I got a phone call from Jay Beyer about a month ago and he said, “guess who’s on the cover of the November issue of Powder”? After the initial excitement and discussing which shot it was and that there might be some controversy over the photo, he asked if I wanted my name on the cover. “Fuck Yeah”! Is what I thought and probably said out loud.
The cover of Powder Magazine has been a daydream of mine for years!
So, wouldn’t it be a no-brainer that I would want my name on the cover? Actually, no, because there is a bit of a controversy as Powder Magazine intended, over the location where the cover was shot.
The backstory on the photo is this: In January of 2009, southern Utah was getting early snow. So, we (Jay Beyer, my brother Jonah and I) decided to go check out Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks, since the avalanche conditions were keeping us from doing much in the Wasatch. Our understanding was that there was no ‘alpine’ skiing’ allowed in the park (info we got off the website), but since I was on telemark/nordic gear, we thought we could get by on that technicality. Truly, there wasn’t a lot of any kind of skiing to be done- In the video that Jonah put together from the trip ( VIDEO HERE) you can see that we didn’t have enough snow for more than a few turns here and there and spent most of the time skinning around exploring. On the drive home, we were reading the brochure and saw that skiing off the rim was not permitted for any skiers. Ignorance is not an excuse, but that’s the way it played out.
It was my understanding that the pictures from this trip wouldn’t be able to be used for publication, so this cover was a real surprise. I was given the option of remaining anonymous, but it seemed to me that making that choice would be hiding from what I had done and it would probably come out that it was me anyway. The fact that being on the cover of Powder is a “once in a lifetime opportunity” also made the decision a bit easier.
This photo and article were intended to ‘stir’ things up with the issue and it appears to have done just that. Maybe people will steer clear now that the rules are more clear, or perhaps it will just lure more people into skiing pow in the most unique winter landscape on the planet (on those extremely rare occasions when it is even an option). We’ll see! I know I will be back, but not to shoot photo’s or vid. In fact, I took a trip back down a couple of months after the cover shot and did some hiking and true “nordic” skiing in this beautiful place that I hope remains so.
All I have to say is Jennifer, this is going to BLOW your mind. Please just take a deep breath, grab a glass of wine, and try to enjoy this magical video of the Provo brothers adventure NEAR, the same zone. I am sure you’ll flip your shit and attack them as well, instead of enjoying this amazing video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gl_FTwQOeU&feature=player_embedded
Nice, Jennifer! That’s what I would call “meat”!
Well Randy, I appreciate your well thought out and obviously well informed and bias free approach to the issue. Let’s address your points…
Point One:
Randy says on November 18th, 2010 at 7:51 pm : yikes! could someone please give jennifer her medication?
-Actually let’s leave that one alone. I am not sure how it contributes to the conversation (other than adding some irony to your subsequent post). Does one need to be medicated to suggest that it is not a good idea to violate a long established law/policy in a fragile and protected environment and then post about the trip online? (and there were several subsequent parties who tried the same thing days after the post…only avoiding fines by rangers inability to maintain radio silence about how much they weer looking forward to catching the skiers….correlation does not mean causation but its fair to say that last year….just after this report, there were more attempted Bryce trips posted online that I have ever seen before-3)
• randy says on November 18th, 2010 at 9:55 pm :
Re:I enjoy a healthy debate as much as anyone on these types of things… i certainly don’t think we should be high-fiving everyone who “breaks the law”, particularly in the name of selling magazines.
Let me predicate all my comments with some context for you. Last ski season when the trip report was published on the website I felt compelled to request that Noah also include in his write up the fact that it was illegal to ski under the rim…anywhere. I did so very politely and simply requested that information be included. My comment was not deemed “post worthy” and was never posted. You can imagine my confusion when the trip pops back up and the reason for it is to engage in some controversy and discussion. I am glad the discussion is at least allowed to happen now and I applaud the moderator for allowing disparate views be expressed. It is too bad it took the cover of a national magazine to make it worthy discussion fodder.
Re:But the whole point of this blog entry was to explain what happened in the process of creating this photo…….” and it’s obvious that the point of this trip was not merely to create a photo-op, but to spend some time in a gorgeous setting during a quiet and serene season.
Really? The interview posted on Powder (here http://www.powdermag.com/features/news/november-cover-story-noah-howell/) would leave me to believe otherwise. I have been there…..there are not long lines of high quality turns to be had…..but photo ops abound.
3) I certainly wouldn’t call the explanation “ill-advised sprigging.”
Nor would I. This post at least allows for the facts to be laid out.
This is more a reference to the first trip report…..and spragging…or bragging propped up with photos seemed an appropriate term. Good skiers are a dime a dozen in Utah, but most choose not to profit from the activity. I you do choose to be a representative of a community as a sponsored athlete has, then you should at least be held to some standard of ethical resource use. The case of Dean Potter and the ascent of delicate arch seems an interesting parallel. The supporting arguments are similar (didn’t know you couldn’t do that without or with…). The bulk of the climbing community criticized the actions as irresponsible and selfish. Patagonia, I believe, revoked his ambassador status. And as a result, the actions of one person in this case has caused changes in park policy in a number of areas ranging from climbing to slacklines. Will the same happen here? Will people still be able to snowshoe under the rim….you can slide on those…..
4) The fact that the people there were able to capture a cover-worthy photo is a bonus for those of us who don’t make it to these surreal moments ourselves on a regular basis.
We don’t because it’s illegal…the whole point. Dawn Patrol on the Monte Cristo headwall…surreal…..and.that is an option….but it’s not illegal so the edge of the world photo is now common…not going to make any (more?) covers.
5)Jennifer, give us a little meat from your side of the “controversy” besides faceless character attacks.
Huh? See comment one.
6)Perhaps a little research on the reasons for the rules and maybe a link to what they definitively ARE?? Instead of adding to the “controversy” it seemed that you just felt like calling someone a liar and wanted to blow off a little steam.
– I did not call anyone a liar. I don’t call anyone anything. Are you serious….its not hard to figure out that you cannot ski below the rim….
Here are the rules..took about five minutes to find.
http://www.nps.gov/brca/parknews/winterclosings.htm paragraph seven
http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/winter.htm paragraph three
Probably also violated park photo policies found here:
http://www.nps.gov/brca/parkmgmt/filmphotoguidelines.htm
I could go on…
Now why is it illegal? Anyone who has been to Bryce surely marvels at the geography around them….how did it get that way? Erosion. What happens to a soft hill of saturated mud with a 12 inch rotten snow pack on top of it when we ski down it….nothing good. Need more?
I enjoy a healthy debate as much as anyone on these types of things… i certainly don’t think we should be high-fiving everyone who “breaks the law”, particularly in the name of selling magazines. But the whole point of this blog entry was to explain what happened in the process of creating this photo. I certainly wouldn’t call the explanation “ill-advised spragging” and it’s obvious that the point of this trip was not merely to create a photo-op, but to spend some time in a gorgeous setting during a quiet and serene season. The fact that the people there were able to capture a cover-worthy photo is a bonus for those of us who don’t make it to these surreal moments ourselves on a regular basis.
Jennifer, give us a little meat from your side of the “controversy” besides faceless character attacks. Perhaps a little research on the reasons for the rules and maybe a link to what they definitively ARE?? Instead of adding to the “controversy” it seemed that you just felt like calling someone a liar and wanted to blow off a little steam. Yikes! The beauty and the curse of the internet, I suppose.
yikes! could someone please give jennifer her medication?
How controversial will it be if you don’t post the comments that suggest that what you did was blatantly against the law….
Your excuse of “alpine v. Nordic” is weak and you jeopardize all of our ability to enjoy a nordic tour under the rim with your actions…..
And as you admit….really not even skiing rather taking photo ops on one turn wonder side hills.
I hope you let it be a controversy and don’t simply post the comments that support your ill advised spragging…..
It is easier to say “I’m sorry” than “please” sometimes. Good on ya. What a sweet grip of turns and a cool pic ta boot. If that bothers you, tell ya what; Next illegal place you ski and you get put on a cover, use my name.
Amazing photograph! Nice work. Despite the rule breaking, you truly experienced that mountain and that is what its all about! CHEERS