playground. Bishop. california
playground , bishop. california
HAINES. AK
Tom Wayes skiing.
unicorns dont fucking exist
For a ski bum photographer like me to go on a heli ski trip in the ski dream land haines alaska is a pure phantasy , a dream alike seeing unicorn shitting rainbows. That was until i met with christian cabanilla in chamonix ….after a few days showing him the best of chamonix , a road trip thru switzerland and a month worth of a platonic internet relationship he made it clear that i will enjoy the AK powder this year. Wether i want it or not. i am happily kidnapped. He hooked me up with seaba (south east alaska backcountry adventure) , organized my itinary , paid for my lodging and a month worth of food. When i arrived in juneau, we immediatly floated to haines where i met with the seaba crew and the fort seward lodge . I was thrilled and exited , everyone there is hearthy, genuine and are characters. The guides, the cooks , the owners every one is the embodiement of awesome. There are no plain , boring persona. The fort seward lodge is unique and it is clear that you are here to ski. You could easily compare seaba/ fort seward lodge with chamonix. It has the same vibe the same kind of people. A skier’s dream. The first 5 days were shitty weather :we went slednecking , met with awesome locals. Chris was sick for 2 days which i spent making a cattrack with nick trimble (one of the owner of seaba) for future catskiing. When the first clear day came up, i was hired by guests to take picture of their day. That day was my first day skiing AK, my eyes wide open looking at the endless snowporn in front of me. . The second day, cab and myself were given a seat with 2 AK locals who come and ski here frequently. They are good riders so the pace is fast and the runs bigger and steeper. I am skiing the dream: Haines, AK. Cab is so stoked to see me having a blast . living the dream. …. But. Unicorns dont exist and the fuckin ridge broke off. In 3 seconds i fell off from heaven thru the 300 meter asshole of hell and with no rainbows. Its like a nightmare, an out of body experience. I could see my body bounce off stuff and fall thru darkness. Painless but frightening. Cab is dead. And im here in haines ak, in his house , in his bed, in the middle of his clothes . Broken up, heart broken and completly lost. I was not expecting a 7 days trip in haines. it was more a month worth of skiing a safer-than-cham snow heaven . but destiny decided otherwise i guess, the bitch. why so short? why chris?. WHY now?
The seaba crew and guests helped me a lot recovering, trying to see the light. I m poping oxy like candies. Drinking beers smoking. Trying to figure out what to do, what to think, what to understand. What did i learn from cab’s death, from that fuckin accident. Nothing really. Or nothing i didnt know already. I will go back to haines . To the fort seward lodge skiing with seaba. (well! without cab’s loving generosity it might just stay a dream. )
Time will take care of the my loss: Chris Cabanilla. my beloved friend. my brother in arms. it’s been way to short, i had important stuff to tell you . you had to show me your playground. fuck. it sucks. rest in peace.i am swimming in a dark cloud.
For now, i am trying to heal and I cant wait to get back on my skis and honor Chris Canabilla with skiing the rad and fast.
here are some pictures. unfortunately, i only had 2 days riding and i thought i had a months shooting lifestyle…so its limited to a few runs…
FLOATING FROM JUNEAU TO HAINES
christian cabanilla. floating juneau haines alaska
Christian Cabanilla floating -juneau-haines.
stylish cabanilla and his truck and sled.
David Sundnas
David Sundnas
David Sundnas
tom Konop
christian cabanilla
christian cabanilla
christian cabanilla
tom wayes
tom konop
tom wayes
tom wayes
christian cabanilla
christian cabanilla
christian cabanilla
christian cabanilla
christian cabanilla
this is the very last picture of Christian Cabanilla. we are both so stoked , this run looks sicko. we are going to get wasted tonight. 10 seconds later.game over.
what we fell down
heli ski with last frontier-bell2 lodge /elemental adventure . BC
Maybe some day i will be a rich photographer i will privatize bell2 for a shredced’s invitational. All my friends-superhero-riders /skibums will come in to ski hard and party like animals. like a real ski debaucherie of sort with DJ-turbo sound and shit. It is a perfect setting, everything is there: pillows line, giant mushrooms, endless ridge lines, couloirs, faces, manucured forrest, hot tub, party igloo, heli hot springs, lodge with 3 choppers on the parking, booze….drugs?…lost on a forrested higways miiiiiles -far far away from civilization. Ski all day howl all night. Perfect.
I didnt get any sunny days whilst there, yet i skied everyday …
The staff at last frontier heliskiing is awesome, from Joss giving a perfect race tune to your skis to the hot bartenders , the cooks making amazing food, the heli pilots fast and smooth, Jamie Whiteside the guide who plays guitar ,sings song and is just awesome, Michael Brackenhofer the Austrian head guide who will show you how to ski with good style or Mike Gajda who is cutting trees ( sorry weeds) on the ski runs so it skis better….
I was hired by dmitri volkov as his personal photographer, on the first 2 days his skiing was sloppy, i was getting very annoyed. By the 3 rd day his turns were getting sharper and his style was improving. His skiing was much better. if you want to improve your skiing you can hire me, i am pretty affordable…
Until then, here are some pictures. Most of which of helicopters my new found passion. Those things are sick!
Adventure yoga retreat in kalymnos the end. climbing, tits grabbing and beatches.
the apartment we rented was very nice and conveniently located , 15 min from the grand grotto (kalymnos main attraction) 2 min from the beach and town. It was fully equiped and clean. The owner is Antonio Galouzis : www.agalouzis.com. Antonio and his wife are amazing people and made sure our stay was delightul. Very often , we would come back from sending 8a all day and be greeted by tasty greek delicacy made by Antonio’s wife. (the first pictures shows the apt). Also , the trip was organized by adventure yoga retreat. It went as smoothly as it could be. They have yoga surf trips in portugal as well. The people in Kalymnos are very nice and welcoming. I highly encourage anyone to go to Kalymnos or anywhere in greece and spend as many euros as you could. IT will be well worth it. And good for greece. I will shut up now…time for the tits grabbing pictures…
this was our house
the hole. some good climbing in there.
the cove
hot chicks
heather swift
heather swift
find the climber-
find the climber-
the hole
cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
lunch
Johnathan Jacobs
moon
the crew departure
tits handle bar….
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- find the climber-
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- find the climber-
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- find the climber-
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- tits handle bar….
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- hot chicks
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- the cove
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- the hole. some good climbing in there.
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- the hole
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- find the climber
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- the hole
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- lunch
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- heather climbing
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- heather swift
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- heather swift
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- Johnathan Jacobs
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- cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
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- cape town (S.Africa) versus Bishop (california): Johnathan Jacobs (cape town) won by far.
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- this was our house
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- the crew departure
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- me and the chicks
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- me an the chicks
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- sunset good bye
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- moon
find the climber . 1…Kalymnos with adventure yoga retreat
Kalymnos with adventure yoga retreat
Johnathan Jacobs
Johnathan Jacobs
Johnathan Jacobs
Johnathan Jacobs
kalymnos – yoga-eat-climb-beach-climb-eat-yoga-eat-beach….sleep
Kalymnos and its people are superb and so is the climbing, the food the house and everything. with alpine yoga and climbing retreat
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- house
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- pilate
greenland
I was hired as a photographer by elemental adventure
things didnt happen as planned due to a broken heli. nevertheless we scored 3 good days of skiing: swiss style . The villages and the people are beautiful and generous , the scenics are just breathtaking hense the amount of pictures. I tried to put just a few…i will just shut up then! I want to go back.
Cedric Bernardini 