Ever since Kendra Spencer designed my logo and while doing so mentioned the idea of having a branding iron made from it, the idea has been lingering in my head. So, a few weeks ago I finally got around to having one created. So far, it’s working well on wood and the backside of the Loktah disc cases I use to enclose wedding client’s discs. We’ll have to revisit this post in a few years and see where this band leaves its mark!

Yesterday, my seven year old son announced to a family friend while at a play date that he was going to marry one of the girls in his 1st grade class! It’s adorable to hear such proclamations, but, as is the case with Jenny and Beto, it could happen! Jenny and Beto have been life long sweethearts and their marriage a few weeks ago was an affirmation that they are truly soul-mates. I was impressed by their strong bond between one another, their love of family and friends, and for their shared passion for Catholicism. Their ceremony and celebration was a fantastic reflection on their adoration for each other and their guests. Many congratulations on such a phenomenal wedding Jenny and Beto!

The law of conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time (Wikipedia). The way I see it-what you put in, you’ll get out. Sarah and Devin put some great energy into planning their engagement session and I hope the images I captured are an equal return. It was a pleasure getting to know these two, talking about their love of baseball, beer, and their upcoming Yosemite Valley wedding I’m excited to be photographing. Their choice of Mendocino as home base for their portraits allowed us a great variety of locations to choose from: Glendeven Inn, my good friend Suzy Long’s watertower art studio, redwood groves, lighthouses, and the Mendocino Presbyterian Church.

I’ve been wearing my flip flops around town the last few weeks and I can’t really see any snow from my house other than little patches which are nestled in shady north facing nooks and crannies. With such amazing weather here in the Wood River Valley, I started tuning up my mountain bike by rebuilding the front fork, and lubing up the chain and derailleurs. Yes, my mind began to wander away from the snow covered peaks that lie just 30 miles north. But, thankfully, Danny Walton reached out and helped me pull my head out of my ass! Winter may officially be over, but, Spring skiing is just beginning. He and I headed up to Mushroom ridge today for some turns. Though the wind was nuking, snow swirling, and north faces scoured, we found some nice turns up high and survived the breakable crusts down low.

I met Rebecca while photographing a wedding down in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, early last year. Rebecca’s great friend, Leah, was getting married to Jimmy and I was their photographer; as seen here. Unfortunately, Becca’s beau was unable to make the Baja trip and I was not afforded the pleasure of his acquaintance until a few months ago. I’ve since been hired to photograph this fun couple’s summer wedding which will be held up at Trail Creek Cabom in Sun Valley, Idaho. This past Friday, they swung into the Wood River Valley for their engagement session. We hopped in my car and headed north to Stanley and back, stopping at places I thought would be fun to use as backdrops: Galena Lodge, Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch, etc. It was a fun session thanks to their easy going demeanors and contagious laughter! Here are some of the pics we captured….

Yesterday morning K2 and Mammut athlete, Danny Walton, and I had a few hours to ski together and sessioned the aptly named “Coyote Creek” area just south of Galena Lodge. The entrance to the Coyote drainage is littered with features including: pillows, tight lines, and tree runs. While the runs are short, it is a fun place to play and as in Native American lore–it always feels like Coyote is right around the next rock outcropping ready to play some tricks on you!

This morning, Laura and Drew were married and signed for their lives in a way most people don’t think of doing–at least on their wedding day. These two signed a release form stating that their wedding ceremony might cause bodily harm, or, perhaps even kill them! You see, Laura and Drew went Heli-Skiing for their wedding! After an introduction to helicopter and avalanche safety, we were flying deep into the Smoky Mountains for both their ceremony and the backcountry ski runs that followed.

Up on a 10,000 foot mountain in the middle of Idaho, Drew’s brother married this firefighter and paramedic. It was a beautiful and windless Sun Valley day. The ceremony was emotional and none of the birds or other small creatures objected to their marriage! Sun Valley Heli Ski and their pilot were incredibly accommodating to the request for a portrait with the helicopter in the air which happened just after their “I do’s.” Once the ship was gone, the group skied off the peak and spent the rest of the day heli-skiing! Congrats to Laura and Drew–such an amazing and memorable wedding!

Between a rock and a hard place is a pretty good description of the Terminal Cancer Couloir, except the connotation of the phrase is opposite the experience of skiing this unique line. Rumor has it that the two founders of Ruby Mountain Heli Skiing saw the line back in the days of skinny 210 skis and one said, “I wouldn’t ski that thing even if I had terminal cancer!” They skied it the next day!

One thing I’ve come to love throughout the years of backcountry skiing, is the phenomenal places you find yourself. True, with hiking and traveling in general, there are moments when the landscape truly envelops you and the scene blows your mind. But, add the experience of skiing in such a moment and it’s a sensation unparalleled. Couloir skiing is all about finding long lines of snow isolated between two rock walls. The Terminal Cancer Couloir is unique in its consistent length, width and pitch. Yesterday was perhaps the most unique skiing experience I’ve had thus far.

It’s said that a good story needs confict, however, ours has none: I slept in the back of my van; we met at the trailhead at dawn; the road had yet to be plowed so our hike in would be four miles longer; up, up, up the couloir we went switching from skins to bootpacking and then back to skins again; lunch on top; and an amazing descent in new, soft, powder. Regarding backcountry skiing, no conflict is good conflict; it simply means you had a great day, in a great place, with great friends.

Last week while skiing above Pole Creek, we had a perfect view across the valley and what was seen opened our eyes wide. Within hours of being home from that tour, I was checking images and topos to figure out a good tour that would involve skiing some of the couloirs we’d seen. Yesterday, my plan was set into motion with Patrick and Matt whose only clue into what was in store was a text message I had sent the day before, “Bring a good lunch tomorrow.”

As we started up, the cloud layer hovered above us at around 10,000 feet; the top of the ridge was obscured, but we still had definition on the snow surface when the first climb began. Though we were starting up a well worn skin track, one we’d been on year after year, our destination lay on the other side of the ridge and then the other side of the next ridge too. For some reason, none of us had yet skied the amazing terrain which was just one drop away from civilization; basically, the other side of the road.

The first ridge was gained, skis put on packs, and a bit of 3rd class climbing took us to the top of a series of steep chutes lined by rock features. We dropped in one at a time to one of the straight shots and found hard snow. I skied second to get below Matt and photograph him skiing by me. Matt linked his first few turns, then tripped up and couldn’t instantly recover. He slid past me gaining speed, but was out of reach. Luckily he was able to recover, but, that moment seeing him blow his turn and watching that mistake gain momentum was a staunch reminder: if you can’t arrest a fall in the first few seconds-good luck.

At the bottom, in the middle of the cirque with lines pointing down to us from three aspects, we shook off Matt’s little scare, ate some lunch, and moved further away from the road. The peak which was now just above us, held on its north face, a plumb line couloir which I happen to notice on an image I’d captured during the Pole Creek tour. I wasn’t sure if the mystery line went without cliffing out as the image only revealed the top few hundred feet, but the excitement of exploration was coursing through our veins which made the decision to keep going all the easier.

Patrick, who works as a guide for Sun Valley Trekking, was a considerate man as we left our lunch spot and found near bulletproof snow on the south facing aspect we needed to ascend-being the only (smart) guy to bring his ski crampons for a January ski tour and was able to cut an edge which Matt and I gratefully used; we’d have booted, but, the “near” bulletproof should read that with skis on it was difficult to get an edge, skis off and the crust was just strong enough to hold weight until mid step, then you were knee deep in a posthole.

We stopped at the top of the couloir and found that it needed more snow to be able to ski it from the tip-top. But, a snow ramp ran from the ridge to the couloir which would put us only 30 feet from the top. Matt wasn’t feeling like he was on his A game and wisely chose to descend down to one of the amazing, yet less techinical, lines lower on the peak. I led the traverse for Patrick and I which went without incident as we found soft snow in the gut of the peak.

Being in the middle of a mountain, on a narrow strip of snow, is one of my favorite places to be. The relief combined with the view and having the descent presented to you as an amazing ski run is unique among outdoor pursuits. The couloir choked down to a narrow funnel twice which added to the fun as Patrick and I leap frogged down.

The tour getting back to the car included both powder filled mid-elevation tree runs, bomber ski chattering crusts, and sun cupped sastrugi. It was an adventurous day exploring a little deeper in the backyard. I think it’s safe to say that the three of us are all really excited to drop off and away from the road more often.

The gaps between helmet and goggle, facemask and a parka zipped high become instantly revealed on a -25 degree morning when being pulled behind a snowmobile for four miles. Your quads feel the exact opposite. That was the case when a group of us went out Pole Creek yesterday to get after a peak and learn more about the area. But, once the climbing began, we were down to two layers and loving the sunshine; until lunch whereupon fingers and toes quickly reminded us the temps were in fact cold. It’s humbling to be on top of a peak in mountains north of Ketchum, no matter how far back you go-peaks extend endlessly to the horizon. Here are some images from yesterday’s descent…