.

This is Sam H.  Sam is 9 and doesn't really like to ride the park&pipe.  He likes to ride the woods and the steeper the better.  He rides better than you.  Enjoy the pic's.

And just incase you weren't second guessing your ability to ski or ride, this is Sam's sister Mazie.  She is 7 and skis the woods just as fast and furious as her brother.

She also enjoys throwing snow in models faces.

and my personal favorite, you can just sense the caption: "Why is this guy bothering me? Why can't we just go and ski"

KMS again.

Was up at Killington shooting with KMS today.  Started out shooting some alpine race training on a trail called highline and ended up over at Bear Mountain shooting with Ian and his snowboard team. The weather finally turned warm enough to soften up the snow and make it really feel like spring.  Ian was down to two athletes but they both brought their "A" game and made it fun to be out there. 

Dust on crust.

Been really slacking on the posts since I've gotten home from Tahoe.  Just trying to get everything done before the snow melts and spring arrives...which by the looks of the snow in my backyard might still be a month or so.  Went and did a little side-country skiing with Ben Kubas on Saturday. The sun was shinning, temps were more like mid-January than Mid-March, and the wind was kicking.   The recent storm didn't produce the goods and Ben and I found ourselves skinning on a crunchy snowpack.  The term we used out west was "dust on crust" or "whipped-cream on shit"...you choose.  The skiing was just as scary as the skinning and after one run we headed straight to the Lookout for an early lunch.  Did manage to salvage a few shots worth looking at.

TAHOE

Lake Tahoe averages 300 hundred days of sunshine a year and I caught 7 of them in a row. Sure, those of us that live in the East who head west to ski always hope for the legendary deep powder the Rockies are known for, but if you don't get the pow you might as well get 7 days of sunshine and 50 degrees...everyday. I was in the Sierra with Backcountry magazine shooting my second feature of the season. I had never been to Lake Tahoe before and I wasn't disappointed. The peaks rise right from the water and the snow was an excellent corn that was soft and warm - almost buttery. Over the seven days spent in the Sierra, two were at a resort, three were in the backcountry touring and one at an environmental center learning about Lake Tahoe and the pressures that population and pollution have had on the lake over the past 100 years. Overall an excellent trip and a bunch of great photos.

Enjoy.

Justin R. enjoying the spring corn.

Mike H. heel-side over the lake.

Justin R. free-heelin' over the lake.

Or second day served up some side-country corn complements of North-Star at Tahoe.

Mike H. in the rock-side-country. 

Justin R. with the White Rabbit in the background.

Our 2nd backcountry day was spent sweating it out on Red Lake Peak.

Sweatin'

Droppin' in.

Skiing on the moon.

Making use of the one piece of shade.

Studying Mysis-something-or-other at the environmental center.

The lake.

On our final day we had the pleasure to be guided by snowboard legend Jim Zellers.  Zellers making it look easy.

More Zellers.

Night Pipe

Been away for the last 12 days so the posts have been silent.  Last week was spent in Lake Tahoe skiing a few resorts and a bunch of days touring in the backcountry.  This past weekend was a quick tour of Northern Vermont starting with Jay Peak Friday night and Saturday for the Backcountry Magazine snowboard test and then a quick run down to Killington for the US Chevy grand-prix of snowboarding half pipe finals under the lights Saturday night.  When I got to Killington the warm temps caused fog to fill the pipe and after waiting a couple of hours the event was cancelled till Sunday afternoon.  The riders had a jam session and I snapped off these few before heading home.  I'll have a bunch of my favorite shots from Tahoe up later this week so check back soon.

Pico Powder

Just a quick write-up as I am heading out to Lake Tahoe this afternoon to shoot a story for Backcountry Magazine.  Got the call from Chris D. to head over to Pico to shoot some skiing and riding last Thursday.  Pico had been closed since the last storm so plenty of powder for all.  I had a good crew in tow, a few old faces and few new.

new face, Katie having some fun.

Peggy making it look deep.

Kubas doing his thing.

We even did the smily group shot.

another type of group shot.

Kubas again doing his thing.

New addition to the fold, VJ rippin it.

Olympian Betsy Shaw making look easy.

Rutland has Smiling Steve...I have Smiling Bret.

Rut-Vegas Backcountry

This past Tuesday/Wednesday brought Vermont a nice snowstorm that deposited a much needed fresh coating of snow.  Overall I'd say right around a foot total.  After a few hours of resort skiing Ben, Bret and I decided for a little tour into the Rut-Vegas backcountry.  Although Ben and I had skied this area a bunch we managed to take a wrong turn which lead to multiple stream crossings and a long slog back to the car.

Kubas enjoying a resort tree shot.

Kubas and I working on a few new angles.

DEEP.

All this with a torn-up knee.

Bret W. getting into a little Rut-Vegas backcountry.

POC.

The last of the yellow suit!