Bonus Round
Palisades, Squaw Valley Ski Resort, California
Athlete: Paul Gugliuzza
Camera: Hasselblad XPan
What makes it special: The late spring powder was a gift, a special surprise at the end of a great ski season.
The story: "When the Palisades are going off, it often feels like a three ring circus. On this late May morning, a quiet calm had already descended on Squaw Valley. The day before I had seen the storm clouds roll in and the temperature drop, but didn't expect much. Nobody did, NOAH had predicted a mere dusting. It was early Tuesday, 4:30 AM, when my phone woke me out of a deep sleep. "We're short handed today, want to go out on AC (avalanche control) rounds?" "Sure, glad to help." Half thinking it was a dream, I decided to push my luck and see if I could bring one more before I had to get up.
My friend and fellow cameraman Tom Day was waiting for me at the door to the Patrol locker room when I got there. He looked oddly out of place without his colossal camera bag, but today he was strictly talent. Back to his roots, it was his day to just ski for the shot. By the time the sun had risen to the sky we had made the half hour cat ride and hiked the ridge to the top of Squaw. The Palisades were shining, with golden light poking through fast moving, dense clouds. Broken light touched our precious Tahoe world. The season was supposed to be over, and here we were looking down into beautiful lines with no one else around! Tom went first, dropped in past Main Chute and never looked back. Paul Gugliuzza, a long time patroller was stoked that I wanted to shoot him next. "Why not, are you kidding me?" He too disappeared into a white cloud of cold smoke. And though I could not see his smile I definitely heard him shout "Bonus Round," as he dropped in."
