Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Nicaragua

I’ll be honest, this is far from the best winter I have had in the Wasatch.  Saying that, I still rather have a bad year in Utah than an epic winter in most places.  So what have I been doing with myself this winter? Lots of resort riding, lots of splitboarding and even some more surfing.  I am feeling lucky to still score pow and waves this winter.  Stay stoked!

The views from Snowbird Tram.

Dave Suhre enjoying the pow! Even in a bad winter we still get waist deep days!

Dave Suhre sends a cliff on Baldy at Snowbird.

Dave Suhre enjoys the fresh at Snowbird. 

Devon King sends a method at Snowbird. 

Jesse Coss playing in the powder at Snowbird.

Jon Schofield rips some pow on his splitboard in Silver Fork.

Jon Schofield slashing in the sun on his splitboard in Silver Fork.

Jon Schofield rips some pow in LCC on his splitboard.

This is me ripping powder at Snowbird!

Me again, not too bad for a 40 year old! Snowboarding keeps you young!

My wife Melanie enjoys the fresh snow at Snowbird. I love that smile. Go team mom!

Full moon splitboard tour up at Brighton.

Tony Madrid keeps an eye on the moose on a recent splitboard tour out of the Canyons.

Pete Wurster, owner of Unity Snowboards, enjoys a splitboard tour out of the Canyons.

My son finally is big enough to have a splitboard. Here he is on his way to the top of Patsy Marley via Grizzly Gulch.

My son Sam stands on top of Patsy Marley.

Just because it was his first tour on a splitboard, doesn’t mean he is a stranger to powder!

Sam quickly learns the benefits of splitboarding!

Jon and Quin head up for another lap in Silver Fork.

Yeah when it snows in Utah, it usually dumps!

February wasn’t all powder for me. I actually surfed as many days in California as I got on my board in Utah for the month!

Warm temps and offshore winds, what more could you ask for!

Take me back!!!!

Since winters no longer exist out in the Western U.S., I decided to head to California for some surf.

 

Scoring!!!!!

 

 

With all the epic waves, the pros were stacking footage for their latest videos or trying to score a cover shot!

If you look closely, you can see the surfer on the outside wave. Gives you a good idea of how big the swell was in some spots.

Can you spot the 3 surfers about to get crushed by this closeout bomb? “When the wave breaks here, don’t be there, or you are going to get drilled.”, says Turtle from the movie North Shore.

Only in SoCal!

Slashing!

Empty lefts.

Sunsets were not to shabby.

Seriously the waves were perfect!

 

Here’s some shots from Timmy Turner and the Rat airin’ out in Southern California.

Photo Credit: Timmy Turner

Photo Credit: Timmy Turner

Photo Credit: Timmy Turner

Photo: the Rat’s GoPro

Photo from the Rat’s GoPro

]]> http://spreadstoke.com/water-and-air/the-rats-airin-out-rats-surfboards/feed/ 0 http://spreadstoke.com/water-and-air/lochsa-river-idaho-whitewater-surfing/ http://spreadstoke.com/water-and-air/lochsa-river-idaho-whitewater-surfing/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2014 21:58:07 +0000 http://spreadstoke.com/?p=1760 Last May I had the opportunity to travel to the Lochsa River drainage in Idaho and photograph a great group of whitewater surfers. Every year during spring runoff this location is sought out by adventure lovers for the large standing wave that develops and holds for weeks on end. Long days of travel, zero cell service for many miles in either direction, and many hours cold the water are the name of the game. The weather and water temperature make hoods, mitts, and thick wetsuits necessary a majority of the time. With many hours to shoot and no outside interference via cell phone this was going to be the perfect time to try some different lighting setups and get them dialed in. The wave sits in a deep canyon that gets shade early in the afternoon if the sun shows up at all. Many of the times that I had been in this river drainage it had been cloudy and stormy all day. I hoped that this trend would make for some engaging new imagery. I had brought along the Quadra setup with the deep Octabox and 3 Speedlights as well loads of ziploc bags to protect from the almost constant drizzle. I had also brought a painters extension pole with a baby pin adapter in order to get the octabox much closer than I could have with any normal grip equipment. I located the Quadra rig upstream of the wave. During daylight hours this allowed me to use it as a fill early in the day and then transition it to a key light after the sun disappeared. I would also add the speedlights downstream to provide a rim to the surfer and more depth to the scene as it got later in the evening. Many thanks to the great crew from Strongwater in Missoula, MT and my pal Herb for being willing subjects on this fun project! Cheers! Isaac http://www.isaacmillerphotography.com/]]>

Last May I had the opportunity to travel to the Lochsa River drainage in Idaho and photograph a great group of whitewater surfers. Every year during spring runoff this location is sought out by adventure lovers for the large standing wave that develops and holds for weeks on end. Long days of travel, zero cell service for many miles in either direction, and many hours cold the water are the name of the game. The weather and water temperature make hoods, mitts, and thick wetsuits necessary a majority of the time.

With many hours to shoot and no outside interference via cell phone this was going to be the perfect time to try some different lighting setups and get them dialed in. The wave sits in a deep canyon that gets shade early in the afternoon if the sun shows up at all. Many of the times that I had been in this river drainage it had been cloudy and stormy all day. I hoped that this trend would make for some engaging new imagery. I had brought along the Quadra setup with the deep Octabox and 3 Speedlights as well loads of ziploc bags to protect from the almost constant drizzle. I had also brought a painters extension pole with a baby pin adapter in order to get the octabox much closer than I could have with any normal grip equipment.

I located the Quadra rig upstream of the wave. During daylight hours this allowed me to use it as a fill early in the day and then transition it to a key light after the sun disappeared. I would also add the speedlights downstream to provide a rim to the surfer and more depth to the scene as it got later in the evening.

Many thanks to the great crew from Strongwater in Missoula, MT and my pal Herb for being willing subjects on this fun project!

1/100 @f4.5 ISO100

1/50 @f3.5 ISO100

1/40 @ f4 ISO100

1/50 @ f5.6 ISO200

Cheers!

Isaac

http://www.isaacmillerphotography.com/

When most people think of Australia they think of surfing as many of the greatest surf spots in the world are located there, such as Bells Beach.  This is the location for the longest running surf competition in the world starting back in 1961.  From there on you have about 1,500 miles of coasts with beautiful pristine beaches.  If you own your own surfboard then you don’t have to worry, but some hostels have boards that you can use if you stay there.  These are a little difficult to find sometimes but usually if they do it they will be advertising it.

Most people get stuck in the tourist traps like Spot X or surfer’s paradise but there is so much more.  Sydney has some great learn to surf schools that are close enough to the city for night life but far enough that you feel a little further away from it all.  Byron is a beautiful low-key hippy town filled with massive waves with a killer drum circle at sunset every night. As you head north there are many more options but the risks also become more prevalent.  Noosa is also a killer spot with a variety of different surf beaches and located right on a National Park.

Above the Tropic of Capricorn the danger of jellyfish, crocodiles, and sharks increases.  So as you’re heading north be sure to stop in The Town of 1770.  This is by far THE cheapest place in Australia to go surf.  A mere $17 gets you a board, rash guard, and lessons if you want them.  This is a tiny town with beautiful views, one grocery store, one bar, and a sick hostel that goes by the name of Cool Bananas.  This place is run by an old ski bum from Canada who has ski/snowboard movies and hosts an awesome party every night.  As for the surfing the waves range from moderate 3-4 footers to 8-10 foot waves and the waves come very often.  It is hard to go more than a few hours as the waves come in very quickly, but if you are looking to learn or have been before it is great.  Surfing is such a huge part of Australian culture; it doesn’t matter where you end up going it is obviously something that should not be missed.

Our close friends at Honokea just shot us over this great video by Dr Jeremy Sheppard, a sports scientist from Australia about the implications of Wavegarden technology on the sport of surfing. As the host mentions at the beginning of the edit, we are indeed frothing at the mouth to have Wavegarden technology available in the U.S.

Currently, there is a Wavegarden park located the Basque Mountain Valley and it looks pretty bad ass! Wavegarden is the industry leader in the design and creation of the worlds longest artificial surfing wave and can generate 120 waves per hour, with typical rides up to 20 seconds long. Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong!

Honokea Surf Parks, based out of O’ahu Hawaii, is working to develop surf parks throughout the U.S. as partners of Wavegarden. Their mission in sharing surfing is to inspire healthy lifestyles, a healthy planet, and healthy communities. Their mantra: Think Green, Dream Blue. Personally, I can’t wait and can only hope one gets built in Utah.

Follow @honokea on  twitter, instagram, and facebook to stay updated on their first park build.

In the meantime, here is some more Honokea & Wavegarden stoke for your eyeballs:

7 years old and going strong as ever!  Grassroots Powdersurfing brings you a little taste of what’s to come in this seasons “Powsurf Chronicles” films.  Free your feet and your mind and soul will follow!