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.

Mar 23: Big Jump

Justin and Hazen built the Pyramid booter, by themselves, in 2 days.

It looked rather beautiful as we approached it the next morning. (For scale, the vertical wall of the ramp is 12 feet tall.)

We worked from 9am until about 2pm, sculpting the ramp and smoothing the in-run. We had about a dozen guys shoveling, stomping and testing.

Finally, with a good crowd of supporters, Justin and Hazen enjoyed their moment.
Pete and Eric also put in a couple laps.

The real images are still processing.

Feb 9: Super Ior

Yesterday was 'one of those days.'

I shot this on my first lap, then didn't touch the camera again for the rest of the day. The skiing was just too good.

Today, the touring was amazing. We started at 5am, hit our lines and finished before 10. I'm sure there are 100s of people still out there, tearing it up.

The sun didn't cooperate, and it was cold up high, but we found some big lines, little jumps, and great turns.

Justin on a big line.

Nicole on a little jump.

Cascade on a great turn.

The light didn't turn out (although an hour later, it was perfect), but we had a grand time up there.

More tomorrow.

Feb 5: Eye Sore

Many photos incorporate a 'shoot-through' to frame a subject. In skiing, it's often done with tree branches.

I thought, 'What if we do it backwards? Let's focus on a branch and let the skier fade into a soft background.'

Well, this is how it turned out on the first try.

Look at it for a few more seconds and your eyes will hurt.

Your brain is desperate to see something up there. It knows the bright red is important.

But man, your eyes just can't do it. They're torn between the sharp pine needles and the bright coat.

This result is..... terrible.

We'll work on this a bit. I think it can be done, but it will take more forethought.

Jan 29: Grab Bag

The skiing is warm and wet this week, so a couple of the guys are practicing some new grabs.

This super poppy booter is cleaned up to look nice.

Justin is working on a truck driver.

It's getting closer.

But it's still in the developmental phase.

A few more tries...

Much better.

Timmy is locked in.

It looks effortless.

Ariel joins later. Is this the running man?

Rad base graphics.

Jan 27: Big Time

4:30 wake up.
5:15 rendezvous.
6:00 trailhead, skins on.

7:30 first saddle, 1500 gain, 1.7 miles up. sunrise.

8:15 aspen glades and long shadows.

9:00 recon base, under the face.

10:15 final ridge. big exposure. a slip left would be bad (fatal?), running on hard steep crust.

10:30 final summit in view.

11:45 standing on the summit (left), 3100 gain, 3.5 miles. the line is rather implied by this angle, but i won't give away exactly how we sent it.

12:00 the entrance proves a bit tricky. (sorry Kate, can't resist)

12:05 Kate recovers and skis it to perfection. (this one is soft and I'm blaming it on the lens. the auto-focus totally bounced this time. I shouldn't have trusted it. I was shooting two cameras simultaneously at varied focal length, but it's a shame I didn't get this right.)

12:05 flying through the runout.

12:35 regroup at the bottom. Justin Sarah Kate Hazen. note the lines.

1:15 back at the saddle, we admire the tracks. Sarah put in the left line, super stylish, and earned photo of the day (not shown). Kate put in the upper-right chute (in shade). Justin's creeps into the bottom corner, direct from the summit.

1:30 back to the car.

7:45 bedtime??

Jan 20: Best Day

Today was the best day of 2011, for me.
The weather was great, the snow was great, the skiing was great, etc etc.
We had a ton of fun.

In reverse chronological order:

Justin shot a few frames of me at the end of the day.
I am sporting an 8-week beard. It helps keep the snow out of my face (and encourages other skiers to keep their distance).

My telemark form is a little out of practice, but I managed a few decent turns.

Justin gets waaaaay low.

This was taken 1/10 second earlier. Watch out for the buried ice layer.

We did shoot some good images though, earlier.

We mixed it up with a few big-mountain lines too. What a day!
More tomorrow.

Nov 18: For Fun

The night before Alta opened, we went out for a quick dig.

The light was low and flat, but we brightened it up with laughter.

Justin.

John.

The tree didn't enjoy the jokes.

April 8: Chairlift Outtakes

I'm working on a new series.
It's top secret, but it will include time lapse and some wicked sports photos.

Here's an outtake from today's set.


Chairlift Outtake from Jeremy Koons on Vimeo.


It was our first take, and I confidently predicted that 'we can get this shot on 1 take.'
Oops.

Here's the second attempt, with improvement, but still not the shot.

It took 5, but we eventually got it.
When the series is more developed, I'll show it.

Feb 26: Spring Skiing

16" made for good skiing.
The warm weather made it a bit Springy.

We started by sending Vanessa off a sweet cliff.
I combined 20 images into a massive composite. I'm saving the big one, but here's a teaser image.

Then, we went into Grizzly to hang out in the sun.
Check the time lapse video.


Spring Days in Grizzly Gulch from Jeremy Koons on Vimeo.


I had another camera on a tripod, firing remotely with a Pocket Wizard.
It felt good to just let the P'-Wizard do the work. I didn't even check the framing until halfway through the day. A nice lazy afternoon in the sun.
Some shots from the P'-Wizard:


Justin.

Timmy.

Hazen.

JP.

Keenan.

Wes.

Spring is here already.

What happened to Winter?

Feb 25: Night Skiing

Our first night-skiing adventure of the season.

Here are the warm-up shots:
Sarah Scott.

Justin Wright.

JP Schlick.

The next set was much cleaner, as we figured out our methods. (I'm saving those images for later.)

Hint: strategically place headlamps on the sneaky trees and bushes, to avoid face shots of the wooden variety.

Also: pick lines with nice easy run-outs, to avoid colliding with the gear.

Lastly: choose your moment wisely, to avoid planting a tree on JP's head.

Thanks to the athletes for courageously bombing the Aspens in the dark.

It was rather tricky, with all the snow and trees. Exciting and fun too though.

Here's our exit strategy.

We'll try it again when the snow is better.

Jan 5: Big Day

Today was one of my best ski days ever. And I only rode 1 lap.

Sometimes the quality of the one lap makes it all worth it.

Starting at 7am, we toured to a cliff that I have been eyeing for 10 months. I have previsualized the line and the photo for most of a year, and it's finally time to send it.

We spent an hour probing the landing, scouting the take off, getting everything dialed in and ensuring it was all safe.

Nate acted as sherpa, assistant, safety manager, belayer, photo assistant, and most importantly, guinea pig.

Here's Nate sending the corner of the cliff, ~25', as a 'small' test.

Nate saved the glory shot for me. We set up the shot and I stuck it.

We used a rope to measure the drop. 40' is our estimate.

Next time, when the snow is right, we'll start at 4am, set it up pre-dawn and hit it right as the sun rises. That's the shot I've envisioned for a year.

The day continued. In the afternoon, we set up a huge poppy booter in the woods, hoping to frame up a sunset shoot.

The sunset never happened. We regretfully missed the good one last night. We still practiced the shot, so that when the time is right, we'll have it dialed in.

Justin, a photog's ideal athlete, does exactly what I ask of him: huge, I mean gigantic, straight air with a tight grab.

After sunset, we sent it a few more times. Mr. Dependable nails tricks in the dark.
Trying to let the background fill in, I brighten the image, but Pete's huge back flip turns ghosty.

Hazen stomps a 3 in the dark.