A well known name in the ski racing community, Scott Hoffman, ex-US ski team member and NCAA National Champion, enjoyed a long ski racing career that included years as a successful pro ski racer. After retiring from racing, Scott struggled against his addictions, and his life spiraled down a path from which he thought he could never escape. After spending a year in prison, Scott emerged sober and with a new inner peace. He has dedicated his life to giving back to society, the skiing community, and people who are currently fighting to overcome their own addictions.

Directed & Edited by Chris Morgan (twosherpas.com)
Thanks to ZEAL Optics (zealoptics.com)

Dave riding on the Lightning Ridge cat at Powder Mountain on his way up for another lap.

Despite losing his way during his 20s, Dave Rosen never lost his love for skiing. Sober and motivated, Dave is determined to make up for lost time.

Dave reached out to me a couple years ago, and we agreed to meet at Powder Mountain, Utah one day to see if we had the chemistry to make a good working team.  I was blown away by Dave’s abilities as a skier, especially his eagerness to hit big jumps off piste, but even more so I was impressed by his professionalism and desire for perfection. That first day of skiing together went so well that we’re been working together regularly to create photo and video media.

Over time Dave told me how his addiction to alcohol had taken over his life, but how he’d been sober for several years after finding his way through Alcoholics Anonymous.  I thought he had a story worth sharing, but I didn’t want to simply shoot a “talking head” documentary.  I approached him with the idea of this video with a voiceover, no obvious interview, and the video stylistically being divided into two parts.

Dave Rosen at Powder Mountain

Dave embraced the concept and over several days we were able to get a lot of great shots in the park and off piste at Powder Mountain.  I don’t normally shoot in the park, so it was a fun challenge doing multiple laps shooting various angles in slow motion and with the camera stabilizer in an effort to best show Dave doing his thing.

We’re looking forward to this season, and we already have plans to shoot throughout Northern Utah.

Chris enjoying Park City Main Street during the summer.

Chris Morgan is a videographer based out of Ogden, Utah.  You can view more of his work at www.twosherpas.com and on his Instagram feed @chris_twosherpas

Last week I joined up with some of the SKILOGIK crew at Snowbasin Ski Resort during a WWSRA demo day.  Despite temperatures more reminiscent of early Spring than mid-February, Dave Rosen and I headed out early to see what snow had fallen overnight at the upper elevations.  Most skiers were there to try out a wide range of different skis, so they were loading onto the Needles Gondola for a quick ride up, and a fast ride down run, back to the base area.  We had other plans.

Hopping on the JP chairlift we separated ourselves from the crowd.  We then rode the empty Mt Allen Tram that dropped us off at the top of the ski area (approx 9,300′ elevation).  We were thrilled to see a few inches of untracked snow, sub-freezing temps, and an overcast sky to keeps the temps down — we threw on our skis, took off, and enjoyed the best snow conditions we’d seen in a week.

We did six laps back down to the tram before we headed back to the base to grab the others.  During one of the rides up the Tram, Dave commented how shocked he was that we’d only seen three other skiers, so it was like having the place to ourselves.  ”Better lucky than good is what I always say.”

The clouds kept moving up and over the mountain in waves, so visibility kept alternating from poor to spectacular.

Early that afternoon we headed back up with Darrell Haggard, Skylar Memsic, and Emma Morgan (SKILOGIK athlete manager, SKILOGIK athlete, and SKILOGIK ambassador, respectively).

We stuck to the upper elevations and took advantage of little stashes of goodness we could find.

Dave during one of his standard launches.

Dave Rosen throwing a Cork 7 off a natural wind lip above a two stage drop.

Skylar sending it with the barren mountains as a backdrop.

Emma charging hard and showing what great ski technique looks like.

Dave enjoying the views after a great day of skiing.  Now let’s pray for snow and some good ol’ Utah Powder!

Written by Chris Morgan (twosherpas.com / Instagram: @chris_twosherpas)

Skiers: Dave Rosen (@daverosen1), Emma Morgan (@skiemma), Darrell Haggard, and Skylar Memsic

Thanks to SKILOGIK, ZEAL Optics, Surefoot, and Snowbasin Resort.

Related Deals:

• Shop for SKILOGIK at REI.com
• Buy discounted lift tickets for Snowbasin, Utah
• Save up to 30% on Zeal Optics at Backcountry.com

Nothing like waking up to find out it’s snowing outside when the forecast you read the night before says “20% chance of little or no snow accumulation”. Then heading up the canyon to find out it’s nuking super dry Utah blower and then getting these photos… Enjoy

Though we haven’t had much snow lately and have had record warm temperatures, it hasn’t kept us from getting out and enjoying the mountains. Pray for snow!

Winter returns to the Wasatch with a healthy 12″ of chowder. Get some.