Apr 23: San Fran

Headed to SF to meet some friends for the weekend.

We caught the ATL@SF game. One pitch later, Jason Heyward ripped an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.

After a Chipper Jones 2-run double, Uggla put them up 4-0. Go Braves.

After 4-1 win and a fun evening, we took to the bay the next day.

Perfect weather for sailing.

Captain described the boat as 'basically a skiff with beer holders.'

But at 53' and designed for long distance racing, she could really cruise, not that we broke any speed records.

Capt'n put us to work.

We finished back at the ballpark, as the Braves won again, 5-2.

Later, we went to San Jose to watch the hockey game. Kings 3, Sharks 1.

There were no tigers or hookers, but it was a weekend of sports, boating, good food and good friends. I'll take that every time.

Apr 18: Quincy Skiing

2 days skiing with my sister and friends in Quincy CA.


Quincy Skiing from Jeremy Koons on Vimeo.

Apr 15: You Wish

You wish you got up at 3:45am.
You wish you skinned 90 minutes (1700') up an icy slope.
You wish you stood under this cliff (shivering) as the sun broke the horizon.

You wish you saw Sarah send this one (half a second earlier).

You wish you had snow like this.

You wish you had April faceshots.

You want to know where this is?

You wish. Ha!

(Hint: head to Alta, and look UP.)

Apr 14: Waiting Game

Great skiing at Alta today. Empty lines and a foot of creamy snow.
The lighting wasn't good though. We waited until after lunch to try photos. We stood around in a cloud before finally moving on.
Super flat and gray.

Even Sarah's bright colors can't save that one.
With some help in the computer, we can make the colors pop, but it still looks flat.

So we just made some turns instead. Afternoon faceshots, anyone?

Then, a break in the weather. Sunshine!

After all the waiting, we finally got to work. I climbed a tree to get the right angle.

It was marginally sketchy, climbing 15 feet into a frozen dead tree with ski boots, but I can cross another image off my shot list.

April 11: Spring Cliffs

Spring is trying to break through, but the skiing is still so good!
We made some beautiful deep turns, then focused on a few cliffs.

Standing under this cornice is not as scary as it looks. But approaching the steep blind lip of this cliff is scarier than it looks. (So said Nicole, Sarah and Cascade [pictured].)

And yes, as I was setting up my camera some backcountry-Bob tele-beater put that ugly turn in the foreground. *sigh*

We hit this a few times, and a couple other ones too.
Then it warmed up and turned into water skiing.

More snow due this week.

Apr 8: Spring Storm

The season is changing. It's full spring one day, deep winter the next.
A big spring storm nailed the Wasatch, providing some terrific late season skiing.

Cait Morgan rips it through the trees.

Then it became so snowy that the camera could barely see anything. What it did see, however, was strange...
This guy has a tree for a head. (Nate Blouin)

And this guy only has a head.

Wet and gray, the camera stayed in the bag the rest of the day.

Apr 10: Red Rocks

Forecast called for heaps of snow in southern Utah.

We chased it. Drove 5 hours through rain wind graupel ice...

Saw one car spin off I-15 @ ~70mph. Crazy!

Got there late, took a sunset lap, and returned through this sparkly boulevard.

Camped at 10,500'. Headed out at 5am. Made a good plan, but skinned in a huge %#$*-ing circle and ended up back at our original skin track, right at sunrise. Made a left instead of a right. Whoops.

Then we looked across and saw our line.

3..2..1..Dropping!

Oh, crap, we're still 2 miles away?

Much discouraged, we started over. We still found some really cool terrain.

Matt scouts a line.

Looking in from the top.

Nate works through the (unskiable) pepper entrance, as Matt lowers the skis.

We also found some simpler terrain that matched my photo style.

We returned to the car when it started getting warm.

The aspens were amazing, but the snow was too soggy to ski them.

5 hr drive. 2 hr sunset ski. 4 hrs sleep. 8 hr tour. 4 hr drive home. A handful of interesting photos, and 1 helluva good time.

It was my 4th sunrise tour in 7 days. And we're going out tomorrow for another one. It's been a good spring.

April 6: High Light

Product photography at high elevation.
Waiting for the sunrise to light up the product: new outerwear.

The sun came through with gorgeous light. We made the products look good!
Natural light at 9500'. Although the hours are tough (430am wakeup) it sure beats working in the studio.

April 5: Early Bird

Early tram laps at the Bird, with Cait Morgan.
Ever had a 125-person tram to yourself?

I recommend it. It'll make you feel like this:

At the top, though, the wind was whipping!
Sand blaster to the face.

No wonder the tram was empty.
We got some cool shots but we dropped the gear after a few loops and took a couple fun laps.

April 4: Sun Rise

After a nice April storm, we tried for some golden sunrise light.

The twilight was incredible.

The sunrise was a bit too clear though, so the light wasn't dramatic enough.
And it was cold: 6 degrees?

The shots didn't turn out, but it was definitely worth the hike.

Mar 31: Good Luck

We went out with only moderate expectations.
We arrived at Wolverine Cirque in a thick fog.
Disappointed, we sat around chatting.
Suddenly, it cleared up and we had the Cirque to ourselves.

The snow wasn't ideal, but it was smooth and untracked.
We put in 6 lines before the wind and warmth pushed us away.