Its February, and it already got warm and sunny here in the Alps! With the ski-lifts closed for Covid, the only way to get shredding is human powered with skins or snowshoes for climbing. We went on a corn hunting expedition and found some great soft spring snow:
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What inspires me? In these times of relative peace between winters, now is a good chance to reflect on some of the things that inspire me as a skier and author, with some of my words and photos. My main influence over the last 2 decades, as you can probably tell, has been freshly fallen snow. Each snowflake is unique, and there are many millions of them in each snowstorm. Imagine the insane amount of variables involved when you get a thick carpet of fresh white fluff building up in the back yard, or on the mountainside, creating a field of deep powder. The classic snowflake crystal has 6 sides, or arms, but every snow crystal is a variation of that: some have been broken apart by wind, some have gathered together creating large goose-feather snowflakes, and some have been morphed or bonded together by subtle temperature changes in the air. It is actually pretty rare to find a perfectly formed snow crystal, and they don't tend to last long before transforming! Seeing perfect stellar snowflakes in the air, or just settled on the ground, is like briefly glimpsing the soul of a storm before it is whisked away by a gust of wind. Those lucky enough to have skied a deep fresh bowl of frosted flakes may have had a few instants to connect their soul with the soul of the storm, another living being. The stellar crystals can create an amazing network of connections between snowflakes, filled with air pockets, and the snow-rider charges through this as if floating on air or in a cloud. Another major influence in my adult life has been mountain scenery, especially when coated with a fresh blanket of white fluff! Some terrain looks absolutely stunning when the sun comes out after a storm. Especially amazing is when the snow-covered mountains glow orange and pink in the sunset: Light has always fascinated me, especially the way natural light plays on the landscape to create different atmospheres: ... And then, of course, there is the powder riding itself: the deeper the better!!! ;-)
When the light powder crystals fluff up over your shoulders and into your face, that is close to the pinnacle, or Shangri-La of mountain activities. Surfing waves of white gold is our preferred pastime in this world! The scale, and the distance of these mountains from any point in the valley, are easy to under-estimate. Some fresh snow in the alpine terrain helps to define the furthest ridges, which seem so close, yet are over a kilometre vertically above us.
The giant walls of rock seem to tower even more vertically when they are shrouded in clouds, and the mist sculpts the closer ridges, defining the actual shape of the mountain.
It is 20 years since I first set eyes on the Alps and first visited Chamonix, and to celebrate, here are some recent powder shots from this winter ... Steve Igniting his powder dreams with "Snow Tales & Powder Trails":
February 2020:
Steve's Photos:
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My "WAVES" video is now live! Watch it here, or in my youtube channel: The first big weather wave of the autumn came in last night, with fresh snow in the mountains, just in time for this: my “Waves” movie! It isn't short, so grab a coffee or a beer, sit back, & enjoy the powder. :-)
I’ll be releasing a shorter, more punchy edit nearer the winter: watch out for “Pure Powder” ;-) Coming October 1st: A Chamonix powder video edit: It’s been a long hot summer, but now the days are longer and the nights are colder, and it’s nearly winter again!
To cool down over the summer I have been editing a powder video from the last 5 years of www.chamonix.net footage around the Chamonix valley. Here is a preview. Release date for the main film is October 1st… For Sale: framed printed photos by Steve Baldwin ("Snow Tales & Powder Trails").
75 Euros for each framed print. Images are 30x40cm, some in larger frames. Those featured here are already framed, but many more are available. Good for chalets/restaurants/homes. Available in the Chamonix area and Savoie/Haute-Savoie region. Please contact me (best by FB private message) A few days of rain in Chamonix, left a nice coating of fresh snow up in the mountains - September "termination dust" There's always something interesting going on above Chamonix...:
Here are some images from this winter so far! This is what I wrote about in "Snow Tales and Powder Trails" Time for a COMPETITION … (to celebrate the start of winter in Chamonix) ... "Spot The Bird" ... deadline Dec 21st.
This is one of my interior images from my book "Snow Tales and Powder Trails". If anyone can spot the bird, circle it in red (digitally) and send it to me via my contact form, then I will put all of the correct names in a hat and pick one out on December 21st, to celebrate winter solstice... The winner will receive a free signed copy of the paperback version of "Snow Tales and Powder Trails", and 2 runners up will receive each a voucher to download the e-book version. Here are the best photos that I have taken recently. thanks to a sweet fluffy snowstorm and a break in the clouds!!!
Here is today's inspiring autumn light, while we wait for snow in the Alps... To paraphrase one of my favourite songs: "... and the sky is a hazy shade of winter ... look around, there's a patch of snow on the ground..."
Thanks, Simon and Garfunkel! When I was a child, we had a couple of old oil paintings on the wall, snowy pictures from the Swiss Alps. These had a huge influence on my conscious and subconscious mind, the fresh powder snow and ski tracks shining white, and looking like a Christmas cake. These paintings were a big part of my everyday life, as I would pass them several times a day, and they were my favourite paintings in the house. Ultimately I am in the mountains, partly due to Mr Anderson's beautiful imagery. Another big artistic influence from my early creative years was a Canadian First Nations artist from the West Coast of BC, Roy Henry Vickers. I first came across his work when I was 12, on a trip out West.
His awesome use of colour and shape, combined with our trip amongst the wild ocean and mountains of BC and Alberta, really hit home with my soul. Here is his website, so you can check out some really cool art: http://www.royhenryvickers.com_ I just wrote an article in a new online ski/snowboard magazine 'Style Altitude' - an article about powder snow, with some of my images from last winter... Check it out at their website: http://stylealtitude.com/powder-addiction.html ... meanwhile, we had some fresh snow in the Chamonix mountains this week: The following little video was supposed to be a short clip where you could see the snow pillows growing as it snowed, but it didn't really happen, because the camera ran out of battery in the cold air after only 9 minutes, and it wasn't during the heaviest point of the snowfall. I like the result, though - the crystals glittering like diamonds (or "like a million mirrors"): And to finish off, here are some musings from an autumn evening last week:
Tonight, the moon is high in the sky, nearly full, and shining brightly on the glaciers and recent snow. There is some mottled cloud passing over the mountain from time to time, subduing the moon's light, while the steep high ridge of spiky peaks is silhouetted darkly, menacing in the bright sky. ... In 2 or 3 days the next active weather will approach, and cold October rain will obscure the mountains, adding an extra dark mood to the valley, while a layer of fresh snow builds on the high mountain ridges. Here is a selection of images from last week, a very inspiring time in the mountains, echoing some of the images in "Snow Tales and Powder Trails": Storm coming in... The aftermath: The Crystals... Reaping the harvest... |
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