The following took place between December 30th, 2009 and January 3rd, 2010.

During the winter of 07/08 I lived in Stowe, VT and worked as Photo Editor at East Coast Snowboarding Magazine. My home mountain for that year was Stowe Mountain Resort and I fell in love with it’s woods and backcountry riding. Fast forward to the early winter of 2010 as Justin Mullen, Mike Bennett and myself are packed into Mike’s jeep on our way to Stowe.
By dusk we were deep into New York, heading north and took a quick moment to stop and stretch our legs. Once back on the road we continued north until we came to Crown Point, New York where the Lake Champlain Bridge used to stand. We were unaware that only days earlier the bridge had been demolished. This caused a two hour detour in our trip as we had to backtrack around the 110 mile long lake. Once on the other side it was a straight shot to my friend and our guide for the trip Pat Walsh’s house.
Lead by Pat Walsh a Stowe local who has been living in the town for 15 years. Day one started with a deep hike into the Notch of Stowe. Pat pointed out a steep section of the slope that would provide a good vantage point for some shots. Everyone took a slash in front of the camera and road down into the valley. Next up was a good sized cliff that required a dead eye aim to avoid all of the small trees in the landing. Both Justin and Mike landed tricks and avoided being impaled. We finished up the day with a fun and mellow ride down through the Notch to the Jeep.

Pat Walsh – Guide Man Extraordinaire

Mike Bennett slash in the Notch at Stowe.
Continued in Part 2.
http://www.benbirk.com/blog/2010/07/13/winter_stowe_part_2/
Tags: Digital Photography, Justin Mullen, Mike Bennett, Pat Walsh, Portrait, Powder, Stowe, Vermont, Winter In Summer


