Monday, June 15, 2009

Move aside world, it's Team Backpacker!



One of the most enjoyable aspect of my four days in Vail shooting the Teva Mountain Games, was hanging out with the Backpacker magazine crew. They were there to give the Ultimate Mountain Challenge a try. The team was, Shannon Davis on foot, Kris Wagner on mountain bike, Mark Harrison on road bike, and Ted Alvarez on... purple inflatable kayak. Shannon, Kris and Mark are all experienced in their event. Ted is the hero who bravely stepped forwards when no experienced kayakers were to be had.

I was unfortunately only able to shoot Shannon, Mark and Ted. I had to miss Kris's event because it happened right before the Bouldering World Cup finals, was in a very different place, and I already had my light gaffer taped to a fence post in a very sweet location. With such a scenario, I had three choices:

1) Leave my lights where they were while I run to try and catch the start of his race. This runs the chance of losing my lights.

2) Take my light down, pack them up, and then run over to try and catch the start of the race. This runs the chance of losing my aforementioned sweet position.

Or

3) Camp out until the beginning of the World Cup Finals. This secures my lights and position but means I lose out on shooting Kris's race.


I guess no matter what, I lose something. So I employed a rather modified theory Occam's Razor: All things being equal, the laziest solution is best. I stayed put. Sorry Kris, I do wish I had shot your event!

Great job Team Backpacker.




















More photos here.

Check out this video made by the BP team.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Friday, June 12, 2009

Saturday at the Games
























Yeah I know, that was a week ago. My bad. I got caught up in editing all the pictures, and I forgot to post more of them. To make up for it, I'll post an extra large dose of sensory overload. By the way, the above photo is what I would call 'Not a bad place to work.'


































Saturday, June 6, 2009

No time to talk!













But here are a few of my faves from yesterday. This morning I all ready shot Ted from the Backpacker Magazine Ultimate Mountain Challenge team. It was pretty classic. Today is the Bouldering World Cup semi-finals and finals. All the top folks will be here. I'm pretty excited. Stay tuned for more Teva Mountain Games action.













Friday, June 5, 2009

Teva Mountain Games - Quiet Night






So I pulled into Vail last night, and thought I would check out the event grounds in Vail Valley. It's was surprisingly serene. Just the quiet, determined hustle and bustle of the people preparing for the event. I just wanted to post up a few pictures from last night, before the action begins today. I'll be trying to post up the best shots from each day, so stay put!







Wednesday, June 3, 2009

To the person who broke into my truck.

Thanks for cleaning out my glove compartment and center console. I've been meaning to get to that. Also, thanks alot for finding my Jimmy Eat World CD. I've been looking all over for that. Sorry that you couldn't find anything you wanted, but that's why it wasn't locked. Better luck next time. Thanks again!

Let the Games Begin!





This summer, I'm going to be volunteering with the youth group that Genny is a regular volunteer for. Last night was the first night of the summer schedule, and and what better activity to kick off the season than ice blocking? Ice blocking was new to me when I moved to Colorado, but apparently it's pretty popular to buy or make your own large blocks of ice, and ride them down grassy hills. Like sledding, but no sled, or snow. On the plus side, you don't have to worry about snow up your shirt and down your pants, on the down side you generally come home covered and mud and/or grass stain. This was compounded by the fact that on this particular June 2nd which was to epitomize summer, it was 50 degrees and raining.

Us leaders had discussed before the night began about wether or not we would cancel due to weather. Apparently we forgot about being a teenager and the fact that rain and mud work together to make all things better. Everyone had a blast and no two kids were not un-dry.

Speaking of games... I'll be leaving tomorrow for Vail, CO to cover the Teva Mountain Games. I managed to score myself a media pass to the event. So I'll be where all the action is, hopefully getting some awesome shots. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here are more ice blocking shots.