I just posted a quick update on our trip up to Whistler on backcountryskiphotos.com. No ski touring was had, but we did manage to spend a bit of time skate skiing at the new Olympic Park nordic center. And, I was able to capture this one shot before the weather turned, again.

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The first ski tour of the year is always filled with a bit of anxiety. Like any other adventure, you’re constantly doing a mental checklist of gear on the drive, despite making the effort beforehand (even the night before!) that everything you need is in good working condition and ready to go. I laid all my backcountry gear on the floor, taking note of what I had, and didn’t have.

Let the games begin

Due to relatively little amounts of snow, the destination for our first ski tour was, wherelese, Mt Rainier. With sunny skies predicted and about half a foot of fresh snow, our expectations weren’t all that high but instead hopeful. Arriving at the Paradise parking lot around 9:00 am, we were quite pleased to see most of the ground covered in fresh snow, with the possibility of skinning from the car looking high.

Before I really had time to think about it, our small group began the skin up towards Camp Muir. No matter how many times I ski on or around Rainier (which is a lot) I am always blown away by how beautiful a mountain it is.

Taking very few rest stops, I found myself quickly gasping for air and the legs tired as I attempted to photograph “The Mountain” while keeping up with my buds. Soon I fell into a rhythm though and the Muir snowfield unfolded into a massive powder field. This was going to be good I thought…

My legs kept trying to tell me this was the first ski tour of the year, while my brain was just too enthusiastic about the current conditions (which are rarely that good towards Muir Camp at 10,000 ft) and the fact that despite a very slow start to the ski season here in the NW, we were looking at about 3000 – 4000 ft of very good turns.

And very good turns we did have. So enjoyable they were, we opted for two. Sooner or later though we had to listen to our tired bodies and so the adventure back to car began. A bit of walking here, some survival skiing there and our first day of backcountry was deemed a success.

There are a lot of folks in Washington who tire of hearing Mt Rainier stories, myself (sometimes) included. But on this day, the first turns of the year, it just didn’t matter.

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I truly want to support businesses that feed my habits, which mostly include, but are not limited to, cycling, backcountry skiing and hiking. Unfortunately for me, these are all somewhat gear-heavy sports…I like gear and that’s a problem because gear is also expensive. So most of the time I just get to drool on my keyboard as I scroll through the latest, lightest, fattest, bad-ass’est big-boy-toys on the web.

This morning I received an email from backcountry.com, which means only one thing…winter, believe it or not, is not that far off. But the email wasn’t about some semi-annual sale (which I unfortunately did stumble upon, because now my keyboard is all wet); instead it was a reminder to update my ‘online profile’. No problem, I thought, as often times profiles are great ways to get your adventure photography website noticed (Don’t tell anyone!) Backcountry.com also recommended a photograph to complement my profile. Cool, another place to add one of my ski photographs. But just as I was about to do this I read the now-infamous terms and conditions. Here is the first paragraph:

Any comments, reviews, posts, feedback, questions, answers, notes, messages, images, video, audio, materials, ideas, suggestions or other communications you submit on Backcountry.com are not private or proprietary. By submitting User Content on or through Backcountry.com, you grant Backcountry.com an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual right and license to use, copy, modify, display, archive, store, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works based upon such User Content, in any form, media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future

Basically, whatever image I use on my profile page is there for the taking. Does this mean I won’t post an image? Not necessarily…it just means whatever image I upload is going to be very small and contain a watermark. It bothers me to uncover things like this, especially for organizations that I truly want to support…

So, my photography tip of the day: read the terms and conditions if you’re posting images online and if you are posting an image, re-size it so small it would be tough to get even a 4×6 print out of it.

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It was quite difficult for me to stand by and watch as the gun went off during this past springs Spearhead Passage Backcountry Ski Race at the Whistler Backcountry Freeride Jam. I’m typically not the one to watch such epic events. Fortunately, some last minute networking with the media folks found me arriving atop Whistler Mountain with the racers not for the race but instead as a photographer. My goal for the day: snap some ski photographs. Easy enough right?!?!?

First, the reason I wasn’t racing was because I felt like shit (and rightly so, because I was sick for the next two months!) Secondly, I wasn’t necessarily prepared for the frigid temps found atop Symphony Bowl, Flute and further points east (on the race course.) So I did all I could do to snap some inspiring backcountry ski photographs before my batteries died and my hands froze solid. Well, apparently some of those photos were good enough to  show to the public, because a couple are on display at the home page of the Freeride Jam website HERE (or click on the images below for a short slideshow)

So my advice to all those photographers out there: NEVER be afraid to ask the media if they need a photographer for an event! Don’t expect to get paid initially, but I can (almost) guarantee that if you offer your services in exchange for something that doesn’t necessarily cost them money, you will find your services are very welcome. If they aren’t paying you, ask for a link on their website or at least credit wherever your images get posted.

[View with PicLens]

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