Three friends on a splitboarding trip into Death Canyon
I am a photographer but I often wish I could write. Sometimes an elegant thought or a poetic phrase will slip into my mind but I never write it down. Journals no longer find their way into my pack, already heavy with extra lenses, when setting off for adventure. I am intimidated by the thought of failure: I fear that I won’t capture the experience well or find the words to do it justice. Despite that, I cannot help wanting to record the details that make a trip into the mountains so remarkable. So instead of scribbling notes, I shoot photos of every moment that catches my eye, every element big or small that creates the story I wish I could write. Photographs are my journals to look back and reflect on.
It was April 2nd and I was too excited to be hungover from the Gaper Day festivities the day before. Bryan Iguchi, Alex Yoder, Alex Isley, and I set off that morning on a three-night splitboard trip into the Tetons. The plan was to drop off the backside of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and come out of Death Canyon in Grand Teton National Park four days later. Isley, one of my oldest friends in Jackson, was feeling the same. We were stoked to be spending time in the mountains with Guch and Yoder, two snowboarding legends. As we skinned onward Isley and I would often make eye contact and share shit-eating grins at being included on such a cool trip with these zen masters.
“Photographs are my journals to look back and reflect on.”
It hadn’t snowed in two weeks and the weather had been hot as hell, so the conditions we found weren’t anything to write home about. But we still managed to find fun lines and features. It was the reset we all needed: time with a small crew in the mountains. With rain in the forecast, we ended up cutting our trip a day short and retreated back to the comforts of town. I still shot over 4000 photos in three days, both digital and film. When it comes to photography–which I am as passionate about as I am about snowboarding–I just can’t help myself. This was a trip I wanted to remember well.
