We have been having some odd weather here in the Flathead Valley this summer and one of these events was a huge wind storm with no rain or clouds. Our friend Erick Gelke with SUP Montana invited us to come along with him, Sarah and Jay Dobbins for an afternoon paddle session. After an hour or so of shooting them paddle out and surf back in we noticed someone launching a 16′ Hobie cat to see if they could get airborne in the high winds. Turns out they broke the rudder assembly, jammed their sails and flipped a few times on a 22 minute ride from hell across Bigfork Bay before washing up on the shore. I couldn’t help shooting some of their sailing and capsized float. That’s how I met my new friends Andrew Crawford and Dane Hollinger.
Erick and Jay walking down to the beach area.
Erick padding out to catch a few waves.
Sarah padding out in the whitecaps.
Erick surfing his way back into Bigfork Bay.
Jay and Erick paddling around in Bigfork Bay.
Erick and Sarah pass each other.
It’s hard work padding out so Erick takes a break and swims out.
Erick riding another good sized wave in.
Andrew Crawford and Dane Hollinger racing across Bigfork Bay.
Dane and Andrew cruising and splashing around.
Andrew and Dane at the turning point with the Nor Easter in the background.
Andrew and Dane splash while flying across Bigfork Bay.
After rudder failure they were in for a ride from hell across Bigfork Bay.
Dane and Andrew get help from witnesses along the shore as they splash on the rocky beach.
During the middle of January we were inverted?!?!?!?!? The valley floor was below freezing and foggy while above the cloud line it was sunny and near 40 degrees. During this time you could see the effects of a Fata Morgana aka mirage an optical phenomenon caused by the refraction of light in air layers with different densities: one cold layer near the surface and warmer air in the general atmosphere. Really amazing to see. It makes you want to rub your eyes and do a double take. Normally it’s a hit and miss phenomenon but we could see them here for nearly a week during the most recent inversion. Below are two images of the mirage playing tricks with the pointy Mission Mountain Range. Amazing!
I spent the rest of the morning shooting the sunrise and skiers. Enjoy the images.
The Mission Mountains look more mesa like than rocky range.
The entire Mission Mountain Range seen from the summit of Big Mountain.
Chair 5 sitting high above the clouds.
The Flathead Valley socked in with dense fog during a recent inversion.
The sun pokes between peaks in the Great Bear Wilderness.
This job must rock on these days.
Chair 7 lift operator Josh heads down to his post.
Sarah testing out the groomers.
Sun and fun with friends at the summit of Whitefish Mountain Resort.
TJ Andrews flys off a snowghost at sunset during a recent inversion.
TJ flying high above the clouds.
TJ smacks off a snowghost at sunset.
I met some great people at the Montana Cup this year. I hope to see you all again next year. Here is an email I got today from JC and the photos he is talking about.
Craig,
You have some beautiful shots there! I’d like to order 2 prints.
I have about a thousand pictures of my boat with no wind, or lazing around between starts. Nice to get a few actually racing with the sheets in! My ego especially likes one you got of us approaching the leward mark ahead of Limerick, Jole Blon’, and White Star. Too bad we doused early!
I’ll keep your card handy for next year!
JC
To see more sailing photos visit: www.GlacierStock.com
Yesterday I shot the 2007 Montana Cup from a chase boat. It was the first time I have had a the chance to photograph the boat my wife crews on from a chase boat. The first shot was taken at 7:30 a.m. during the first leg of the Class B race of the Montana Cup. It’s smoke in the sky from the Chippy Creek Fire. Racers were cleaning off the ash from their boats before heading out. It was like gray snow falling.
Here are a two shots of White Star.
To see more photos from the 2007 Montana Cup visit: www.GlacierStock.com
I was invited to photograph the J24 Districts on Flathead Lake with one of my good friends Tony Devoe, owner of a J34 – Whitestar. We motored around shooting and enjoying the race. I opted to shoot the entire time with the 400mm 2.8 on so I could get some tight shots. Sailing is very different up close vs. from a distance. It’s a magical harmony of crew members and amazing to watch. After shooting for three hours I was getting tired of bouncing up and down with only a 4 degree window of view through the 400mm lens.
After returning home from sailing I noticed a lot of smoke on the hill side near our house. I grab camera gear and headed out. I have never seen a helicopter get so close to the ground and fly through the smoke. I should make a slide show of the 30 frames I have to show how the smoke gets pushed away. Quick response by local recourses controlled the fire. The Missoulian newspaper picked up one of the photos in the next days paper.
To see more J24 sailing photos go here: http://www.glacierstock.com/lightbox/index.php?pageId=1000&keyword=J24
On Tuesday night I went back to Somers for sailing hoping for wind and light. Well neither really happend. There was a little bit of nice soft light when this water skiier darted out from the bay. The water skiier is cutting in Somers Bay on Flathead Lake. The one sailing shots sums up how it was last night – flat. It may have been a better skiing night than sailing. A sailing caption suggest I title the photos from last night “sailing on a sea of glass”
Enjoy the photos.
To see more water skiing photos visit: www.GlacierStock.com
