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It seems life's been on fast forward, I remember it was only yesterday I was a young grom shredding the hill, jumping off cliffs, filming with my buddies and chasing my local heros whether they liked it or not. I skied first to last chair and always had the patrollers out looking for me as mum worried at the base. I couldn't help it, I loved to ski and film.
Xander, Dane & Luke reviewing video and scoping technique.
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Luke, Dane & Jackson riding the classic Paradise lift, chatting about dropping cliffs and popping pillows.
With this inspiration and stoke I pursued my dreams to become a professional film skier, that dream has become a reality as I turn the page and begin my 11th year as a professional film skier.
I remember what it was like to be a young shredder, looking up to my idols and what it meant to have the opportunity to meet, let alone ski with them.
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Jackson and Dane talking terrain.
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Xander poppin and droppin on the backside.
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I believe's ones ability to move forward in life largely depends on what we learn along the way and am excited to give back to the young rippers and help fast track their development, to guide them towards success by sharing the knowledge I've learned over the years as a professional athlete.
Luke, Jackson and Dane scoping photo options.
"It reminded me of when I was a kid, seeking out a nice air with the buddies and getting a sick shot."
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Dane on a classic Golden Chariot feature. "I've been hitting this one as long as I can remember."
Being the first year of the SHRED POSSE camp there were 3 Shredders in attendance. Luke Branson, Xander Bankes and Jackson Wan. Luke contacted me on instagram and came up from a small town ski hill in Washington, both Xander and Jackson are local boys. The boys absolutely crushed it on the first day. I filmed the boys hucking cliffs as we skied 10 laps on Motherload all off piste. To give some insight on how huge this is, my normal training day on Motherload is 12 laps which takes a non stop day of skiing. I was really impressed with the kids ability to ride all day long, this shows great strength and endurance. We took a small lunch break to recharge and review footage, this gave the kids the opportunity to evaluate technique and make subtle changes for the afternoon, there is no better critique than video.
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Xander steezin an air as Dane observes.
Day 2 began a bit slower as we were all tired, including myself. We started off with some Paradise groomer laps to warm up the legs and work on some carving technique. It's so cool to see the kids carving at such a young age, fully flexing the skis and laying perfect railing train tracks in the snow. I find groomer skiing to be an integral part of my ski training, I like to emulate skiing big mountain terrain or smooth powder on the groomers, this way I can transition that technique when filming in powder terrain.
We met up with local photographer Christof for the second part of the day, this was a really exciting time as the kids got to work directly with a personal photog. I enjoyed giving insight to the kids as they scoped their lines from different angles, navigated potential risks, communicated with the photographer and lined up their vision. I'm beyond stoked on how things turned out and to see the kids walk away with some banger images from the shoot.
Xander looking comfy as he boosts into Lynx trees.
Luke getting his slash on.
Dane with a side popper tweak.
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Jackson with a nice drop and hands forward. In the attack position.
Luke overcoming his fears and boosting a big drop.
Jackson in the moment.
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I'd like to give a big shout out to Luke, Xander and Jackson for attending the camp, it was so fun skiing with you guys and thanks to Red Resort for making the camp possible and thanks to Christof for the rad images! I'm excited for the next SHRED POSSE Freeski Camp!