Andrew Strain Photography » mountain

Mountain Landscapes

Strain — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:04:41 +0000

A pair of mountain landscapes, one from the summer and one from last week.

Off and On

Strain — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:49:46 +0000

Winter arrived early and strong in southwest BC: I got my first pow turns on October 3rd, got chased out of camp by two feet in the valley bottom on November 17th, and could barely breathe nor see on Blackcomb’s opening day, the snow was so deep. And then, as fast as winter arrived, the jet turned off and the sky stayed blue for almost a month.

While my friends in Utah are still suffering from the early season doldrums, winter is back in full force in the Whistler area, providing badly needed powder for the Christmas vacation crowd and snow-starved locals. A combination of factors has led to the establishment of an uncharacteristically unstable coastal snowpack, making the new snowfall a maddening exercise in patience and restraint, as everyone is chomping at the bit to get out and into the gnar. Two BC skiers succumbed to injuries sustained after being caught in avalanches this week, a sobering reminder of the dangers that exist within our mountains.

Wanting to escape the holiday crowds at Whistler, but leery of the heightened avalanche risk, I headed out to a pillow zone off the Duffey Lake Road with the Surface Skis crew on a greybird photo / video mission. The lack of snowfall has left me with very little to shoot over the last month, and I was eager to get out for the first ‘work’ day of the season. The light was flat, but the snow was excellent and pillows well-developed, with plenty of protected stashes hiding in the forested shoulder of Joffre Mountain. Just another day in paradise…

Condolences to the friends and families of the two skiers that died doing what they love. May the powder be plentiful in the afterlife.

I’ve been busy…

Strain — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:00:31 +0000

Not a lot of time for blog posts these days… if you’ve been following my twitter feed you may have seen these photos, but for the blog readers here’s a couple photos from a whirlwind summer in the bush… more to come once the snow flies and the dust settles. In the meantime, peep some photos shot by my friend Jussi Grznar, another snowboard photographer from Whistler who’s found his way onto my field crew for the late season madness.

Other random note – I’ve moved to Whistler (although I’ve only spent one night in my new place, and likely won’t be around much til November. See you then?).

Tremor

Strain — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:15:48 +0000

I’m not feeling particularly wordy but wanted to post a couple photos I shot last week from the summit of Tremor Mountain, the highest point in the Spearhead Range. There are few things as humbling as travelling on skis through big terrain – note the two skiers tackling the spearhead traverse (bottom left) for scale.

Tremor was one hell of an adventure and I’m stoked we made it out there – the hourglass is a line I won’t be forgetting any time soon. I was quite pleased with how easy the trip was on my splitboard – I can’t imagine doing a day trip out to Tremor on snowshoes. Speaking of, anyone want to buy a pair of MSR Denali Evos? I won’t be using mine again… ever.

Splitboarding is the answer.

A few more photos from the trip to Tremor:

Fall Snow

Strain — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:31:22 +0000

A few more photos of October snowfall in the upper reaches of the Lillooet River / Salal Creek. Hopefully my next post will be less of a tease and more about actual snowfall.

It’s coming…

Strain — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:03:14 +0000

Winter is almost here. Are you ready?

Salal Creek, NW of Pemberton, BC.

Coastal Summer

Strain — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:58:30 +0000

Continuing on last weeks theme – summer in the mountains of coastal BC.

Far over the Misty Mountains cold…

Strain — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:26:23 +0000

…To dungeons deep and caverns old,
We must away, ere break of day,
To seek our pale enchanted gold.

-JRR Tolkien

Unuk Finger

Strain — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 02:51:00 +0000

The Unuk Finger, at over 2300 metres in elevation, is the highest point for miles around. The peak is encircled by glaciers; all but one arrete on its northwest slope is buried in ice. That doesn’t stop the intrepid mountain goats, though. A flyby of the peak last week revealed several sets of tracks in the snow, all the way up to the summit.

I’ve been leaving my DA 10-17 Fisheye in camp the last few days, in favour of my old-school Pentax-M 50mm 1.7. It can be a pain not having the ultrawide angle of the fisheye, but the old 50 is far and away the sharpest lens in my kit, a quality that makes it perfectly suited for when I have black-and-white in mind…

Pentax K10D / M 50 1.7, B&W conversion from PEF in Lightroom