Christian Pondella Photo Blog

I just got back from one of the coolest events I shoot, the Red Bull US Grand Prix in Monterey, California at the Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway. First of all I get to hang out Monterey, which is a super cool spot and a lot of fun to be a tourist. Plus my wife Julie came with me making it even a better weekend. But back to Moto GP, these guys fly around the track in speeds up 200mph frequently passing each other, and sometimes touching their elbows on the asphalt as the lay it over in the turns.  As far as motor sports go, for me this is one of the coolest and purist forms of racing there is.

Last weekend I had an awesome day in the mountains with my good friends Pete Clark and Ryan Boyer. We climbed the amazing Matthes Crest in Tuolumne Meadows, which is 1.5-mile long beautiful granite ridge. This amazing piece of granite runs north south and for the most part is 5.4 – 5.7 climbing along the knife edge ridge with lots of air below your feet and amazing views of the Sierra. It was a great day for the body and mind as it was a long approach getting in, and a lot of exposure to keep you focused.

Matthes Crest

Tenaya Peak, a bonus climb en-route to the Matthes.

Don’t trip!

Coach, showing us the way!

I did not know these guys were going to be packing guns!

Often times as photographers we take many risks to get the shot, sometimes potentially dangerous to our equipment and ourselves. As adventure sport photographers, it is imperative we take risks to get the shot, but how willing are you to put your camera at risk?

Over the years I have put my camera in jeopardy more ways then I can remember. I have mounted it on skiers, mtn bikes, wing tips of airplanes, hang gliders, kayaks, paragliders, and basejumpers just to name a few. I even know of a photographer who mounted their camera on a boom of a wind surfer without a waterproof housing.

If you want to push your creativity putting your camera in dangers way may be your only option, and at some point you loose control of the cameras outcome. Generally you have pretty good faith in who and where you are putting your camera on or near. But eventually time may catch up to you.

One time I mounted my camera on a basejumpers leg and he landed in a lake, not on the nearby shore, and that was the end of that camera.

This past weekend I was shooting this crazy Red Bull event in Miami called Flugtag, which is basically human powered flying contraptions that fly into the water off a 30-foot dock, providing entertainment for thousands of people.

I have shot this event many times, and one of my favorite angles is to stand on the edge of the dock and capture them flying right over me with a wide angle so you can see where they are coming and going. However this time around I thought I could improve on my perspective  and mount my camera on a pole and extend it out another 8 feet wirelessly triggering it with my pocket wizard.

Just as luck would have it, the craft started heading for the edge, but on an angle right towards where I was positioned. Fortunately it did not land on me but just made it over the edge. As I ducked to get out of the way I could hear the wing crashing down above and felt a thug on the pole I had extended over the water. Happy I did not get clunked in the head, my next thought was my Canon 5 D Mark II, fisheye and pocket wizard were going for a swim. Fortunately the pole bent, did not snap, and I looked over to see my 5D was still on the end of the pole. As I pulled it in the camera looked like it was missing something. The wing tip had clipped the lens and ripped it right off the camera with the base ring still in the camera. So I was only out a $650 lens and I still managed to get a shot.

Check out the sequence that my friend Garth Milan got, if you look closely you can see the lens falling into the water.

The wing tip perfectly hitting the fisheye.

There goes the lens.

The lens in flight.

My perspective.

The lenses final shot!

Recently the last few assignments I have had are photographing things that fly, from humans to planes. As a Red Bull photographer for the past 10 years this has given me many opportunities to photograph many flying objects.  One of the coolest things I shoot is the Red Bull Air Races, which recently took place in Windsor, Canada and New York City. These guys fly their airplanes over 200 mph pulling over 10 G’s as they are sometimes only a few feet above the water. To complicate things even more they have floating pylons that they need to maneuver through.

Also, I got to spend a few days with the Red Bull Airforce as they flew their wingsuits over Seattle. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us, as you guessed it the rain seemed to be a problem. However we were able to get some cool photos, but the shot we wanted flying over the space needle was difficult to get. I was in a helicopter, and logistically to get me in the perfect spot with skydivers flying over the needle took a lot of luck and required a lot of jumps to get it perfect, but the rain kept the jumps to a minimum. So we were able to get one cool shot with the skydiver under canopy next to the Space Needle.

Hannes Arch enroute to victory except that he hit a pylon which cost him the fastest time. You can see the pylon starting to deflate.

New York, the greatest city in the world, will at least in the US.

Red Bull Air Race Windsor, Canada with Detroit in the background.

Hannes Arch, getting too close to the water which he got DQ’d for this one.

Paul Bonhomme flying through the quattro.

Miles, Jon, Andy and Luke show us there wings.

Andy Farrington

Mr entertainment  Miles Daisher.

Jon DeVore

Luke Aikins

Jon DeVore checking out the Space Needle.

It is all fun and games with these guys!

Earlier this month we received the sad news of Arne Backstrom passing away while skiing in Peru. My thoughts, love and prayers go out to Arne’s family and friends who were incredibly blessed to have him in their lives.

This past year I was very fortunate to become friends with Arne and get to spend a good amount of time hanging out and skiing together in Chamonix. In fact the last time I skied this year was with Arne in Chamonix.

After hearing about Arne it hit me really hard. I was just with him a few weeks earlier skiing some of the most amazing runs I have ever skied. We have just shared some amazing experiences together and personally I had captured some of my best and most memorable ski photos ever of Arne.

Those of us who participate in adventure/extreme sports know the risks really well with ultimately dying being one of the consequences. In the past 14 months I have had 6 friends die doing the sport they loved. All of which I have amazing photos of them doing these sports. It is sad to say when you hear the news of someone dying, you are not surprised or shocked by the news, but obviously deeply saddened.

For those of us who participate in dangerous activities, and live the life of adventure, we meet a lot of friends along the way. No different than anyone else who are meeting friends along their travels. But when you go into the mountains with your friends, climbing, or ski partners you have a much different connection as you are risking your life with them, you are doing something where ultimately failure is death, the flipside of that is the most amazing high you could ever have. It is a feeling of living that is indescribable.

The reality of his death kicked in really hard for me. Not only was Arne an amazing person, but Arne died doing what we were last doing together just a few weeks earlier. I took all these amazing photos of Arne and I had not even had a chance to really look at them or work on them in my computer. I was on a plane flying across the country and I started to work on photos I shot of Arne, color correcting, and doing what you need to do to digital photos. Looking at Arne, as he looked at me with a huge smile on his face, and so stoked for life. Tears ran down my face as I looked at photo after photo, still in disbelief. I was just skiing with Arne and now he is gone.

When we last said goodbye to each other, our conversation was about going skiing this summer in Argentina, climbing in the Sierras this fall, and of course spending lots of time in Chamonix next winter. I am really fortunate about the few experiences we shared together, but really sad about all the future experiences that we wont get to have.

Arne, you were an amazing person, and for those of us fortunate to know you, we are much better people because of you. Knowing that you lived life to its fullest and always had a smile along the way gives me some solidarity to your passing. Thanks for the memories, and thank you for the huge smile inside every time I think of you!

Arne, hanging out on top of the Aiguille.

Arne and American Dave

Arne and Seth at the mid station before heading up the Aiguille.

A common thing the girls would say, “Arne is so cute”, in fact I think we heard the comment more from our wives.

Always smiling!

Arne leading the way to the Cosmique in waist deep powder.

Arne, thanks for the friendship, smiles and awesome memories!

It has been awhile since I have checked in on the blog and I have just returned from 6 weeks in France. What was supposed to be a 18 day trip to Chamonix turned into a month in Cham followed by two weeks of an amazing European vacation with my wife Julie as we traveled to some beautiful regions in France.

We first arrived to Chamonix and had some good ski conditions to start the trip off. We then had a week of high pressure and never saw the sun again! Rain every day in the valley with lots of snow up high. I am guessing it snowed 15 feet in 12 days. We tried to work and snuck in a few days during that period, but for the most part every day ended with rain and snow. With just a few days left we decided to stay another week in hopes of getting some sunny days, because obviously when it cleared it would be all time. Plus there were hopes of skiing the North Face of the Aiguille Du Midi, which is actually the real reason for staying.

Another 5 days passed and the weather was still the same, still optimistic about the weather clearing and making a left turn (North Face of the Midi) I decided I needed to stay longer.  Now I extended the trip for a second time. Only now I was extending my trip in to some dedicated vacation time for my wife and I. I told her the skiing would be all time (if and whenever it cleared) and the photo opportunities would be amazing. Since I have been pretty skunked until now she new I had a legitimate argument, but I was pushing it with how long I would be away from home. She is very supportive of my career and understood the importance to stay. Except our vacation we were planning somewhere warm and tropical turned into her joining me in Chamonix, followed by 2 weeks of running around France. Which turned out to be absolutely amazing, and we ended the trip with 5 days on the French Mediterrean in a little town called Cassis.
The North Face of the Aiguille Du Midi (with ski tracks on it), the reason for staying in France so long.

Julie and myself on top of the Aiguille. It was nice going up the Aiguille as a tourist with no skiing or climbing gear. It was actually very enjoyable riding up with out being scared!

Lake Annecy and hopefully our future summer home.

Beautiful Old Town Annecy. The Old Town is on canals surrounded by cool buildings with lots of great places to drink coffee eat amazing food.

Beautiful Annecy.

The food in France is amazing with many farmer markets to shop at. Some beautiful baby artichokes at the farmers market in Annecy.

French cuisine at its best!

Paris and the Eiffel Tower.

Tourist time.

Cassis, France – the French Mediterranean with the view from out hotel room.

Jewels from the Mediterranean.

The beautiful Calanques near Cassis.

Thea harbor in Cassis.

A common question I get is how I carry my camera equipment in the field? Depending on how much gear I am bringing will change up what I do. Generally when I go ski mountaineering I prefer to travel light with one smaller camera body (Canon 5D Mark II) and one or two lenses (16-35 f2.8 II, 24-105 f4). With this set up I use a holster system for my camera body, and a padded lens pouch. Most camera bag companies make these, but I prefer the ones by Tamrac, CAMERA BAG, LENS. If I am heading out and my main objective is just shooting photos and I need to bring a lot of camera gear then I use my FSTOP Satori pack.

The camera holster is actually designed to be worn on your chest with a harness system, but I prefer to have my camera and lens on my hip. First off you look kind of funny with your camera on your chest, but more importantly I prefer to have the weight of the camera down on my hips instead of my chest or back. It is pretty common for adventure photographers to carry their body and lenses in these padded pouches, but most of them keep their equipment in their packs.

Since most the time I am out in the field working, we are usually hiking, skinning or climbing a mountain and trying to move pretty fast. If your gear is in your pack it will take some time to take your pack off, shoot photos and then put it back on. With your camera on your hip it only takes about 4 seconds to get your camera and start shooting. Plus it is just as fast to put it away and start hiking again. You will take a lot more photos this way. Another reason for having it on your hip is too get the weight off your back and have a lower center of gravity. Having it on your hip will lighten your pack and distribute the weight better. Plus you can get away with a slightly smaller pack. If you find yourself climbing something pretty technical and your camera is in your pack, you will not be able to take it off and shoot some photos of your buddy above or below you. And if it is on your chest it might be kind of hard to see your feet.

I also keep my gear on my hips while I am skiing and this is for the same reason, speed and mobility. If you are skiing step terrain, stopping and taking your pack off is time consuming and potentially dangerous.  Plus the people you are shooting have to wait around for you and that pretty much sucks for them.

How do I attach the gear to my hips? There are two ways I do this. If I am skiing with a harness on I attach it to the gear loops, either with Velcro or carabineers. If I do not have a harness on I attach it to the waist strap of my pack.

Obviously your camera gear is at greater risk on your hip if you take a fall, so climb and ski responsibly.

Check out the video below.

I have recently returned to Chamonix, France to continue working on a on a project we started here in March. Oakley is filming a documentary about Seth Morrison and one of segments will take place in Chamonix.

For the past 5-6 days we have been slowly working our way back into these mountains getting used to the terrain around here. It is good to pay a little respect to these mountains and take a little time getting used to the exposure, steep slopes and all the objective hazards which are always looming above, and sometimes below.

Chamonix is one of the most amazing places I have been to, and every time I come here I get more amazed! The skiing, climbing and access to these mountains is unmatched, and everywhere you look there are people getting after it. Ski tracks and climber foot prints marking the sides of all the mountains.

Below are a few scenic photos from our ski run today.

Mont Blanc Du Tacul

Periades Glacier

Valle Blanche

With one day left on our California 14er project we decided to ski a line on Mount Muir. After a reconnaissance airplane flight earlier in the week we scoped a line that looked like it could go. Mount Muir is basically a granite spire on the ridge of the Whitney massif and it is not known for ski descents. When you look at Mount Muir it is mostly dominated by granite and looks like lots of great rock climbing, and not really a skiers mountain.

We found a couloir that splits the east face and it looked like it might be skiable with two closed out sections, which would require some mixed climbing on the way up, and some rappels to get back down. With our sights set to ski this there was only one way to find out if it would go, and that meant a 3:15am wake up to get up to the East Face which was looking like 6-8 mile approach.

Once we (Chris Davenport, Ryan Boyer, and myself) got to the base, the couloir was looking good and up we went. As expected the two closed out sections required some mixed rock and ice climbing which we fixed some anchors at the top of each for our descent rappel.  After reaching the top of the couloir we took a few minutes to take in the amazing view of Mount Whitney and all the granite spires along the ridge top. With the sun moving behind the peak and the couloir slowly going into the shade we spent little time on top and started skiing. Knowing we were skiing above two cliffs this was definitely a descent to be skied with caution and get down safely. All went well and an hour or so later we were back on the valley floor relaxing in the sun and enjoying our lunches!

East Face of Mount Muir and our descent

Ryan Boyer dropping in at the top of the couloir

Chris Davenport in the middle section of the couloir

Check out some climbing on the link below.

Climbing Mt. Muir

Also, to see more photos check out Chris Davenport,s blog

Over the past week and a half, I’ve been running around the Sierra with Chris Davenport, skiing the range’s fourteen-thousand foot peaks. Chris had skied all the 14ers in Colorado (in one year) and now wants to ski the rest of the 14ers in the continental US. The last ones remaining are right here in the Sierra, plus the huge White Mountain across the Owens Valley.

With ten remaining peaks to go, and all of them requiring an average of a 7+ mile approach and around 7000 vertical feet, we tried to be optimistic about the big task ahead of us. Fortunately we had a twelve-day window to get after it.

Mother nature has been cooperating with us, giving us a few sunny days to climb and ski, so we were able to get Mount Russell and Mount Tyndall on our first two days. Then the winter storm hit with two feet of fresh snow in the Sierra, grounding us for 2 days.

With the storm clearing we headed to Nevada, and up the Fish Lake Valley to approach White Mountain (the biggest peak in the Great Basin) from the East side. Joining us on the adventure was Nate Greenberg, who runs the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center site, Tahoe Mike, Thunder Jim Barnes, and the Jaded Hans Ludwig. After an 8-10 mile classic desert mountain ridge walk we finally got our first view of the summit. Dropping in off the summit pyramid we had perfect powder all the way back to the desert floor.

Next in store for us was the Palisades out of Big Pine, and a cluster of five 14ers. Our goal was to get in light and fast, spending one night back there with four peaks to hit. One of the peaks requires technical ice and rock to ascend, so that will be a separate project in itself.

With a huge objective in front of us we called up the Tahoe ringer John Morrison to join us, since a little extra horsepower is always helpful. Our first day in we ditched our heavy packs and headed up to Thunderbolt Peak, and two feet of fresh powder made for perfect spring conditions and an epic ski descent down Thunderbolt.

The next day we were joined by Thunder Jim and Tahoe Mike, with a plan to ski the U Notch, V Notch, and the Southwest Chute of Mount Sill. With our five-man team switching leads to break trail, we were able to get three more amazing ski descents.

All in all, in our first seven days we were able to ski seven peaks and climb 36,600 vertical feet—with a big thanks to our strong team. With time running out we have one peak left in our sites, which looks to be one of the most exciting ascents and descents of the trip!

Powder skiing on White Mountain

John Morrison on Thunderbolt Peak

Chris Davenport gets his first look at summit Pyramid of White Mountain

Thunder Jim enjoys the desert pow on White Mountain

The crew heading into the Palisades glacier with the V & U Notch in our sights

Chris skiing the V Notch

Chris skiing down from Mount Russell with Mount Whitney in the background

Chris skiing down Mount Tyndall with the Owns Valley down below

Climbing Mt. Russell