Even after 12 years of seeing our work published, it is always exciting to see a big job in print, especially when it looks its best thanks to great design. This last week we received the Jack Wolfskin 2011 winter catalog, at nearly 2cm thick it is probably the biggest catalog in the outdoor industry. Jack Wolfskin is an enormous high end German gear manufacturer with a massive presence in Europe. Last winter we were contacted by their advertising agency about doing a sizeable commercial shoot for them in California’s Sierra Nevada. The timing worked out perfectly, plans were made and a short time later we had a pallet (yes, pallet) meet up with us in California. Along with the product came the creative direction – our job was to realistically document a backcountry ski and alpine climbing trip in the Sierra. Our specialty.

The next step, and always the most difficult, was to find the right people to do the project with. We needed three friends with very specific requirements: the right sizes, a high level of skiing ability, alpine climbing skills, fun for the camera, personable, dynamic, and of course the necessary time. In the end, we had the ideal group; David Page, Ben Grasseschi and Brandyn Roark Gray. Together with the stars we had an equally important team of porters to carry all our stuff into the mountains so we could be free to shoot and not deal with logistics.

The Sierra Nevada was at its best for us, abundant blue sky above a very fresh two feet of unusually dry powder. Our location choice was Basin Mountain above Bishop – we nailed the timing, the conditions and the creative. Our models nailed the turns, the fun, the laughing and the friendship. A huge success. A happy client and a very happy group of skiers, porters, and photographers.

Included here is a small sampling of image usage from the alpine climbing segment of the story. Thanks to Jack Wolfskin and all our friends for a great shoot.