Sleddin Faves

Figured I should post some of my favorite sleddin pics before all the snow melts. The first 3 shots were taken on the annual Polaris Photo shoot for the model year 2012 sleds. While the big dogs were performing, I was able to bring my camera and take advantage of the talent at hand. Todd Williams was kind enough to allow me to shoot along side of him, It's always a treat to learn from such a master.
The last two pics, are from the 2011 Jackson Hole Hill Climb. With my injured shoulder, I may be done riding for the year.......we shall see.


D700, 1/1000 sec, f/13, ISO 200, 60mm
Randy Sherman on 2012 Assault


D700, 1/400 sec, f/11, ISO 200, 66mm
Randy Sherman on 2012 Assault


D700, 1/500 sec, f/16, ISO 200 40mm
Randy Sherman on 2012 Assault


D700, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200, 120mm
Keith Curtis at 2011 Jackson Hole Hill Climb


D700, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200, 340mm
Cole Willford at 2011 Jackson Hole Hill Climb

Jackson Hole Hill Climb 2011

Last week end I was able to attend the 2011 World Championship Hill Climb Race in Jackson Hole Wyoming. Todd Williams, who is a phenomenal photographer based out of New York, helped me get a media pass so I could shoot the race with him. It was an awesome experience to say the least. We got assignments from Polaris, HMK, Holz, & OSM magazine, to shoot specific riders. Since the event, the Montana Tibune has used some of my images. Boondockers and some sponsered Ski-Doo racers have expressed interest to Todd about using some of our stuff. Kind of cool!! Here are a few of my favorites.


Even though it's an Arctic Cat, this is one of my favorites.
Kyle Tapio, on a model year 2012 Arctic Cat HCR Race sled.
D700, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200, 340mm


Keith Curtis won King in 2 classes and won King of Kings to take top honors at the event.
I rode with Keith on on the Polaris photo shoot this year, he is not only an amazing rider, but a super nice guy.
D700, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200, 145mm


Another shot of Keith attacking the hill
D700, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200, 70mm


Erin Beukelman, another Polaris rider, has a long list of sponsors including Holz.
D700, 1/400 sec, f/10, ISO 200 95mm


Vinnie Clark is also sponsored by Holz, and did very well this weekend.
D700, 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 200 200mm

Another Uintah Photo Opportunity

On Friday a small group of us set out to get some Great GoPro shots, and some Stellar Stills up in the Uintahs. It was beautiful weather and even though we didn't cover a ton of ground, we had a ball, playing with our cameras. Good thing Brant stepped up to the plate. We all wanted to be taking photos, instead of the other way around, it was pretty funny. Matt hucked some knarly stuff too, it's amazing what dudes will pull for a quick photo. Enjoy.


Matt sends it off a big jump.
D700, 1/400 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 14mm


Brant with some attitude
D700, 1/400 sec, f/16, ISO 320, 14mm


Brant Drops a cornus
D700, 1/400 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 14mm


Big air Brant strikes again
D700, 1/400 sec, f/16, ISO 250, 14mm


Brant with another all air shot
D700, 1/400 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 16mm

These are some outakes from the same ride

Tried some different processes on some different shots from our ride on Thursday.


D700, 1/320 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 14mm
Steve sends if off the cornus again.


D700, 1/320 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 14mm
Steve in his element


D700, 1/320 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 14mm
How can ya not like Derek


D700, 1/320 sec, f/16, ISO 200, 14mm
Steve launches his Polaris

Uintah Sled shoot

Me and a few of the boys went for a nice rip up in the Uintahs today. Hard to beat blue skies and a break from work.


Kody steps up and sends it off a cornus.
D700, 1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 200 15mm


Derek want in on the action and drops too.
D700, 1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 200, 14mm


Derek just can't get enough.
D700, 1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 200, 15mm


Steve put on quite the show.
D700, 1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 200, 14mm


Steve at showtime
D700, 1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 200, 14mm

Fairview

Took a while to post these shots, a couple of weeks ago I had some friends from Minnesota come out to go Snowmobiling. We had a ball. I met Dan Skallet years ago on the Annual Polaris Photo shoots. Dan and his buddy Justin Klett come out once a year to play in the mountains of Utah.
I actually attempted to go riding up American Fork on Tuesday, but when we got to the parking lot, there was not enough snow to go for a ride, so I turned around and drove home, after a quick stop @ Cabelas. Zeb and Andrew drove around to the Heber side so they could see if there was enough snow to ride on over there.
These shots are from a couple weeks ago.


D700, f/16, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 14mm
Justin airs it out on the 09 Dragon


D700, f/16, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 14mm
Dan tries his best on the rental Arctic Cat, what it lacked in power was made up for with Dan over abundance of skill.


D700, f/16, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 14mm
Justin Klett hit's it again.


D700, f/16, 1/400 sec ISO 400, 20mm
Justin big air Klett on my loaner sled.


D700, f/16, 1/400 sec ISO 200, 14mm
Justin with some serious hang time.

Jackson Hole Hill Climb

Jackson Hole hosts the World Championship Snowmobile Hillclimb every year. Matt, Derek, Brant, and I took a road trip and attended the event. On Friday we attempted to go riding up in the Greys Rivers area but the weather did not cooperate. It was snowing and it had been a while since they had received any new snow, therefore what snow we found was hard. We still had fun in the trees though but ended up cutting the ride short to spend more time up at the Races in Jackson that afternoon. On Saturday we spent the whole day on the hill, it was awesome!!


Russ Tapio of Battle Ground Washington got bucked off here, but was able to hop back on and continue up the hill.
D700, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, 165mm, ISO 200


Cole Willford of Fruita Colorado
D700, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, 340mm, ISO 200


Carson Ellingford of Evanston Wyoming
D700, f/4.8, 1/800 sec, 185mm, ISO 200


Nick and Mike Zollinger from Logan both share this sled, not sure who is featured here.
D700, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, 200mm, ISO 200


Ryan and Darin Gould from Teton City Idaho both share this sled, not sure who is featured here.
D700, f/4.5, 1/2000 sec, 200mm, ISO 200


The dudes from Octane Addictions put on quite the show, Heath Frisby was stellar.
D700, f/4.8, 1/800 sec, 300mm, ISO 2000


D700, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, 200mm, ISO 3200

Sleddin @ Tony's

Me and the boys have had some extremely cloudy rides this year. It was nice to finally enjoy some good old fashion sunny weather for a change. As usual Brian put on quite the show. Brad and Jeremy actually stepped it up too. We started out with 13 sleds, within the hour 2 bugged out due to equipment failure, later we hooked up with Zeb and his posse as well as the Petersons and their gang. It seemed like we knew every person on the hill that day, it was pretty funny. Small world.


Here is Brad catching some sweet air! I'm not sure why, but I like all the snow in between him and the camera.
D700, f/18, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 14mm


The technology on the top of his helmet is actually a sophisticated helmet cam. We are all looking forward to see what he got.
D700, f/14, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 22mm


Brian found a sweet jump and had a ball hitting it , until the craters in his landing area became to big. Ouch
D700, f/14, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 22mm


D700, f/18, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 14mm


D700, f/18, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 24mm


D700, f/18, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 14mm

Spooky Snowmobile ride

Had a little scare on Friday when we went for a part day snowmobile ride up Bountiful. At the beginning of our ride we dropped into the head of Heartscrabble and to make a long story short I was caught in an avalanche as I was re-entering the bowl. When the slab broke loose all around me, I was not able to maneuver at all, and was rushed straight down hill into a band of dense pine trees. Looking ahead of the slide, I was not able to see a line threw the trees, it was not a good feeling. I was able to beat the moving snow to the tree line and then bailed off my sled, and scrambled to the lee side of a large tree. Thank goodness my friends were watching and were there in seconds. I was pretty shook up, but, it was a good reminder for all of those present that we need to be more careful. Needless to say I was very content with just taking pictures the rest of day. Luckily my sled sustained only minor injuries and my emotional damage should heal in time. Here are some pics from the days events.


D700, f/14, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 18mm


D700, f/14, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 18mm


D700, f/16, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, 14mm


This is where my sled stopped, right at the leading edge of the slide.




This is a look from where the slide came from


This is a shot from the adjacent slope, of the slide.