The Reveal Shot
...and now for the 'reveal shot'...an image that gives the viewer a look at the entire zone (in snowboard filmer language).
The Nicolas posts from the past two days were from this pillowed-out region in Haines, Alaska. Looks fun right! But the reality is it's a super sketchy area when the snowpack is unstable. Nicolas, the lead guide and a snowpack expert spent an hour at the top of the slope analyzing the snow conditions and the layers built up over the course of a winter.
After the slope was considered safe, Nicolas dropped in for two long runs, exiting safely out at the bottom. Had this slope been unstable, we would have moved on to something else...even though it looked that good. That's the discipline you have to have in the backcountry...leaving something untracked no matter how good it looks if the snowpack is weak. Respect the mountains.
I posted a couple shots of Nicolas scoping his lines from the heli and discussing his options with the pilot and lead guide through the headsets. Our snowpack expert was also comparing notes on this zone from one season to the next. As for Brad Kremer and I, we strapped in behind our pilot and followed Nicolas' descents from above...commonly referred to as "heli-follow." Blotto
