Joey Van Lierop Writing

A Roll of Winter

May 17th, 2024

I bought a little Olympus XA2 film camera to experiment with film photography during the winter. Here are all of the the best (and worst) 35mm shots I took.

My friends hanging out in a cabin — Always nice to start with a blurry indoor shot. This was the boys when we arrived in Revelstoke for our first ski trip. Cool to see the film burn though.

My friends at the end of a North Bowl run — First outdoor shot! Not a very interesting photo, but that run through North Bowl was rad.

A view of Greely Bowl — Looking back up at a run that Chase and I went on together. We had to hike, wait in a line, commit to a sketchy drop in front of 20 people, and get chirped at by some locals just to get into Greely Bowl.

Chase relieved at the end of a tiring hike — ...and it didn't end there. We had to do another brutal hike straight up a hill to get to the good stuff. Chase was slightly relieved when we finally got to the top.

A blurry shot of Tally-Ho glades — We would always start our Revelstoke days with a couple warmup laps in Tally-Ho glades. This (blurry) shot was the setup for some action shots in the trees.

Marc getting air in Tally-Ho glades — Marc getting some air

Tenjin doing a safety grab in Tally-Ho glades — Tenjin doing a nice safety

A view up into North Bowl — A bit later in the trip, we had an unbelivable pow day. This was a view of some cliffs I dropped. Just after I took this shot, Marc hit a huge cliff, landed, caught his tips, front flipped, and skied it out. Pretty rad.

Max in a snow storm — This was the final run we did at Revelstoke. It's too bad you can't see much, but we hiked way over through South Bowl and did one of the best out-of-bounds run that you can find.

Max with a view of Revelstoke — Max

Max with another view of Revelstoke — Max (again)

Marc hopping through the trees — The last shot of Marc hopping through the trees

My friends posing on the ski out — The boys looking distinguished on the ski out

Cole at the top of Panorama — New ski trip! Cole and I went to Panorama, and got some nice sunny weather.

A shot of a little ski jump — Cole and I found a little ski jump, and the lighting was perfect for an action shot. The shutter was completely frozen when he did the jump the first time, hence the lack of Cole.

A shot of a Cole doing the little ski jump — After Cole hiked back up, I warmed the camera up for another shot. It didn't disappoint.

Cole and co on some mild backcountry terrain — Cole (Florence) and co, during our avalanche safety training field day. Lovely weather after a week of -40°.

Cole and co on some mild backcountry terrain (again) — A shot so nice I took it twice

A view up at Black Prince — A bit later in the day we ended up below Black Prince. This was the first time I experienced the backcountry in winter, and I was hooked right away.

An avalanche rolling off of Black Prince — If you really squint, you can see a small avalanche coming off of the left side. 10 minutes prior, our instructor had predicted that this avalanche would happen, which is why I had my camera ready. I still think he is some sort of wizard

Jack skinning through Surprise Pass — Jack skinning through Surprise Pass. He couldn't have picked a more scenic objective for my first backcountry tour.

Jack and Cole below Ogden Bench — Jack and Cole skinning towards Ogden Bench. This was the first time that Cole and I got to go on a tour together. Snow conditions were pretty mediocre, and so our expectations were set really low for the rest of the season. Thankfully, every tour after this was absolutely blower.

Mom at Big Sky — Time for the Mountain Collective shots! This was mom at Big Sky. You can almost see the insanely overpriced tram in the background.

A hot air balloon touching the horizon in Bozeman — I almost got hit by a truck trying to get this shot of a hot air balloon touching the mountain line in Bozeman

The Tetons — The Tetons! My mom said I was going to be dissapointed by the view of the Tetons from the top of Grand Targhee, but I couldn't get enough. I went to check out the view almost every time we went up the Colton chair.

Another view of the Tetons behind Grand Targhee — You can just see the Tetons behind Grand Targhee. I had to hike for a little bit to get this shot, and since I was going to be back in a few days, I took note of the exact spot I took the picture from.

Corbet's Couloir (closed) — Corbet's Couloir! Except it was closed...

Corbet's Couloir from below — Another shot of Corbet's. I really wish I had the chance to eat shit on it for eternal bragging rights.

The Jackson Hole Waffle House — A waffle house at over 10,000 feet. Surprisingly the waffles were great, and not super overpriced compared to everything else at Jackson Hole. Would recommend.

More shots of the Tetons — Another shot of the Tetons. On our drive in, the clouds were literally rolling over the mountains, and I was hoping they would still be there when we got to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately they had mostly moved on, but you can still see some of the clouds blanketed on top of the Tetons.

A replica of the earlier Teton shot — Remember that shot from earlier? This was the replica I took a few days later.

A view of Mary's Nipple — Believe it or not, this peak is called Mary's Nipple, and at Grand Targhee, its a rite of passage to hike to the top.

A couple skiiers hiking up Mary's Nipple — The hike up Mary's Nipple was the very last run of the week-long trip I did with my mom. Big Sky, Grand Targhee, and Jackson Hole. All great hills, but the Ghee had to be my favourite.

TODO — The view from the top of Mary's Nipple

TODO — And at the very end of the run, we cruised right into the lodge where a band playing. Since the roll started with a blurry indoor shot, its only fitting that it ends with one too.