Alex O'Brien Photography

At the end of what I thought was going to be my final road trip of the year Sammy Carlson hit me up to fill me in on his summer plans.  He came up with the idea to film a movie on Mt Hood in 6 weeks.  Not a totally new concept but the difference was that he wanted to film the entire thing in the backcountry.  After speaking to him I decided to jump on board with the project but I first had to head home for a few weeks to get after my photo submissions.  Fast forward too many hours in front of a computer and I am now back in Hood for my first real attempt to shoot on the glacier.  Conditions are amazing and the movie is currently looking really good.  With all the snow that fell last winter the mountain is as filled in as I have ever seen.  The movie should show a new perspective on Mount Hood summer skiing when it is released in a couple months.  Here is a sneak peek at the first feature we shot.

I just got the now familiar call to tell me that another friend has passed away from an accident in the mountains.  For the first time I am starting to feel like this blog is an obituary page to friends that I have lost.  I met Kip on a photoshoot in Mammoth about 5 years ago.  Within the first lift ride I felt like we had known each other since high school.  He was from the east coast and grew up skateboarding with a bunch of my friends back in Vermont and New Hampshire.  Kip was the type of person that could make friends easily because he was so damn likeable and real.  A skate rat turned mountain man.  We had planned on working together this winter but our schedules never matched up when the snow was good.  The last time Kip and I went skiing together was with Shane McConkey in Tahoe.  We had a good time even though the snow was awful mostly because those guys were both just fun to be around. Both Shane and Kip were the type of friends that you were proud to be associated with in any crowd.  After Shanes death Kip called me and asked for a few shots from that day just to have for memories.  Now I find myself looking at the same set of photos with twice the grief.

Im gonna miss you Kip.

The Mahre has been telling me about White Pass WA for as long as I have known him.  If Andy had his way he would rarely leave home.  After seeing how empty the place was on a powder day I am starting to understand his enthusiasm.

Andy truly loves this place.

The Mahre family has a been involved with White Pass for a very long time.  Its good to see this family tradition continue.

I got the opportunity to shoot JT for a few days at Squaw Valley.  Its always fun to go out with pro skiers on their home turf.

The next big thing?

JT, seconds away from jumping into a broken nose.

This time of year is when I travel the most.  I pack everything I need for 2 months just in case a trip needs to go longer than I planned for.  I left Utah to meet Chris Benchetler, Gabe Taylor and Ike Smith in Tahoe on a trip that could last a while.

Long story short, someone snaked the jump we built and pussed  out on the first hit.  This sight was a real morale breaker.

Sammy Carlson came to town and continued his current hot streak.

Even with a hot streak, sometimes these things just don’t work out.

I spent last week in Winter Park CO doing a shoot with K2 skis

It was an extremely cold but productive week.  Growing up in skiing in Vermont really helps on days like this.

Did I mention that it was REALLY cold this week?

Collin Collins called me really psyched to hit Pyramid gap.  The jump had been built a few days before and the previous crew left it intact which made it a fairly easy dust off jump.  After a speed check Colin hiked back up, dropped in and unfortunately came up on the wrong side.  It was a day ender but Collin will be back for more.

I shot a late night feature in SLC with 4Bi9 and Tim McChesney who have both been on a steady program logging big shots.  His segment in their new movie should be nuts.  When I saw this spot for the first time it looked like it was right on the edge of physically impossible.  Then we realized there wasnt enough snow to make a jump.  Not one to give up, AJ mentioned that he had seen some hay bales down the road and took off to grab them.  There wasnt much room in his car so he ended up stuffing the frozen bales wherever they would fit.   Its fun working with people who can come up with clever solutions to a problem on the fly.

Tim got a good laugh in before getting gnarly.

Andrew took one for the team.

I shot a rail at this school a long time ago with Marc Andre Belliveau.  Its crazy how much skiing and filming has changed since then.

Success!

I met up with Tanner Hall and Sammy Carlson for the first day of skiing in 2011.  While everyone else was sleeping off their hangovers we hiked across the street from Alta to a scenic area for jump building.  The day started out cloudy but the skies eventually opened and kicked off a good session.  Everyone in the crew agreed that we made the right choice by not going out the night before. New Years Eve is amateur night anyway.

At this point Sammy was thankful that he wasn’t partying with the rest of the world on NYE.

This guy is beyond stoked to be back at it.  There is one thing I have learned about Tanner after nearly a decade of working together and it is to never bet against him.

Tanner warming up with a classic double.

Unfortunately Sammy’s face contacted a ski on our second day.  He took a few stitches in his mouth and went home with a serious lipper.