Big Mountain and Glacier National Park -
Expanding My Winter Consciousness
Expanding My Winter Consciousness
by Robert Glenn Ketchum
In the early '70’s, I was doing a lot of winter adventuring with my friends in the Decker Flats Climbing and Frisbee Club, and a client invited me to take pictures at Big Mountain, a ski resort in Montana. Glacier National Park was not far away, so I thought that might be an interesting place to explore in the winter, as well. These two locations added important work to my exhibits and portfolios, and definitely expanded/sobered my winter consciousness.
In the early '70’s, I was doing a lot of winter adventuring with my friends in the Decker Flats Climbing and Frisbee Club, and a client invited me to take pictures at Big Mountain, a ski resort in Montana. Glacier National Park was not far away, so I thought that might be an interesting place to explore in the winter, as well. These two locations added important work to my exhibits and portfolios, and definitely expanded/sobered my winter consciousness.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Big Mountain, #50: Bob Tchirkow and I finally arrive at Avalanche Lake which is frozen over, and we are certainly in a BASIN. Except for the direction from which we have come, the sheer walls rise straight up all around us, and disappear into the snowfall that is not only heavy, but the flakes have become gigantic as well. The open expanse of the lake runs right up to the walls, and there is no gorge now between us and an avalanche. Still boggled by the one we witnessed as we came in, neither he nor I want to get any nearer to the walls than where we already are. We choose a huge tree on our side that has a wind hollow beneath it, and we crawl in there, out of the weather, to drink, snack, and occasionally poke my camera out and take a shot. The above image, “Avalanche Lake Basin (Headwalls in a Blizzard)” becomes another from this trip to be included in my future portfolio, “Winters: 1970-1980,” and a larger print of this will also be included in “Silver See,” a portfolio, published by the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies. Once again, unfortunately, Bob and I misjudge the short winter day. Our journey back down the trail is more dangerous than we expect. Going downslope with so many trees is pretty ragged, there is a lot of falling,..and then it starts to get dark. When we fall in the heavy, wet snow, it clings, making our clothes wet as well,..and we are tiring. Then, rather abruptly in the growing darkness, the roar of the creek is close once again, and the bridge appears before us. We are back! Crossing the bridge to head for camp, we encounter a BIG, shaggy, snow-covered mountain goat, that just stands and stares at us, then disappears into the trees. I am sure we surprised him. Camp is a mess, as the heavy snow has squashed the tent and covered equipment. One of our two stoves will no longer light, and almost everything is wet. We survive the night, ski out in the early morning hours, and have a GREAT breakfast in a cafe. One feature story in POWDER magazine, and three new images for my portfolio are part of my expanding winter consciousness, and I hope you have enjoyed these “visits” to Montana that helped to shape my career.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, July 5, 2018
Big Mountain, #49: As Robert Tchirkow and I wend our way up a summer hiking trail into a place called Avalanche Lake Basin, the wind picks up and a heavy snow begins to fall. At one point while we catch our breath, we ponder the name of the place we are headed, and consider if we are “exposed,” especially because of the current conditions. The slope our trail traverses is heavily forested, not terribly steep, and the snow pack is quite stabile. Across the canyon, however, the walls are becoming even more vertical as we rise into the lake basin, and obvious avalanche chutes plunge down into the creek gorge. I suggest that were there an avalanche from that side, it would fill the gorge but NOT reach up this wall to where we are. Then pulling my camera out of its cover to make a picture, Bob and I can hear a distinct rumble that seems to be growing louder. As the sound is bounced around the steep walls, and carried on the wind, it is hard to tell exactly from where the noise is coming, but it IS DEFINITELY AN AVALANCHE. Then, like a fast lava flow, it cascades out of a chute, opposite us, and just down-canyon from our position. This image, “Chute Detail,” is taken after the avalanche has passed, and in the center of the chute you can see trees have been knocked down, and the “smoke” of powder snow is rising like a hazy fog. The gorge DID absorb the event, our trail does seem to be reasonably safe, AND this image became another in my portfolio, “Winters: 1970-1980.”
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, June 28, 2018
Big Mountain, #48: Not far from our campsite near Avalanche Creek in Glacier National Park, there is a marked and maintained hiking trail that rises from the valley floor in a relatively short distance, to a place called Avalanche Lake Basin. For some reason, despite the massive, wet snowfall that has been going on-and-off for days now, my colleague, Robert Tchirkow and I conclude that THIS will be a suitable “short” ski for our day, and so we begin. There is a bridge that crosses Avalanche Creek, which is a deep gorge channeling a raging stream. Then the trail begins to climb, switchbacking up one canyon side, while looking directly across at the other. Our side is steep, but forested, and has a manageable slope. Trees are also marked with blazes, so the trail can be followed in deep snow. Across the canyon, the walls are sheer, and rise to the park interior, several thousand feet above us. The relatively warm conditions we have been experiencing have caused numerous melting-freezing cycles which have decorated the opposing cliffs and ledges with huge glowing, blue icicles.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, June 21, 2018
Big Mountain, #47: Robert Tchirkow and I finally arrive back in camp as darkness falls. Our external layers ARE wet and we do NOT want moisture in the tent on the sleeping bags, so I hang my nylon parka on a branch in a protected place where it will dry with the circulating air. Bob, unfortunately, has a wet, and a now-especially-heavy wool, Pendelton logging shirt, and wet wool mittens, so there is little we can do but wring them out and hang them to dry as well. We string his shirt between ski poles, and put his mittens over the end of the poles. Now it is time to crawl inside, eat, warm up a bit, and sleep. During the night it snows off-and-on, so I awake occasionally to knock the snow off the tent walls, but nothing notable happens, and we generally rest well. About dawn, another storm begins, and it begins to snow much harder. We rise, eat, and decide we will have a “relaxing” day, and just ski a nearby trail into a high basin (WHAT?), but first we need to organize our daypacks, and get dressed. For Bob, this latter part is more difficult because his mittens and heavy Pendelton jacket are FROZEN STIFF! Given no other choice, the only way to recover these items is to wear them until they warm, and melt-out. Trying things on in this picture, Bob does not look too excited, or very comfortable, starting the day like this. In a short amount of time, however, our adventure of the day will “melt” him “out” thoroughly, and then some.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, June 14, 2018
Big Mountain, #46: After indulging the stunning afternoon lightshow on the peaks by lounging on our ski slantboards and having snacks, Robert Tchirkow and I realize we may have lingered too long. The winter day is short and the sun sets quickly. So it does, and we are just barely back in our skis and headed to camp. Fortunately for us the brutal wind has stopped, and it is not snowing at the moment. It is also good that the storm is “warm," so we are not cold, because we are definitely going to be skiing in the twilight, and maybe, the dark. With all of the excitement of the day, we have forgotten the length of the ski from our camp into the canyon. Now that we are heading back, it seems a much greater distance than when we headed in - funny how that happens! When we can finally see our tent in the distance, I feel secure enough to stop once again and look around. The light is gone, and so my color film is useless, but I put in a roll of B&W, and make this image, “McPartland Peak,” which goes on to become one of the 24-images in my portfolio, "WINTERS: 1970-1980.”
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, June 7, 2018
Big Mountain, #45: There is a neat trick cross-country skiers do when resting to avoid sitting in snow: sink your ski poles several feet apart, pull the handles together, put the tips of both your skis in the wrist loops of both the poles, then spread the skis slightly and stick the tails in the snow -voila! - a slant board on which to sit that will prevent serious cold-butt-syndrome. With this lightshow going on, and our perspective of it, there is no need to hurry “home,” so we set up our skis and sit for some snacks. It has stopped snowing, so we are pretty comfortable. Considering we have been out ALL day, we are relatively warm and having a good time. It is certainly an amazing afternoon. Such distractions can cause problems, however. It IS winter! It is the end of light, and the end of a short day. The sun goes down early,..and quickly! How far are we from camp?
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, May 31, 2018
Big Mountain, #44: Despite the intermittent bluster of weather, Bob Tchirkow and I move further along our route of retreat back to our camp, and the road upon which we have been skiing broadens a bit as it comes out of the river valley surrounded by summits. It is getting late in the day, and the sky is darkening, but the cloud lightshow continues. No longer directly beneath the peaks, we now have a very different view looking back at them. We are also close to “home,” and not in a hurry, so we stop to watch this display. The road we have traveled today, runs out-of-frame to the left, and skiing in and back out, we navigated the base of this (above) twice, and MUCH more closely. Standing beneath it was impressive, but as we both now see this from a more encompassing perspective, we suddenly realize,..in the valley, we were not EVEN CLOSE to a view of the actual summit which is MUCH higher, rising out-of-frame to the right. The whole concept of skiing up the Going-to-the-Sun road seems pretty funny now!
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, May 24, 2018
Big Mountain, #43: As Bob and I ski on, retreating back along the road through Glacier National Park, the weather grows increasingly worse. There are times the wind gusts are right in our face, and so strong, we stop trying to ski against the force, as it is a struggle to just hold our ground. When it does snow, it is in heavy, wet bursts, and the winds whip the sloppy flakes into small tornadoes that meander down the road, created by air currents funneled between the surrounding trees and towering cliffs. We ARE skiing at the foot of The Continental Divide, and this storm coming in from the west is slamming into these abrupt faces and creating some very dramatic air turbulence. As the clouds broil around the summits, there are times when everything around is obscured by clouds, then suddenly, something like this appears, literally, out of nowhere.
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Thursday, May 17, 2018
Big Mountain, #42: Robert Tchirkow and I have been skiing along the road into Glacier National Park for several hours, and it is now past midday. For awhile it seemed like the weather was breaking off, but by the time we reach the real heart of the park where summits surround the road, the wind has picked up with ferocious gusts, that, literally, howl around the peaks. We have arrived at a point on the road where we should be able to see the switchback turn that begins the ascent to Logan Pass. As the road rises, it is cut into some extremely vertical walls, which it traverses. In some places there are even tunnels. However, as we stand within a few hundred feet of that turn, we can see that the road simply disappears on the side of the snow laden mountain. There is so much snow, and there have been so many avalanches, the road across The Garden Wall simply does not exist at the moment. It is now obvious to us both that we are NOT going up to the pass, so we chill and snack for awhile before we begin our ski back. When the snow falls, it is VERY wet, and heavy, and now it is being wind-driven, building ridiculous, dangerous cornices, of which, this one appeared briefly out of the clouds, reminding us that we are a long way from home and wandering around in a VERY predatory world.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, May 10, 2018
Big Mountain, #41: Bob Tchirkow and I are in agreement that neither of us have ever seen anything like this. We are actually in a big canyon with a river and a 2-lane road that forms the heart of the American half of Glacier National Park. We are skiing up the road as it skirts the foot of the Continental Divide. In the summer, when I scouted for this trip, the valley seemed more expansive and definitely wider. Now we are here in some extreme winter conditions created by a wet, heavy snowfall, and suddenly this valley feels narrow, as these walls loom above us, loaded with snow, and streaked with avalanche chutes. Nonetheless, we still have a lot of the day left, and we are “pretty” sure it is safe enough for us to just ski “one more turn in the road to see what there is to see.” Apparently, that has become our mantra. Besides, Going-To-The-Sun highway, which we are on, turns and climbs steeply somewhere up ahead, TRAVERSING THESE VERY FACES, and my original thought for this trip was to attempt to reach Logan Pass by skiing up that portion of the highway.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2018, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, May 3, 2018
Big Mountain, #40: The further up the road we ski, and the deeper into the heart of the Glacier National Park we get, the more the peaks tower over us, encroaching upon road as the canyon narrows. Bob Tchirkow and I have been hearing avalanches all morning long, so we are VERY conscious of the snow-laden summits and chutes above us. Nonetheless, the weather of the day, and the storm the night before has created dramatic conditions, and we have placed ourselves right in the middle of it all, so we cannot resist the urge to push on,”Let’s just go to the next turn in the road and see what that looks like.” Well, here is what THAT looks like, and it is pretty much straight up from where we stand. We both sense being exposed, and yet we also feel it would have to be an epic avalanche to reach us, so we (quietly) ski past... headed for just one more little turn.
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Thursday, April 26, 2018
Big Mountain, #39: As Bob Tchirkow and I ski and squeak our way along the road that follows the river valley at the foot of the Continental Divide into Glacier National Park, the drama of the day continues to build. The storm above rages on, but it is currently more wind than falling snow. This day and the night before, however, have been relatively warm, hovering between rain and snow, so the snow that has fallen is wet and heavy. At the higher elevations, the wet snow is like plaster, and it has covered the rock faces and enshrouded the trees, much like those in The Fantasy Forest on Big Mountain, which are featured previously in this blog. The high winds have also created some impressive cornice build-up, and every so often a cornice lip breaks off, falling onto the snowfield below and setting it off in an avalanche. This lengthy, sizable chute is especially impressive, as it is the first we have encountered that reaches all the way to the valley floor. The debris field still remains a long way from the road on which we are skiing, but just seeing this summit and its white fingers reaching down towards us is intimidating.
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Thursday, April 19, 2018
Big Mountain, #38: After a brief respite and some snack-time, Bob and I watch the show unfolding ahead of us in the canyon. We agree that the road feels “safe,” so we strap back into our skis and resume our daytrip, pressing ahead,..after all, my original intention is to follow the road up the Going-To-The-Sun highway, and reach Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. That is still a good distance ahead. The wind-driven snow debris occasionally pelts us, but being in trees also protects us from more direct exposure, so we are not cold. We are just AMAZED! Sections of our ski afford few vistas because of trees, but then we come to an opening and this happens. As we progress, the summits begin to tower above us, and the verticality of this park begins to dawn on us. These mountains have taller, steeper faces than any other ranges into which I have adventured, and they seem increasingly threatening as the bottom of their obvious avalanche chutes, grow closer and closer to the road. Adding to the excitement of our day, the high wind is moving a lot of snow around at upper elevations and building up cornices. Eventually overweighted, these cornices break off, dropping onto slopes and into chutes, setting off thunderous avalanches that we can hear the rumbles of, echoing around in the narrow valley. We do not always see them, but we certainly know when they happen.
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Thursday, April 12, 2018
Big Mountain, #37: It snows on and off all night, and because it is very wet and heavy, I regularly awake to slap the tent walls to offload what has collected. By morning we have 1-1/2ft. of new depth, and it is so wet it even glistens on the surface. The snowfall has stopped for the time being, and every once in awhile, a spot of sunlight breaks through and the sky briefly shows. The wind is picking up, as the storm seems to be blowing through, so we agree to eat breakfast, pack a lunch, and ski up the road, further into the park to see what is actually accessible. The snow is firm, and “slippery when wet,” so it makes for great skiing conditions, and without our heavy backpacks we really cruise along. After we leave the lake, the road takes us into the trees and past the Avalanche Lake trailhead. It is not snowing now, but there are such strong gusts of wind, it blows the snow out of the trees and down onto us. It also blows the clouds to shreds against the peaks,..the weather is, literally, streaming over us. About 3-miles into our outing, we reach Red Rock Point, a place where the road presents a “first view” of the big, inner-park, glacially carved walls and summits. This looks interesting!
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Thursday, April 5, 2018
Big Mountain, #36: The hard, wet snow keeps pummeling my friend, Robert Tchirkow, and me, as we ski into Glacier National Park along the closed shoreline road that parallels McDonald Lake. I intend to camp near McDonald Falls as I believe the creek will have open, flowing water, and it marks the place where the road turns away from the lake and climbs into the park. We are sloppy-wet by the time we reach our expected location, but it is what I hoped, and we are able to find some shelter amongst trees to set up our tent. My tent rig has a storm vestibule, so we can cook “inside,” under cover of the rainfly extension, and we fire up the stoves for some food. By meal’s end, warmth is returning to our bodies, so Bob and I are beginning to collect ourselves and regroup after the earlier events of the day. The storm seems to have abated momentarily, and because snow depth is minimal near the edge of the creek, I suggest we walk down to the lakeshore after our meal “to see what we can see.” This is what we see. Strange-beautiful, but it is going to be a long, snowy, wet night.
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Thursday, March 29, 2018
Big Mountain, #35: I am not excited about the long winter drive to Montana, but I REALLY want to ski into Glacier National Park. As my DFC&FC friends from Idaho can not join me, I turn to my friends in Los Angeles, that I know can ski, to see if any would like to join my proposed adventure. One of my closest college buddies (a CAW Brother - tell you about that another time), Robert Tchirkow, had the time, and the lack of fear, but not a lot of the gear. I have a great tent, and several stoves. We both have backpacks and sleeping bags as well, so we rent skiis for Bob, buy him knee-high snow gaiters and good gloves, then invent the rest of his wardrobe from available clothing. Although he stays relatively warm and we have a lot of fun, I do NOT recommend winter adventuring during wet snowstorms, wearing jeans and a wool lumberjack Pendleton. Nonetheless, we are off by plane rather than the long drive, on the ground in Montana, and into the park. As we are packing gear and waxing our skis, it starts to snow,..REALLY wet, and hard. About 1/2 way to the spot I expect to camp, Bob is pondering that were are going to sleep out in this tonight. He has never done anything like that before.
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Thursday, March 22, 2018
Big Mountain, #34: I have seen, and am encouraged, by the work I have done at Big Mountain and Glacier National Park during the previous fall. Now, after several great days at the ski resort, I know my winter images on Big Mountain are going to be worth a feature in POWDER magazine, and I am hoping to generate other pics, and another POWDER story by going into Glacier, as well. I have scouted the park, and the road is plowed from the entrance into McDonald Lake (above). At the lake, plows have made a parking area available, because a great number of people do cross-country ski, and snowshoe day-trips during winter months. From the lakeshore parking, you ski some distance before you leave the lake, then the road turns into the canyon that will ultimately become the Going-To-The-Sun highway, which I believe might be traversed and climbed up to Logan Pass. There is no way I feel comfortable doing such a trip solo, so I ask my DFC&FC friends if any of them would like to join me, but work and terrible winter road travel discourages their participation.
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Thursday, March 15, 2018
Big Mountain, #33: The trees my ski run is approaching are short and swarthy. There are not many suggestive forms here, this group is just buried. The stand is too dense to navigate through, so I drop slightly downslope of them and begin to work a left traverse below them. As the shifting light from the vapor cloud blowing over catches my attention and I look up, this happens - the circular rainbow phenomenon around the sun is called a “sun dog,” and is a sign of changing weather. At this moment in my day, it is also pretty cosmic just to behold. Then I look down, and with the shift in light, I can now read the snow differently and, literally, where I am standing, I see two feint parallel depression in the powder moving laterally across the slope, NOT downhill. THIS is likely our tracks from the previous guided trip, and I have found the traverse I need to get back to the resort. The cosmic halo has been my beacon.
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Thursday, March 8, 2018
Big Mountain, #32: My descending “run” is sweet, and I am pretty sure that I have not passed any tracks in the snow that might lead back to the resort. When I stop at the next “spectacle” tree group, my gaze back upslope takes in all of the recent “characters” I have visited with since my lunch stop. It IS a Fantasy Forest! From my new POV, I can also see another open, downhill line to a broad cluster of shorter trees, so feeling like it-has-been-such-a-great-day-so-far-why-not, I launch into one more sequence of linked turns through pristine powder, while the surrounding amphitheater of fantastic forms looks on. As I approach the trees, the terrain flattens a bit, and I swing to the left towards them as my skis slow. The light is flattening out a bit as a vaporous cloud blows over.
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Thursday, March 1, 2018
Big Mountain, #31: I glide slowly along, straining to see evidence of other ski tracks that might drift left, as those would be headed back toward the resort base. Unfortunately, the frozen fog vapors and big ice crystals that helped to make these trees look as they do, also fill in and cover over previous ski tracks in a relatively short passage of time, so such evidence might not exist. Besides, staring too long at anything at this point, sets off SO many other things, would I even know a ski track if I saw it,..or thought I saw it? At this point I am talking to myself about this conundrum, and I realize I have not been looking up,..so I do. And, here is this! Not exactly sure what THIS might be, but it is quite amazing, AND the crusted branches, are all clearly pointing to a beautiful open downslope, that I am sure they are suggesting I enjoy. Will such an indulgent run at this point carry me below the return trail to the resort ? These “gestures” are so graceful and inviting, I drop in.
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Thursday, February 22, 2018
Big Mountain, #30: I depart the “dancers” and have a nice glide downslope, as the whole ridge begins a descent. From above this cluster, I saw dangerous tree loads of snow, encircled by deep wind hollows. Now that I am here, however, I realize they are prancing elephants from Disney’s, “Fantasia.” Uh, oh! Well, it IS The Fantasy Forest! Of course, somewhere along my ski line, I am supposed to recognize the correct place at which to turn left in order to get back to the resort, and not to get lost on the mountain. Had I skied down into the bowl, that spot might have been more obvious, as I would have retraced our path from the previous guided ski tour. Since I have chosen a VERY different route today, I know my descending ski line is bringing me toward that crux point, but if I am seeing sky-dancers and elephant ballerinas, will I notice a subtle, sharp left in these woods?
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Thursday, February 15, 2018
Big Mountain, #29: With the weather constantly changing, but relatively good, there is such a great skyshow as a backdrop to these tree forms, I try not to give up my view. Rather than drop down into the fog shrouded bowl below me, I opt to continue traversing a line below the ridge, and above the fog, The tree density in my route is minimal, giving me some safe lines to ski and offering various sculptural clusters that are now starting to assume “character” because my physical activity has completed digestion of my lunch and snacks. I am warm, really comfortable in my skis, my cameras are all still working, and these guys appear on the ridge above me, dancing! Actually, I think one s trying to cut in one the other. Perhaps I should just keep moving.
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Thursday, February 8, 2018
Big Mountain, #28: The further downslope I move into The Fantasy Forest, the larger the trees get. Rather than the close maze of frosted forms my guides and I picked our way through previously, today I have been lucky enough (so far) to find a lot of open terrain with some very big, isolated trees whose frosted embellishments are quite striking. I am truly tripping in this most unusual place. Many people see faces and animals in passing cloud forms. I am not sure what I think these things all are, but I do see them as suggestive forms. This one did not so much remind me of anything in particular, it is just HUGE. The snow and ice weight of that frost-crown must just be amazing. Something you definitely do NOT want to have fall on you. Skiing out here on a warming spring day is probably a real bad idea.
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Thursday, February 1, 2018
Big Mountain, #27: In the background of this image, you can see my tracks of descent. I have left the ridge and am now working my way cautiously down into the bowl that hosts the heart of The Fantasy Forest. In the last post, you can see the tops of trees at the ridge summit, the rest of which are completely buried in 20-30ft. of snow and frost. Now that I am off the ridge, the trees are encased but not buried, and once again the forest begins to tower above my head. When I look upslope at the ones above me, framed against the sky, I can see how fast the weather really is moving as various forms of clouds flash by, changing both lighting and mood every few minutes.
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Thursday, January 25, 2018
Big Mountain, #26: While I am munching away, the weather continues to roll over me, providing some VERY dramatic lighting across the ridge, occasionally opening up enough to see the more distant landscape. Snacks over, I get back in my skis and slowly meander further along the spine of the ridge. This nearly perfect line of frosted-over tree tops stands like a wall of sentinels, and becomes especially striking with god-lighting just as arrive. I will discover as I begin my slow descent into The Fantasy Forest that seeing these encased tree forms as figures of one kind or another, is going to become the mood of the day as the morning wears on and things only get more “interesting."
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Thursday, January 18, 2018
Big Mountain, #25: Navigation along the ridge transitions from dense areas of trees to more open sweeps every so often. There is also a good deal of up-and-down to be had, and today I am skiing off on more short “scouts,” because no one is waiting for me to move on. I am also learning to “pre-visualize” certain shots, so that I do not ruin them with my own tracks trying to get into position. It is easier said then done because there is SO much going on, I am often unsure what will follow next. I have come to a place on the ridge that I recognize as the beginning of The Fantasy Forest bowl to my right, and sure enough, at the moment, as on the day I was first guided here, the valley that forms the bowl is shrouded in a fog cloud, while I am standing in sunshine. It is so amazing up where I am, however, I am reticent to give leave it, so I ski around for a bit, find a sunny spot with a great view, and sit down for some mid-morning snacks.
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Thursday, January 11, 2018
Big Mountain, #24: Winding around clusters of trees that have grown so large parts of them are merging with each other, I am trying to stay on the rather windless ridge because it is clear enough to offer some expansive views. When I arrive here, it rather defines my day: decent weather; great light; strange-beautiful subject matter; and then there is that part which may not be quite as clear - I am not sure it is a good idea to be standing under this massive “bridging” of crystal-frosted branches instead of skiing quickly through; and, directly in front of me, just visible here, is one of those deep hollows often found around the base of the tree sculptures (see post #20), and this one appears bottomless. One does not want to edge too closely just for a POV - lol!
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Thursday, January 4, 2018
Big Mountain, #23: When I leave the designated “resort” area on Big Mountain, the ridge I follow rises to one of the highest points around, and then runs for some distance across one spine of this mountain massif. Following roughly the route along which I was previously guided, very quickly my path reaches the first dense forest of trees. There is minimal wind where I am, but weather is swimming through the skies above above me, and the constantly changing lighting is fantastic. It is eerie being out here alone with these strange “forms” surrounding me, and deep holes (see post #20) hiding everywhere, but I also realize I am being given a unique moment and there is SO much more to see. The questions is, what will be the subject..?
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Thursday, December 28, 2017
Big Mountain, #22: It snows quite a bit the next day, so I just work from the van, but the weather report suggests it may break off. If that proves to be true, I plan to go back to The Fantasy Forest in the morning,..alone. The following day does dawn more clear than not, and so I head up. It is windy on the Big Mountain chairlift, but not brutally so, and as I near the top and have my first expansive views, I can see huge swathes of sunlight sweeping across the landscape, and the cloud ceiling has lifted enough that I can see the distant ranges. In blinding sunlight at the top of the lift, I am excited to see the ridge I am going to follow is glowing in the morning sun, and not even that windy. Nonetheless, as I pass skiers prepping for their downhill runs, and step under the out-of-bounds barrier rope without ski patrol guides, I have a momentary reality check about what I am doing. Nonetheless, by the time I reach the first weird group of trees, it is proving to be such a beautiful morning, my apprehensions dissolve and I go to work.
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Thursday, December 21, 2017
Big Mountain, #21: After some tricky navigating around big tree “clumps” and even larger wind pits, the three of us finally emerge on open downhill terrain, so I set up for the shots anticipated by POWDER magazine. I have heard of the telemark turn, but I have never seen it practiced, and watching my two guides, is amazing. They look like they are floating downhill in giant walking strides. This picture depicts the essence of the technique: he is skiing on true cross-country skis - very long and skinny with a pronounced curled tip, and he is wearing, ankle-high soft “boots." The toe of his boot is in a 3-pin binding, and his heel is unattached to the ski. The turn and stride is initiated by him dropping his knee in the direction he wishes to turn. This action raises his heel and thrusts one ski in front of the other. The lead ski carves into the turn, the trailing ski slides back against his boot, where the large, curled ski tip comes to rest. At that moment, both skis act like one very long one, the trailing ski “follows” the lead ski into a perfect arc. At the moment the turn is completed, he shits and drops to his other knee, carving a new arc in the opposite direction. At one point they also ski in tandem, which involves getting rid of the “inside” poles, locking arms, and skiing telemark side-by-side in perfect synch. They are amazing to watch, and my shoot goes well, but as we approach a relatively flat section of the bowl, the tell me to note it because it is at this point we must bear to the left and work our way back to the resort area. If we go farther down the mountain and drop below this juncture, we will be seriously lost on the backside of the mountain. Always good to know stuff like that!
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Thursday, December 14, 2017
Big Mountain, #20: My guides are “scouting” through the passages in the trees for an opening downhill where they might cut loose and ski, but the reason they proceed cautiously (last post) is that, not only will striking trees cause them to dump dangerous snowloads, the wind has created REALLY deep bowls around some tree bases, which I am warned I should avoid at all times. Falling into one of these and then having the tree dump would disappear you until the middle of next summer, something I need to be particularly aware of if I am to come back out here alone. I cannot actually see the bottom of this one! And, in flat light, skiing downhill, you might never see it coming.
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Thursday, December 7, 2017
Big Mountain, #19: Having struggled out of the “powder pit” created by a fall, my guides are back over their skis and seeking a line through the trees that will take us to a more open part of the slope, where I can get some shots of them in action. Note that everyone is carrying a sizable pack filled with avalanche and survival gear. I am skiing on downhill skis with Ramer bindings that allow me to be both heal-free, or locked down. These guys are skiing true Nordic wood skis with pin bindings, low boots, and no lock-down heals. We ALL are wearing knee-high wool socks, wool knickers, and wool sweaters with down parkas, it IS the tech of the time. Powder loved clinging to that wool though - LOL!
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Thursday, November 30, 2017
Big Mountain, #18: I am very awkward skiing with my cameras out, and so I am far more cautious than my two ski patrol guides. Once our descent passes under the vapor cloud shrouding the bowl, we are surrounded by VERY flat light. I am grateful it is still bright, and I have enough light to shoot, but features are often questionable, and seeing anywhere at distance is unlikely. I am trying to get below my guides, so they can ski “into” my camera position, so I am using big lines of downhill traverse to get there safely. Above me, however, somewhere in the trees and fog, the two guides are tearing it up. I can hear them, but as yet, I can’t see them. Suddenly there is a thud, and a yelp, followed by a lot of laughter, all quite close by, so I ski in that direction. I find one guide, helping the other to climb out of some VERY DEEP powder and get back over his skis. A branch caught his pack as he skied by, throwing him off balance, and causing him to fall, then dumping branches filled with snow on top of him. This did NOT strike me as fun, and certainly not something I would want to happen if I were here alone.
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Thursday, November 23, 2017
Big Mountain, #17: My ski patrol guides and I arrive at the point on the ridge from which we plan to descend into a back bowl of Big Mountain, known locally as The Fantasy Forest. Weather has been rolling up and over us, rising from the Flathead Valley below, and as it is VERY moisture laden, it regularly showers us with snowflakes and ice crystals. Those same humid clouds crest the ridge we are on and tumble out, over the basin below into which we are going to ski. My guides tell me to stay close as they expect things to change A LOT when we descend into the cloud cover over the bowl - the snow gets REALLY deep, and the light is VERY flat. I can tell they were hoping for some sunlight, such as we saw skiing along the ridge, and so was I, but apparently, most of the time The Fantasy Forest is engulfed in fog and clouds, and my guides are actually glad because they want me to understand how easy it is to get lost, if I plan to come back alone. When we drop off the ridge, the two of them carve beautiful telemark turns between the trees. Before I follow, I take one last glance at the top of the ridge bathed in sunlight. It will be awhile before I see it again.
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Thursday, November 16, 2017
Big Mountain, #16: Just before we arrive at our point of descent into the back bowl that is the heart of The Fantasy Forest, the ridge we are traversing puts on a little light show thanks to a small clearing of the ever-foggier, and cloudier sky. This part of the ridge is also VERY windswept and the snow is crusty. When I comment on it, my guides explain that where we stand is the “generator” for the forest into which we are about to ski. Winds coming across the huge expanse of the Flathead Valley and Flathead Lake pick up moisture from open water. They also draw more moisture from Whitefish Lake, directly at the foot of Big Mountain, then they begin to rise, upslope on the mountain. That turbulent moist air rising rapidly off of the lakes, condenses and becomes a damp, windy fog that rolls over the ridge and down into the freezing conditions of the basin below, crystallizing on anything it touches, especially the trees. It also leaves HUGE prismatic ice-flakes that accumulate like powder, and then sparkle rainbow colors when the sun is out and you ski through them.
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Thursday, November 9, 2017
Big Mountain, #15: The weather does appear to be getting worse, however, and I do not want to loose my chance to photograph my ski patrol guides telemarking deep powder through The Fantasy Forest of Big Mountain, so I agree to keep moving. They suggest, once they have shown me where to go and how to get back to the resort base, I can return here without them, and take all the time I want. What is clear as we ski on, is that the ridge is tricky navigation and the increasing size and closeness of the snow-encased trees needs to be respected. Our path is circuitous because of them, and my companions warn me NOT to “disturb” the trees by striking them with my poles, or worse, falling into one, while skiing. Were one of these trees to “shed” its snow weight because it is disturbed, a person underneath could be crushed and buried. I find that advice especially unsettling as the forest around us is increasingly comprised of bigger trees with massively greater amounts of ice/snow encrusting them. In many places, trees merge in sculptural groups, but the edgiest to me are those trees whose tops have merged, well above us, and we are skiing between the two.
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Thursday, November 2, 2017
Big Mountain, #14: The two ski patrol members that acting as my guides, tell me that we are going to ski out along a ridge affording some great views, and then we will drop off the backside of the ski area and go down into a bowl that is closed and designated “out-of-bounds.” This is the heart of what locals call The Fantasy Forest. First things, first, however. I am asked to add an avalanche beacon, a trailing avalanche cord, and a small shovel to my backpack before we start. Also, because the weather changes rapidly along the ridge, my guides suggest if I have amber lenses for my goggles, I should put them in. The day began relatively clear, but now, from the top of the Big Mountain ski area, various forms of weather from above, and vaporous clouds from below sweep, over us constantly. By the time we stride past the lift, and duck under the control rope to begin our journey along the ridge, there are clouds and/or fogs that blow through, but then dissipate a bit, opening to blue sky holes that allow dazzling spotlights of sun. It is ALL very distracting for me, and I am moving more slowly than my ski patrol guides would like. After all, they want to ski and have their pictures taken, and I am spending too much time photographing the landscape.
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Thursday, October 26, 2017
Big Mountain, #13: When I get off the chairlift at the top of Big Mountain, the decently sunny weather affords me a spectacular view. I can see out across the Flathead Valley, I can see the Bitterroot Mountains, and in the distance is Glacier National Park. Immediately surrounding me, things are very different. The buildings and facilities are buried by deep snow, and the trees are completely encased by vapor crystals and wet snowfall. This is going to be an interesting ski,..and now to find my guides. With my skis on, I stride toward the small cluster of summit huts, and as I approach the ski patrol shack, two guys step out of the door and ask if I am Robert Ketchum. They are as excited as I am about going into The Fantasy Forest today, because we have had a lot of snow, now we have good weather, AND guiding me is like having the day off. They get to ski for fun while I take pictures. Best of all, of the stories I have done for POWDER magazine, there are many “skiing” shots of us in the backcountry, but NONE of my colleagues really telemark skies downhill well, so those pictures are absent. Turns out, these two guys can REALLY ski telemark well, so I finally have actual downhill skiing in some of my shots, even if it does look very different from traditional downhill style. In fact, these guys do a tandem telemark run for me. Know what that is?
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Thursday, October 19, 2017
Big Mountain, #12: Besides the ie crystals from the humid lake environment that, literally, engulf the trees. When it does snow, the “banana belt” effect usually makes it a heavy, wet snow, rather than a dry powder. That wet snow also accumulates on the crystallized trees, adding to their volume, and smothering all exposed surfaces of branch and trunk. Until you see this, it is hard to imagine, so I arrange to have a guided ski tour by Big Mountain ski patrol to introduce me to The Fantasy Forest and these strange snow conditions. I also inform Big Mountain that I am skiing with heel-free telemark bindings, and and they respond that in “the forest” they would actually prefer that, if I hope to get around. Interestingly, my guides are both experienced telemark skiers who will also be heel-free skiing. I am to meet them at the summit, early in the morning, and as I start the day it is clear and cold with a lot of sun. The road to the resort is VERY icy because of all the moisture in the air, and then on the lift, on my way to the summit, I begin to see what the crystallized vapor and wet snowfalls do to the trees. I am not even close to the top yet, and every 100-yards or so upslope, it just gets stranger and stranger. You can see there are a lot of happy skiers out, however.
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Thursday, October 12, 2017
Big Mountain, #11: Winter has come to Big Mountain, the Flathead Valley, and Glacier National Park, and I am about to learn that the snow here is VERY different from the snow I am more familiar with in Idaho. Big Mountain sits at the edge of Whitefish Lake, one of numerous large lakes in the Flathead Valley, including Flathead Lake, the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi. Previously, I have also explained that the area is considered a “banana belt” with warmer winter temperatures than the surrounding areas, created, in part, by these large bodies of water that may not entirely freeze over. The presence of the lakes puts a lot of moisture into the air, and is the reason I experienced dense morning fogs on my first visit to the area during fall. Now the cold of winter has come, that vapor rises from the lakes and freezes into crystals. Some float in the air, some are created on contact with a frigid surfaces. When the fog and clouds sit on the summit of Big Mountain, those crystals form on branches of the trees. It is NOT snowing, but the crystals form around every branch and twig, covering all sides and surfaces. One layer gathers more crystals, forming layers on top of layers, eventually engulfing the entire tree.
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Thursday, October 5, 2017
Big Mountain, #10: Indulge me a moment now, as I would like to describe a bit about winter “conditions,” so that you can fully appreciate what it is that I am about to learn through the experience of my first winter visit. In the last post I said that the Flathead Valley and surrounding ranges are considered to have created a “banana belt” of warmer winter air around them, at least warmer than would be found elsewhere in the state. Very likely that warmth is abetted by Whitefish Lake at the foot of Big Mountain, and the massive scale of nearby Flathead Lake, as they put a lot of moisture into the air. That moisture created the fogs that I saw in the early mornings of the fall on my previous visit. On the ground, the result is this: at lake level, as you see here, there is little snow, but plenty of open water. As you rise up the flanks of Big Mountain, expectedly snow depth increases, but look carefully at the upper-third of this image - the distinct dark line of the forest, is smothered by an entirely white crown, where not even the trees are defined. What I will soon learn is, that although the snow up there IS really deep, the trees have NOT been buried. They have been encased!
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Thursday, September 28, 2017
Big Mountain, #9: My side journey from the work I was doing at Big Mountain into Glacier National Park clarified for me that I wanted to ski back into the park during the winter when the roads were closed, so I returned to Big Mountain to continue my shoot. I see early snow in Glacier, and on the very summit of Big Mountain, but it is still fall. Several months later when I return again, it is a very different story. Although the Flathead Valley is said to be in a “banana belt,” suggesting even this far north, it is blessed with a “warmer” winter, nonetheless, winter surely comes. When I arrive, most of the lakes and streams are frozen over, or decorated with ice, which makes for great pictures but terrible roads upon which to drive. The twisting, ascending road up Big Mountain is very tricky to negotiate, and it seems to snow at the summit nearly every night. There is a lot of local skiing traffic, and besides wandering in the woods to take pictures for my client, I arrange to ski Big Mountain as part of a story I propose to POWDER magazine about an area of the Big Mountain backcountry, called The Fantasy Forest.
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Big Mountain, #8: My drive finally reaches the end of the narrowing glacial valley I am in. The road does a dramatic hairpin turn, and then starts to rise across the face of some considerable summits. This is the “going-to-the-sun” part of the Going-to-the-Sun Road I am on, and it is quite impressive. This relatively narrow highway has been cut into the side of these mountains, and in some places actually passes through tunnels. It rises steeply above me on one side, and plunges off sheerly on the other side, back into the canyon where my drive began. The actual road gradient rises gradually in a long straight line to Logan Pass at 6,646ft. As if the drive were not remarkable enough, once “on top” of the pass, a whole new world opens up as you can see from this image. I am now looking at big mountains and lakes, rising FROM THE PASS. Were I not to know the canyon I drove through and Lake McDonald are below me somewhere, I would think this is Glacier National Park, but in fact, it is JUST the upper elevations, and it is clear to me that snowfall up here in the winter is substantial, completely burying this landscape. I feel that if I can ski to this point, there would be a huge amount of spectacular terrain to explore, and dangerous avalanche slopes could easily be avoided, BUT to get here, I would have to follow the Going-to-the-Sun Road across The Garden Wall and I wondered if you could even find that road in the winter. Certainly crossing The Garden Wall would be scary, to say the least, but I was clear that I wanted to come back and see what was possible.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, September 14, 2017
Big Mountain, #7: The Going-to-the-Sun Road winds on for longer than I expect, and the vertical walls around me seem encroaching. I am driving in a DEEP glacially-carved valley, and the walls rise more abruptly than any other mountains I have ever explored. It is intimidating. Not the least of which, every once in awhile, a steep, treeless chute comes all the way into the trees, just beyond the edge of the road. These are avalanche corridors, swept clean of growth by slides that descend from 6,000ft directly above. THIS does give me some pause about a winter approach, but still the road seems broad and safe, and none of these chutes appears to cross it, so I remain hopeful. Finally the road switches back and begins to rise across the face of The Continental Divide headed toward Logan Pass. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is an amazing feat of engineering. A narrow, ascending cut across the face of big walls, and often requiring tunnels, the road rise sheerly up on one side, above me, and drops off frighteningly on the other side, plunging down to the valley I just drove through. Here, on this part of the road, the avalanche chutes DO appear to cross, so if I actually get this far, being here is going to take perfect conditions or I will be greatly at risk.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, September 7, 2017
Big Mountain, #6: Back in my van, I am breathless, having just had a conversation with Claude Monet on the shoreline of Lake McDonald. The fog has lifted and the lake and surrounding peaks are “out.” It is a beautiful day that seems to have started off VERY well, and I am on the Going-to-theSun Road, so I guess I am going to the sun. The road parallels the lakeshore for some miles as the peaks draw increasingly closer and rise ever more steeply. Then, it turns into the heart of the range and follows McDonald Creek back into the glacial valley that will ultimately bring me to the foot of the Continental Divide. There are numerous trails, campgrounds, and vistas along the route, but at one point on the road, you come out of the trees and THIS becomes the view. I am looking at the The Divide reflected in the creek, and that “slice” crossing the foreground peak is the Going-to-the-Sun Road that I am upon, rising to cross through Logan Pass and into the Canadian side of this park. In my mind, this is a big road when there are no cars upon it, AND it is closed in the winter, so it will make a PERFECT access point to the entire park, and maybe I might even be lucky enough to ski up the highway to the pass (about 6,700ft.)!
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, August 31, 2017
Big Mountain, #5: Back in my van, I know the road leads to Lake McDonald, which is extremely large, but when I arrive at the shoreline, it is so foggy I can see nothing at all. Out there, somewhere, is a dramatic, peaks-reflected-in-lake panorama, that is considered by most to be the “grand” entrance to Glacier National Park. Not this morning. Then, as happened before back in the forest, the fog lifts a bit and I can see the rocky shoreline come increasingly into view in either direction. Everything seems to be happening quickly, so I bolt back to the van to grab my 4x5 camera and film. I am unsure from which direction something might appear, but as I set up my tripod, the trees directly behind me light up and the thinning fog above me has a golden-green cast to it. Within seconds, the shoreline to my left does the same thing. I shoot one frame of film, and before I can load another, the fog lifts off, the aura of color disappears, and the sky and lake emerge. The print of this image, entitled, “Homage to Monet," is one of the most significant of my early career. It was premiered as a 30”x 40” dye-transfer at my MFA graduation exhibition at CalArts, and was one of my first images to sell out of its edition. In 1974, a color print this size was also seen as “unusual,” which seems pretty funny now. This image appealed to the embroiderers I have worked with in China since the early 80’s as well, and they translated it into a stunning embroidery, posts #177-181.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, August 24, 2017
Big Mountain, #4: It rains all night before the morning I plan to drive into Glacier National Park, but it stops at dawn, and the lack of the rain sound wakes me. The weather is clearing, although it is very foggy at ground level in the valley. Nonetheless, I decide to go. The drive to Glacier is uneventful, but just after I enter the park and start along the road that leads to Lake McDonald, the fog begins to thin and some sunlight filters in through the trees. The park at this point is mostly an evergreen forest with a road through it, but the sporadic larch trees provide unexpected splashes of color, and I have no idea what lies ahead so I stop often to shoot and to try and take in this NATIONAL park that is new to me. (I have never been to a BAD national park.) It is often said that “timing is everything,” and so it is this morning. At the moment I am having a pretty good time (above). What I don’t know is what awaits in the next few moments. For that to happen, I get back in my van and drive to the grand shoreline view of the park across the sizable, Lake McDonald.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, August 17, 2017
Big Mountain, #3: Besides a glowing fall, Big Mountain, Whitefish Lake, and the Flathead Valley have water, water EVERYWHERE! Streams, lakes, big rivers, AND it comes out of the sky quite a lot, as well. The work I am doing for realtor/developer, Tom Curran, is going well and the terrain is navigable enough to allow me to drag my 4x5 view camera most places. The few times I actually shoot with my 35mm cameras on Big Mountain property, are when I need longer, telephoto views. I stay for two weeks to watch the end of the fall season and the first snows that signal the beginning of winter. I feel I am having a great shoot with most of what will appeal to Tom accomplished with the big camera. As my visit nears an end, I have one more objective while I am in the valley, and that is to visit Glacier National Park. Glacier is part of the Continental Divide and is also on the border with Canada. There is actually a Canadian “side” to the park that you reach by driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road through the center of the park. I want to do this before it closes for winter, so I can get some sense of the park because, besides returning in the winter to continue my work on the Big Mountain ski area, I am hoping I might discover some opportunities for good stories to contribute to the formative POWDER magazine with whom I have just started working. In the winter, the backside of Big Mountain turns into something called the “Fantasy Forest,” and a ski trip into Glacier might also be possible, so that is what I want scout.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, August 10, 2017
Big Mountain, #2: The fall on Big Mountain, and indeed, across the Flathead Valley, is spectacular. I drive my new, tricked-out, photo-van with platform on the roof, up from Sun Valley, fully loaded with film and cameras - two Nikon F’s, and 4x5 Super Cambo. ALL of the 4x5 film that I shoot at this time is Ektachrome, and ALL of those images have faded, so I have none to show you. Those now lost film images were most of what went into print and up onto the walls of the real estate offices and staged townhouses that clients were walked through, but I do have a few 35mm shots to give you some sense of the season. As you saw in the opening post, the fall is unexpectedly colorful with the addition of the larches to the already vibrant forest, and it rains a lot, which are conditions in which I like to work because the moisture saturates the colors, such as you see here. Big Mountain is just that,..BIG! Not just tall, but broad around like Snowmass in Aspen. The ski area is quite a distance up a winding road, near the top of the mountain. Along the way private home lots, and condo groups are being proposed for development. The principle houses of the “community” are more in the “middle” of the mountain as there is less snow to contend with. As usual in my discovery process, I spend a good deal of time driving and hiking around.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Thursday, August 3, 2017
Big Mountain, #1: In the early '70’s, I am busy with MFA graduate work at CalArts, and I am commuting to Sun Valley, Idaho, where I am teaching seasonal photography workshops for the formative Sun Valley Creative Arts Center. I am also making pictures of the area during adventures with my friends in the Decker Flats Climbing & Frisbee Club. My pictures are regularly published in Sun Valley Magazine, and several locations exhibit my prints which attracts many local buyers. One, in particular, Tom Curran, is a principle of Sun Valley Realty, and he decorates his offices with my work. My increasing visibility generates a synchronous moment when David Moe approaches me in the Pioneer Saloon to ask if I would like to shoot for a new magazine that he and his brother Jake are starting called, POWDER. I tell David I do NOT want to shoot traditional downhill ski stories, but would rather trek to unexpected places and ski backcountry, to which he agrees. Then, nearly simultaneously, Tom Curran offers me a commission to take pictures of Big Mountain, Montana, a low-profile ski area above Whitefish Lake in the Flathead Valley, adjacent Glacier National Park, that he is helping to further develop. Thus the opportunity to photograph a new environment draws me north in a late fall to “scout” the territory, and to make pictures with my 4x5 camera. It is not likely I will be bringing it when I return for the “winter” shoot, as I expect much of that to be on skis. If you have never seen “pine” trees that turn yellow in the fall, these are larches. They do, and they are quite common to the valley and surrounding ranges. I hope you will follow and enjoy this new blog. WINTER IS COMING!
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2017, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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