Powder Series #6
PNH, Chugach Mountains, Cordova, Alaska
Athlete: Kent Kreitler
Camera: Nikon F5
What makes it special: What can I say, I love my job.
The story: "Strapped into a helicopter with the doors off, enjoying the ride and shooting away as we spiraled down the line, my heart stopped.
It was a day when the snow was deep and moving fast. Kent Kreitler had been teeing off all day, skiing down steep aggressive lines with incredible strength and speed. He lined up a twisting high-angled chute that beckoned for a helicopter camera angle to do it justice on film.
It took us an hour to gear up, removing doors, strapping in Tom Day and I and all of our gear. Tom was tied in on the floor to my left, super 16mm movie camera in hand, talking into his headset, finalizing hand signals and timing details with our pilot and Kent. I did a final check of all my gear and then blew warm air into my nearly frozen hands. I visualized the helicopter move in my head, checked all the settings one more time, and gave my confirmation, "Camera ready."
The actual shoot took less then a minute. I remember the countdown and the launch into the line, and then I lost any sense of space and time. Looking out of the bird, we had an amazing perspective right over Kent's shoulder as he raced down the chute and disappeared under the snow and emerged again for a quick view and a breath of air. The power of the moving snow and his immersion in it was stunning. The depth and consistency of Kent's face shots were awesome.
From our birds-eye view, I got a very nearly real sense of what it feels like to ski down a mountain with unbridled confidence, style and force.
With a continuously changing camera angle, I fired away, switching gear until every one of my three cameras was out of film. We all got to share the rush of the line."
