In the latest issue of ML Coast Mountains, the monsters are ready to rumble. Bonus entry: Behind the Photos.
No, there are no actual giant monster Kaiju lurking in south Coast Mountains anymore.
It’s all just a visual technique we’re using to set up our weirdest Coast Mountains issue yet—the idea is to let each of the three mountain towns in the Sea to Sky region battle it out so the world can finally know which is the best.
At the end you can vote on the winner. In the meantime, let the rumble continue with the photo gallery and three “Behind the Photo” features. –Feet Banks
Behind the Photo—Squamish
Words :: Celeste Pomerantz // photo :: Chris Christie
Athlete :: Celeste Pomerantz
Location :: Squamish backcountry
“Chris called and said he wanted to go touring and that he’d bring his camera, but mostly we should just have fun. So we hit the Sea to Sky Gondola right at 9 a.m. and hustled out to the bottom of this couloir. We had to strap on ascent plates to climb it. It was waist-deep so we took turns swimming our way up for 45 minutes. Perfect snow, fun day—sometimes going with no expectations gets the best results.”
Behind the Photo—Whistler
Words & photo :: Ben Girardi
Athlete :: Ben Poechman
Location :: Whistler Mountain
“Ben and I made a plan to get on Whistler Blackcomb and shoot some photos of handplants off a quarterpipe feature off the back of the mountain. But from the Roundhouse we saw Shale Slope was looking like a vertical wall of moguls with tiny people on it, and had the idea for him to poke out a grab in the middle. In the end, we had to move to Whistler Bowl ‘cause the distance was better. Ben would pop off a mogul, grab, then immediately shut down his speed. He aired a few moguls, and we got this frame. These aren’t the conditions we normally look for but there’s a lot to be said for being adaptable and trying different ideas.”
Related content from ML:
Behind the Photo—Pemberton
Words & photo :: Blake Jorgenson
Athlete :: Michelle Parker
Location :: Pemberton backcountry
“Michelle was in town filming with MSP [Matchstick Productions], and I was on assignment with her to try and replicate a famous photo I’d gotten of Eric Hjorleifson back in 2007. The impossible photo to duplicate. We hit the same spot, but all trips and photos are totally unique and everyone brings something different to the table. The way the snow stacks up, the weather, even the pilot in the heli has a factor in how things turn out. I don’t think you can ever duplicate a ski photo, but we went up and came back with what I think is still a great photo.”
Vote now for your favourite Sea to Sky Town!
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