Words Tomas Ruprecht Photos and Caption s Nathanael Asaro n 2011, when Nathanael Asaro was still a teenager, he started working along-side me at Lunaroma in Burlington, VT. Although 15 years my junior, we instantly connected over the simple pleasure of exploring the Ver-mont wilderness. Pick any season and the kid from Greensboro was firing on all cylinders, ready to camp, bike, hike, canoe, skate, snowshoe, or snowboard. I From left to right: Luke Haddock, John Murphy, Tomas Ruprecht and Ralph Kucharek on March 5, 2019. At this point last season, we had a good base, but we also had a warm day that formed a crust layer. The conditions at Stowe were not the best, so we decided to meet up at this nearby dam to mess around on noboards. Ian Post was filming for a video project Ralph is working on and I was noboarding and shooting a few photos for fun. I didn’t really expect to get any good images due to the crusty conditions, but I ended up liking the vibe of this one. Now 27 years old, Nathanael’s only grown more knowledgeable and pas-sionate about the East Coast outdoor lifestyle. A 2016 graduate of Bur-lington College with a bachelor’s in photography, Nathanael has trans-formed his outdoor explorations into a full-time career making images for a long list of local and international clients like Bataleon Snowboards, Anon Optics, Nikon, the State of Vermont and beyond. Whether shoot-ing products, landscapes, people, or outdoor pursuits, Nathanael is in touch with what he photographs. And therein lies the secret to his suc-cess: He truly lives what he documents. This rings especially true with his snowboard photography. When not focusing his camera on others, he can be found turning heads with his own riding. He’s all in—always. As far as his photographic style, “I’m always studying the landscape, looking for things that catch my eye,” Nathanael says. “I try to embody the environment I’m in and then combine landscapes or features I find compelling with my subjects. I use my camera as a tool to capture things or moments that give me a feeling. Learning about nature and being in the wilderness will always inspire me.” While Vermont and its neighboring states have churned out an in-fluential list of professional snowboarders and photographers over the decades, the East Coast has always seemed to ebb and flow within the snowboard scene. The usual path to snow-industry success leads west, but those who stay home make the most of a tight-knit crew and pass along local knowledge to the next generation. Nathanael has chosen to stay put. He’s learned the ins and outs of everything from the Stowe backcountry to building backyard parks through local legends Johnny Noel and Ryan Perryman. Early indoctrinations via the expansive Mount Mansfield backcountry inspire his current pursuit of new angles in New England. “I’ve thought about moving west many times,” Nathanael says. “It’s the community and quality of life in Vermont that keeps me here though. I think most people that live or have lived here would agree. I love traveling and getting inspired by new places, but I always bring that inspiration back home and it allows me to see the Vermont land-scape in a new light.” Although the backcountry options in the Green Mountain State may be limited—as is the pool of riders looking to explore beyond resort boundaries—few people know and document this core scene as well as Nathanael. Even to the trained East Coast eye, his photos often leave you wondering where he was when he pressed the shutter. 036 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.1: Page 36
