Alex O'Brien Photography

The storm from Mount Hood followed me to Utah and dropped seven feet before the clouds cleared. I had originally scheduled a K2 shoot at Alta but with the whole town snowed in we headed north to the empty slopes of Snowbasin for the first two days.

It was like this pretty much everywhere you went.

On our first morning at Alta we got the day started with a sunrise tour.

Andrew McLean led us on our tour. I was really psyched to be able to go out with him. If its steep and gnarly in the Wasatch there is a pretty good chance that this guy has taken a crack at it. He wrote the book on steep skiing for this area. You can buy it here. He also has an informative website if you like spending more time in the mountains than most normal folk do. To top it all off, we seem to share an affinity for documentaries on heavy metal. And if that doesnt impress you maybe this will.

After our brief moment in the sun the black clouds rolled in.
I experienced the rainiest 2 day period I have seen since the last time I was in Vermont. Luckily it was snowing on the hill and we were able to get out to Meadows and do some storm riding. These were some of the stormiest conditions I have seen all year which made for difficult shooting but excellent riding.


I met up with the legendary Griffin Cummings.

I may have to get a new point and shoot after today, its been getting pretty wet lately.

Just as the snow from the last storm cycle was starting to sour in Utah I got a call from Pollard wondering if I was interested in driving up to Mount Hood to shoot a jump with Nimbus. I looked at the weather and did indeed see a window of sun forecasted but it was surrounded on both sides by wet clouds. Oregons history of rain around this time of the year had me a little nervous but I decided to roll the dice and jump in the car anyway.

After an uneventful 12 hour drive, things went from this…

To this in a span of 45 minutes.

I was very relieved to see all the new snow.

The next day the weather forecast was correct for once and we got a day in the sun before the afternoon clouds rolled back in.

After a long day of crushing the hip jump Andy was patient enough to let me take a portrait. Weigand was also willing to add a little more strain on his arm muscles many hours of jump shoveling and camera button pushing. Thanks guys.

We wound down the afternoon at The Shining hotel with Babe the Blue Ox.

Pollard made this quick edit on the day.

I took a day off to rest my legs and do a little work on my sled but got sidetracked into shooting a few photos of Tanner getting some new work done.

I helped build this jump with Witt Foster and Colin Collins recently. We spent 2 days on the build and got one good session in but the boys wanted more. We got a snowstorm within a few days and the landing got refreshed so we headed back up for a rebate. Colin got 2 hits in before some kook traversed above us and triggered this slide which buried our runway in concrete. This is a photo of Colins shattered dreams.

A small crew from Utah made the trip out to Tahoe for CR’s memorial. I had an amazing shred day at Squaw with Freedle Cody, Zach Siebert, and Ian and Neil Provo. It was the perfect way to remember our good buddy.

Zach, Ian and Neil about to drop into Light Towers.

Ian and Neil have truly been keeping CR’s spirit alive by putting in work on some crazy shred missions lately

We met Jermy Jones on the top of Palisades. I hadnt seen him in years.

He gave us a brief history on some of the super gnar lines at Squaw

This was the top of McConkeys run. Standing on the edge and looking down was the scariest thing I have done in a while. It looks like a sheer cliff from the top.

Sean Fields let us stay at his family lake house, he and Tanner caught this rainbow trout that we cooked up. It was amazing. Thanks for everything Sean.

Today we lost the most humble and caring person I have ever known.
I met CR Johnson within the first year of shooting ski photos.
His talent was insane but he was always very grounded compared to his peers.
He was badly injured a few years back and he really showed everyone just how deep those talents reached when he made a miraculous recovery.
I cant imagine what its going to be like without him.
I took this photo last month.
He had just gotten his new skis from 4Frnt and I have never seen him more pumped to shred.
The next day we went to Alta with Ian Provo and skied powder all day in the sun without cameras.
It was an amazing day with friends.

After shooting Wallish on some of the gnarliest things I have ever seen I met him in Park City for a mellow day. On the first run he slammed super hard on one of the easiest features in the park and split his chin wide open. Seven stitches later he was back to lapping the park.

Once again I came home hoping to stay in Utah for a few weeks. Within 24 hours of being home I had thrown my bags filled with dirty clothes back into my truck and had started the drive into the Montana wilderness. This was actually the first time I had ever been here. Three more states and I will have been to every state in the US of A. Alaska and the Dakotas are in my sights.
I showed up at the hotel after 10 which meant that there was no one at the front desk until the morning. Of course there was no cell service in the area so I couldnt even call the crew to see what room they were in. I ended up sleeping in my truck and had a real cold night. When I woke up and finally met the crew I realized that the person I was there to shoot with wasnt there. After a minor meltdown I got on my sled, ripped into the woods and got a shot with Pollard. Then I packed up and drove another 10 hours back home. Sometimes thats how these things go.

Eric Pollard ghost riding the whip Montana style

This was the first time I had seen a buffalo. I ended up having to Euro Barge the herd in order get through
I saw this scene on the way back home. It really made my day.

On our last day in Sonora it was perfect and sunny.
It was a great way to end the trip but Pep and I had to head back SLC directly from the trailhead that night.
I had to be in Colorado the next day for a weeklong photoshoot at Monarch Mountain.
This was my second time there and they have always been really welcoming.

Ryan Schmies GTS with Birk Irving

The local bowling alley provided all the nightlife we needed

Shea Flynn is always stoked. Nothing breeds the passion like growing up skiing on the east coast.