Andrew Strain Photography » snowboard

Whats in the Fridge? teaser

Strain — Mon, 17 May 2010 00:35:00 +0000

Whats in the Fridge? is the 2010 release from Jah Raven Creations. I spent some time causing all kinds of trouble in jah kootenays with jah raven this winter and if this teaser is any indication, this movie is going to be all kinds of awesome.

“Get ready to get that gold sticker blown off your new era hat and that check ripped right off you new unscuffed nike sneaks because here comes a teaser of biblical proportion. Displaying the talent of the raddest most real shredders, sledders, and fresh soy cheddar in jah kootenays mon. So turn up jah volume to max and hold onto you keyboard because your about to get slapped. Right in the face.”

Whats in the Fridge? A Teaser. from Jah Raven Creation on Vimeo.

Spring Touring – Cerise Creek

Strain — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:36:00 +0000

I went on a touring mission up Cerise Creek / Mt Joffre with a couple friends last week. Conditions were… interesting over the first half of the approach, where for the first time since I bought them I wasn’t cursing the uselessness of my snowshoes. The crampons bit into the choppy ice of the forest floor far more effectively than climbing skins, but I’m still buying a splitboard this fall. Snowshoes suck.

We thought the snow might be a little sloppy up high, but avoiding sun-baked aspects led to a late April powder harvest. Gotta love that spring crop!

Record Breaker

Strain — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:27:43 +0000

Voleurz rider Braden Dean pops off the injured reserve and into record breaking snow on Whistler Mountain:

As I mentioned in my Whistler Opening Weekend post, I’ve been lucky enough to be a passholder at Whistler during a time when early openings are the rule and record snowfall seems to happen on a regular basis. As a result, last season was a huge let down – although the march ‘redeption’ certainly faded memories of the slow start very quickly.

This season, however, I’ve decided (for a number of reasons) to change things up a little and spend time riding and shooting in the interior. I can’t help question now if I’m making a huge mistake; November is barely half over and Whistler has already received nearly half its average yearly snowfall, smashing the recently-set November snowfall record of 416cm. By the time December rolls around, it looks like November 2009 will be the snowiest month on record @ Whistler Blackcomb (51 more cm to go… the record should fall this weekend). Why am I leaving again?

A couple more of Braden – a little rusty on the first day of his season, but loving every minute of it:

I left Whistler last night in the middle of one of the most intense storms I’ve experienced – thick, heavy snow north of Squamish and torrential rain being driven by devastating winds to the south. We made it home just fine but it really put some perspective on just how hard this area is being hammered by storms right now. Truly incredible.

I know they say theres “no friends on a powder day” but if you ride alone, who’s going to help you break trail on a chest-deep bootpack? With a little effort we grabbed some bottomless turns for the last run of the day – you can see the stoke on everyone’s face. I was too busy snorkeling after this frame to shoot much more.

Whistler Opening Weekend

Strain — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:06:25 +0000

Surface skier Eliel Hindert had no problems getting up for Whistler’s opening day.

I’ve blogged a couple times now about the countdown to shred season and the feelings of anticipation and apprehension as opening day approaches. In southern BC, November weather is nothing short of chaos and often the only separation between an early opening with a deep base and rock boards well into the new year is a few degrees Celsius. Us over-eager weather watchers use every means possible to track the freezing level on the local mountains as it dances precariously back and forth across whatever ‘critical elevation’ will allow enough snow to accumulate to set the lifts back in motion for the winter.

For Whistler Blackcomb, opening day officially coincides with the Thanksgiving long weekend; not ours, unfortunately (one can dream), but our neighbours to the south. Given the hectic nature of coastal weather, that date is hardly etched in stone; adding to the anticipation of snow lovers everywhere is the prospect of the early opening. One can imagine the anxiety attacks parents would suffer if Christmas could potentially happen 3 weeks early on 2 days notice (a fitting analogy since snow bums have the approximate attention span of a 7 year old child). A solid November storm can drop a metre in less than a week and send resorts and their patrons scrambling to be ready for first chair the second enough snow is on the ground.

Whistler typically opens a week early but there are no guarantees when it comes to weather. The 05/06 season kicked off on November 4th and didn’t really let up until April 2008. I guess I was just spoiled by 3 epic seasons in a row but when Whistler opened on schedule last season I felt as if I’d been cheated out of several weeks of riding. This year started the same as any other with the up-and-down snowline dance but when the storms started rolling in cold a week and a half ago, it was pretty clear that it was game on and the lifts would be spinning “on time” this winter.

Opening day always comes with some degree of negativity. There’s always a chorus of ‘enjoy the rocks’ and ‘have fun waiting in line, sucka!’ from those who would rather hide under an umbrella in the city that get out into the mountains at the first possible opportunity. Yeah, conditions are kinda sketchy and the end of the gondola line was in the village square by the time I got my lazy ass into the queue, but thats all part of the opening day experience.

In line outside Crystal Lodge. Things moved surprisingly fast from here – I was riding by 10:15.

What lift line? All smiles from Chelsea, its opening day!

The lightboard reads green for the first time this winter:

Contrary to what the downers (read: jealous bastards that couldn’t make it up) said, conditions on the hill were brilliant with a 1 metre base providing excellent coverage through the Red and Emerald zones. The snow was light and deep with pow to be found throughout the day – despite the crazy line in the morning, it wasn’t much busier than the typical weekend. Anyone with a little local knowledge had face shots to last chair. A summer’s thirst for fresh pow turns was quenched for many a happy soul… I know I crashed early and slept sound and content on Saturday night.

Eric Poulin knows where to look to find fresh pillows.

NuuLife Cinema’s Dave Craig: half mad, all man.

Katie Hall-Leah is in the running for Miss Powder Mountain 2010 – you should go vote for her right now because she probably rips harder than you do.

Whistler’s Olympic year opening proved to be everything anyone could have hoped for, and with a further 71 cm hammering the mountain by Monday morning, it looks like it’s going to be one hell of a season – perfect redemption for a mostly forgettable winter of 08/09. If the forecast proves to be remotely accurate, Whistler will be looking at a 2 metre base by the 3rd week of November, a milestone that didn’t get hit until March last year. So, raise a glass to Ullr and hope he continues to smile upon us over a long and deep winter.

Whistler Village, Sunday morning. Hopefully this will be the waking scene to residents all winter long.

Pre-season shred

Strain — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:31:32 +0000

I posted a while back about the pre-season jitters that overtake the snow world as the days get shorter and the snowline drops. I know many of my friends have been dying to get back on a chairlift, whether its at Whistler this weekend (opening 2 weeks early!) or Baker (which opened today with bluebird skies and 6 feet of fresh), but I’m not the kind of person who likes to wait.

With word that storm after storm had hammered the local alpine, myself and several other hungover shreds dragged ourselves over 1000m up Blackcomb mountain at the crack of noon in search of our first pow turns of the Olympic season. We weren’t entirely disappointed – there was a good 2 feet through the terrain park, but below that coverage started to get spotty, fast. Luckily, none of us took any major board damage on the way back down to base 2… even after riding a snowbase that petered out to less than 2 inches where we finally unstrapped. Theres something about straightlining a sloppy mix of wet snow, grass, mud and rock with a crew of good friends that just feels right, ya know? Probably the worst conditions I’ve ever ridden in, but if that wasn’t fun I don’t know what is.

Park laps anyone? Taylor, Eric, Ryan, Sam, Taylor (theres 2 of em) and Steve strapping in at the shack:

Gunning up for the season:

While riding rocks may be fun, riding deep snow tends to be alot more enjoyable. With a scouting report in hand that the Elfin/Red Heather area had at least double the snowbase of Whistler and the snow continuing to fall, I busted out the snowshoes and headed out into the Squamish backcountry with a posse of skiers on Remembrance Day. We may have been an hour late, but we observed a moment of silence followed by a chorus of O Canada on top of Paul Ridge just after noon. Lest we forget.

The site of our snowy memorial ceremony:

Last year, I opened the season in the same area – here’s the post if you need a refresher. That was November 23 – snow depth, less than 2 feet. Yesterday, I probed 160cm on Paul Ridge. I don’t think we hit that last season til February or March… yeah, I’m excited.

Love the late afternoon light on this random party skinning up from a run:

Eliel Hindert warms up for a season of sending with this deep pillow line:

I love being in the backcountry hiking around and earning turns, and I’m pretty thrilled that I’ve beat most of my friends to the first day of the season, but I’m super stoked to have a chairlift doing all the work again this weekend at Whistler. See you there! I’ll be shooting photos of the opening madness…

In Print: SBC Resort Guide

Strain — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:58:00 +0000

Got word last week that I had a photo run in this seasons SBC Resort Guide. After much searching, I finally found a copy and flipped straight to page 58:

Nick Antle, handplant, Cypress Mtn superpipe.

Check the full post for the original photo and a couple more of Nick:

This was yet another late-season Cypress shot, so this post doubles as “Cypress Sesssions pt 3″. Here’s the original shot and another Antle handplant from a different angle:

This shot is my first published in SBC and, remarkably, the first time a photo of Nick has found its way into a magazine. I say remarkably because I shot this photo of him back in 2007 at the Quicksilver Showdown Over the City – hard to believe this method hasn’t been published before:

NuuLife Cinema "Sixes and Sevens" Vancouver Premiere

Strain — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Circle the date on your calender, NuuLife Cinema is bringing their “Sixes and Sevens” premiere tour to Vancouver on Thursday, October 29. 8pm @ the Bourbon – check the facebook event page for details. I’m in the video, which makes it pretty much the best snowboard video of all time, so I expect to see everyone I know there.

Still not convinced? Watch the teaser a couple more times:

“Sixes and Sevens” – Teaser #2 from NuuLife Cinema on Vimeo.

Still not convinced? read about the mayhem of the Whistler premiere on push.ca

See you there!

Cypress Sessions (pt 2)

Strain — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Another photo from late last season up at Cypress – Eric Poulin drops a goalpost stepdown, bolstering Cypress’ claim to the best terrain on the north shore:

Tis the season…

Strain — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:25:00 +0000

Every fall as the leaves turn colour and the days get shorter and longer, those of us who are addicted to the pursuit of the perfect line start getting restless. The first dusting of snow on the local mountains serves notice that winter is indeed just around the corner, and that restlessness boils over into full on night-before-christmas ADHD. The anxious daily routine of checking snow reports and forecasts and opening day updates begins, and doesn’t end until the lifts are turning and the base is deep.

For the determined few, these early sprinklings of snow offer more than just anticipation. The rock boards, gore tex and avy gear come out of the closet and the backcountry addicts ascend into the alpine for the chance to sneak a few turns before fall reclaims its brilliant colours with a dousing of October rain.

For photographers, that first snowfall is a reminder that many of the photos we took last season failed to pique the interest of a buyer, particularly in times when money is tight. I’m stoked to say that my list of photos that are slated for publication is higher than last year, but I still have an extensive list of shots that didn’t make the cut anywhere. As I wait for the opportunity to get to work this season, I’m going to post up some of my favorites from last year that have yet to find a home in print somewhere.

I’ll start it off with a strobist-style photo of Taylor Pfaff on Whistler mountain. This log jib is usually a lot smaller, but the lack of snow last season made for a fun session.

Dream about snow! Stay tuned for further updates…

NuuLife Cinema "Sixes and Sevens" Teaser 2

Strain — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:26:00 +0000

Watch it now. Then share the love with everyone. Dropping this fall.

“Sixes and Sevens” – Teaser #2 from NuuLife Cinema on Vimeo.