Epic Saturdays

Today I had an absolutely fabulous day with my homie in crime Sophie. It all began with a simple text saying "Let's hike and bike." There's really no arguing with such a clean and concise statement, I couldn't resist.

We headed up Blackcomb for some teeth-shatteringly awesome turns in the morning, then regrouped and packed up my car for a quick trip down to Squamish for some mountain biking on the loamy trails. The conditions down there seem like winter never happened, and it's a welcome respite from the endless ice age we have experienced in Whistler since November.



For the ride we did Jack's Trail to Alice Lake, 4 Lakes Trail to Edith Lake, Bob McIntosh Memorial Trail to Rock n Roll to the Corners trails below the power lines, then we hit up Don't Tell Jude and carried on to Tracks from Hell. From there we rode back down 4 Lakes Trail and over the Wonderland to finish up. Following that we had some sushi at Sushi Sen and called it a day!

Renegade Heli Club

The other day I got the chance to join a wicked crew of 3 AK-trained guides, my buddy Dustin, and another guy on a heli touring excursion up the Duffy. We got picked up at the Pemberton airport and flown to a nice little spot on Mt. Matier. We skied a couloir on Matier, then skinned up the col toward Mt. Hertzell, skirted around it and bootpacked up Spetch for a nice long ski to Mt. Slalock, where we skinned once again for a final ski all the way down to upper Joffre Lake. It. Was. AWESOME.

I know where all my money is going next season......!

Renegade Heli Club from Amy McDermid on Vimeo.

Winning like Charlie Sheen

This has been the year for zero visibility. It's okay though, because that usually means that it has been snowing a lot, and I like snow. Much.

Over the past week, however, the sun poked it's fiery face out from behind the fog and clouds and hung around for a while. With only mornings to work with, I took advantage of the light and hiked a few times, dragging along my friends Chanel and Kyle.

Here's a winning video of it all:

Girls Movie. And Kyle. from Amy McDermid on Vimeo.

Serious Behind the Scenes Snaps.

I love photojournalism because it's not set up and as a photographer you're capturing what's actually happening. In the cases of these photos, what's happening is that I've asked the girls to hang out in a snowy field where every step you take you're post holing past your knees.

My flashes and I had some minor/major technical difficulties but here are some candid snaps from the evening:

Ladies in the Backcountry.

This past week and a bit was 9 days full of powder, girls, skiing, shooting, chai-drinking, and eating. Lots of eating.

We had two weekends of Rossignol's Girls Day Out flanking a week of shredding with the other coaches in Revelstoke and Golden. Here are some B shots from our adventure up the Fingers on Mt. McPherson in Revy. Starring Izzy Lynch, Leah Evans, Tessa Treadway, and Tatum Monod. Thanks girls for the good times.

Oh yeah, I have a blog.

Revelstoked. Revelling in the stoke. Riding the stoke chair. Ripping on the ripper. Getting out with Girls. At Girls Day Out.

In Revy visiting with Leah Evans and Zoya Lynch while we spend the week skiing powder awaiting weekend number 2 of Girls Day Out.

Here are some shots from the past few days.

Hansen Wedding

I had the honour of photographing two of my good friends at their wedding in Seattle this weekend. Lisa Shimoi married William Hansen and despite rain storms and hungry bridesmaids, the wedding went off without a snag. Thank goodness for umbrellas! Enjoy this sneak peek.


amymcdermid.com

November Pow-y Goodness.

Today I reconnected with some members of the Rad Boob Club, and we slayed pow from open till close on Blackcomb. Breaking trail into Cancer Man in neck-deep powder was challenging, but it was super fun to drop all of the little cliffs and pillows down the line. There's nothing like skiing all day with a whole whack of girls, the best part namely being the chatter on the chairlift about boys and boys. Yes, boys, we talked about you.

One bonus of having so few chairs open in the early season is that it's really easy to find your friends, and if you lose them, there are more waiting in the lift line!

Anyway, being back on snow is pretty sweet and I'm excited to share some silly videos of some skiing we've done over the past few days. Enjoy.

Whistler Opener

Brrrrr it feels like we're in the Rockies, except that now that cold feeling is stabbing us in the bone marrow. A friend described the cold temperatures in Calgary as "you know it's cold when your nostrils stick together when you breathe," and here in Whistler it's that cold- and some.

It's not that often that I don't feel inspired to go up the mountain, but when a friend's metatarsals and toes suffer frostbite after an hour-long skin up to the Peak, another friend has two perfect triangle-shaped patches of frostbite on his cheeks after sledding for the day, and my boot heater batteries need to be plugged in for minimum three days after a summer in storage, sometimes it's best to stay at home. I chose to curl up with books and work on my art portfolio.

Anyway, a while back, before the antarctic-worthy temperatures graced us with their presence, my friend Brook Baker and I went for a wee pedal in the Whistler Mountain Bike park. Not only did we have to look out for slippery roots and snow patches, but flying ice chunks were also a concern. Enjoy:

Petition to Keep Bike Park Open until now. Or maybe now? from Amy McDermid on Vimeo.

Wow, it's been a while...

Let's think a bit about what has happened since March 22nd...

I haven't taken many photos, but I did take some. I'll share those photos, and some videos too, that I've created in the past months. I worked a lot over the summer and fall and now that ski season is ramping up my work hours are going back down to a humane number.

The other day I attempted to explore the infinite abyss with my good friend and adventure buddy Miss Zoya Lynch. It was an adventure alright- what else do you expect when missioning into the great outdoors with me? Needless to say, there is no longer a bridge across Fitzsimmons Creek above the hydro project. Google earth would beg to differ.

Mini Spearhead from Amy McDermid on Vimeo.