Shot on a Canon EOS 1D Mark III with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens.

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.

Front & Back

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.

Lakeside view in NY

Creepy looking Mike with Cig

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/

October 18, 2009
We had heard it snowed in the Poconos a foot two days earlier and seeing that it was October any excuse to try and snowboard was good enough. Mike Bennett, Doug Usko, and myself loaded up my Subaru forester and made the two hour drive to Camelback. Unfortunately upon our arrival we discover almost all the snow was gone with small patches of unrideable snow being all that remained. Not wanting to make the drive home quite yet we, went to Big Boulder to meet up with Matt Roberge, Luke Henning, and Jayell White.

Big Boulder had a little bit more snow at best, but we decided to hike to the top of the mountain (all 500 vertical feet of it) to see what snow might lie up there. Over halfway up we realized the top would hold nothing more then the bottom and decided to shovel a small landing for a sketchy bomb drop. Mike and Doug both hit the drop, were smashed to bits on the too small landing and over the feature quickly. We hung out talking and laughing for a while before returning to the cars, where we parted ways and all drove home.

Winter was coming soon though…

The Group Hiking

Mike Bennett mid hike

Jayell White

Luke Henning

Mike Bennett Bomb Drop

Mike Bennett (Film)

Doug Usko (Film)

Jayell White (Film)

Matt Roberge (Film)