I always seem to suffer. Doesn't matter what kind of condition I am in, good or bad. I always suffer. Maybe it is the 30 extra lbs of camera gear I need to bring, or the lack of ski-touring I do. It doesn't matter.
David and Pierre enjoying the wide-open space below St. Nicholas
The suffering only seems to happen on my way up and I am happy it doesn't last for very long. Especially when I finally crest the top of the Glacier and see the boys setting up their kites in perfect wind, all suffering goes away.
This weekend our crew kited up on the Wapta Ice field for two days and the weather has never been so good. Saturday was a little over cast but still had good viz and steady 25 and less wind. Enough for the 12m kites we had brought up. I broke my lens while shooting at the start of our flight so I put the camera away, focusing on the riding and even managed to climb St Nicholas's saddle. The session ended about an hour before sunset so we skied down the creamy head-wall and took in an amazing feast of fine cheeses, prosciutto, oysters and wine. Wow, alpine hut stay in style with good company.
The crew parked and hunkered down (me, Patrice, Chris, David, and Pierre)
Sunday morning we awoke to high winds so I slept a little longer. Pat, Chris and Pierre decided to go for a ski then came back early afternoon to report blue-skies and wind. Once we got back up on to the ice field we knew it would be amazing. I left the kite in the bag and swapped out my broken lens for the 24-70 and shot straight for an hour. Incredible conditions but even though it may have been my last day to kite, I had to shoot. And I am glad I did. I managed to get some real gold.
Well worth the suffering for sure...