Andrew Strain Photography » whistler

Dendrite Studios presents: Out of the Shadows

Strain — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:23:25 +0000

Watch for this one fall 2010. If this teaser and the Perspectives clips are any indication, this is going to be one hell of a movie.

Out of the Shadows Trailer – 2010 HD Ski Film by Dendrite Studios from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Surface Tour – The End?

Strain — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:46:42 +0000

Our extra day in Whitewater used up most, if not all, of the energy I had left. Moving on to Red Mountain, which I’ve heard so many good things about, was something that my body was not ready to do. I took one lap to say I was there, then retreated to the demo tent to let my body recover from 3 weeks of constant travel and riding. The mountain was socked in anyways, so I didn’t feel too bad about not even bothering to shoot.

The plan was to demo at Red, then drive through the night back to Whistler and set up the final demo of the tour at TMC (where you can buy Surface Skis in Whistler) the next day… but the Kootenays struck again, wedging a rock into Eliel’s tire and keeping us in Ymir for an extra night.

We arrived in Whistler a day late, but the extra night in the koots let El and I make the windy drive back to the coast at a leisurely pace, and in daylight.

Note I say El and I. We left Shayne in Ymir, promising to return in a week or so to take him to Denver for SIA and then home to SLC. More on that later…

We returned to Whistler after 15 days on the road, and right on schedule the first major storm since we left rolled in. Low visibility, deep pow and alpine closures – to the trees! Exploring new hills was a blast but theres a lot to be said for knowing your favorite line like the back of your hand…

So thats that. Demo tour done… end of the line! But my adventures with Surface are far from over. A week later, I’d get back in the truck with Eliel and head back to Ymir, Whitewater and destinations south…

Dendrite Studios – Perspectives

Strain — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:54:30 +0000

Just a quick little plug for the boys at Dendrite Studios, a new film company out of Whistler currently working on their first full length video for release in fall 2010. Two of my good friends and favorite photo subjects, Jake Cohn and Eliel Hindert, have been filming with them all season and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Eliel and Chris Turpin go big in the Pemberton backcountry:

Perspectives #6 – Ten Years from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Jake Cohn and Athan Merrick getting creative with camera placement on and around Whistler:

Perspectives #4 – Point of View from Dendrite Studios on Vimeo.

Check the Dendrite site for more ‘Perspectives’ clips, a full length teaser (soon), athlete profiles and other goodness.

Deep Winter

Strain — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:29:00 +0000

The first week of the new year is probably my favorite time to be around Whistler. The Christmas vacationers and New Years partiers have returned to the cities, leaving the mountains relatively quiet during a time of year noted for the intense winter storms that pummel the coast day after day. It isn’t unusual for the alpine to shut down for several days at a time as the snow piles up, forcing powder hunters into their secret forest stashes until the weather breaks and the upper mountain opens with several feet of fresh.

For 4 years now, Whistler has played host to the Deep Winter Photo Challenge, a 3 day contest that pits 5 photographers against each other for a hefty prize purse in stormy conditions that tend to be the exact opposite of ideal for photography. Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend the event itself this year, but I was shooting with some of the participating athletes in the days leading up to the contest, working through the storm on our own little Deep Winter side challenge. I’d be stoked to be one of the competitors someday… but I think I’ll wait until Jordan Manley gets sick of winning every year.

A pair of photos of skier Jake Cohn on Blackcomb Mountain in the early days of the new year. Deep.

I missed the slideshow presentation because I’m on the road, touring through interior BC with the Surface Skis crew. More about that in the next day or two – but you can keep up to date on our whereabouts and shenanigans by following my twitter. We’ll be back in Whistler on the 18th… fingers crossed we’re coming home into another storm…

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.

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…

After the storm

Strain — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Not much to say with this post, as I think the photos speak for themselves. After the storm passed, the clouds lifted and revealed the scars of a thoroughly badass avalanche cycle. While I scoped the slides from lift accessed terrain, photographer Jeff Patterson and the MSP crew had a sketchy close call out in the backcountry (read about it on his blog). Be careful out there!

Fissile got ripped open:

Some photos of a controlled avalanche on Poop Chutes in the full post:

Patrol bombed Poop Chutes and it rode to the road:

The runout rolled right up to the Blackcomb Glacier cat track:

A closer look at the start zone:

270mm reveals all the different layers in the crown. That is alot of snow coming down the mountain…

I’m sure if you knew the field of view at that focal length, one could figure out the actual size of the crown, but I’m fine with settling for “big”. Props to patrol for keeping us safe.

A week of winter, pt 4

Strain — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:38:00 +0000

Wednesday was essentially a write off day due to the shenanigans that went down on Tuesday night, but we managed to get in a couple good laps in the afternoon. I was stoked to be riding sans camera – ripping through the trees and pillows is always a little nerve wracking when the contents of your backpack are worth more than your car…

On Thursday we got up bright and early (leaving from Vancouver early) and cashed in some previously purchased fresh tracks tickets to get up the mountain an hour or so before the general public. Fresh tracks is great, especially if you’re really hungry – someone with a big stomach can easily get their money’s worth at the breakfast buffet in the Roundhouse…

As is the norm during any decent Whistler storm, the visibility off the back of the peak was atrocious – the only remedy is to head into the trees.

Jake Cohn makes some low-vis pow turns:

More words and photos in the full post:

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Eliel Hindert drops 20:

Pow stoke:

Theoretically, this was going to be a fun photo of Eliel, Taylor and Jake all charging through the snow at the same time. You can see Eliel’s ski, upside down, in the top right. Fail.

What’s that you say, Eliel? It’s deep?

Jake and Taylor try to coordinate their next move a little better:

Eric Poulin harvests some stump-pillow:

I got off the mountain at 5:45, soaking wet (I’m a sweaty beast) and dead tired. Back down to the city to dump photos, take a breather and see the lady before heading back up for the weekend…

A week of winter, part 3

Strain — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:32:00 +0000

With last Saturdays snow and promising forecast, everyone was cautiously optimistic about the possibility an 04-05 style late season powder redemption. After holding back for 4 and a half months, Ullr finally returned to Whistler in early January fashion – 7 days of storm, 6 feet of fresh.

Tuesday brought a short break in the weather, throwing a little light down on the mid-storm goodness:

Our first lap on Peak, we hit up Christmas Trees and slashed up so much snow that I was physically impeded from breathing; constant face shots + jaw dropped in joy is a dangerous combination. I definitely pulled an Andy Samberg or 7 throughout the day.

More words and photos in the full post…

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Eric Poulin and Katie Hall-Leah share some Peak chair stoke:

When the bowls are tracked, those who know where they’re going head into the trees. Katie imagines the possibilities on a deep pillow line:

I don’t particularly like this angle. Katie almost took that chainsaw to my head…

Eric Poulin pops off a pillow and over some stumpage:

Taylor Pfaff does some stump-jumping of his own, grabbing tail for good measure.

From a hasty pit we dug in the pillow field, we were looking at about 60cm of storm snow on Tuesday, meaning the best was yet to come. Unfortunately, being a bunch of weak-willed beer lovers, St Patrick’s Day festivities kept us off the mountain until noon on Wednesday…