CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Neon-era board testing at Mt. Hood, OR, with Mike Olson, circa 1988. Photo: Ron Dalquist Carving when carving wasn’t cool—1987 Gnu catalog page shared with young punk Mike Ranquet. Photo: Scott Miller First catalog shoot shenanigans with Mike Olson at Mt. Hood, OR. No food, no sunscreen, no water, no problem. 1985. Photo: Scott Miller FIRST PHOTO SHOOT AT MOUNT HOOD We decided we needed a brochure that explained the deep sidecut tech-nology and to introduce the Gnu brand to shops and consumers. We went down to Mount Hood, OR, in the summer of ’85 to get some shots. Mike and I were the snowboarders and Scott Miller was our photographer; our skier friend Fred Lomax helped organize it all. We left Seattle early in the morning on a beautiful summer day. We got tickets and rode Timberline’s Magic Mile to the top. At the time there were no snowboard camps, may-be one or two ski race training programs—almost no one there. We tried to shoot but the light was too blown out and Scott wanted to get things right. So we rode until the lifts closed, then stayed up high and waited for the light to get better. We had no food or water with us and hadn’t eaten all day. By the time the light started to improve at 6 or 7 p.m., it coincided with the temps dropping—we were absolutely starved and pretty miserable. Mike and I focused and worked our way down the mountain trying as hard as we could to get shots. Mike got an air, I had an in-your-face carving se-quence (which was actually an incredible heelside turn considering I had fake rubber Sorels with ski boot liners in them and no highbacks) and we got a fun one where Mike grabbed my shirt. We finished up with some product shots in the dry, storm-gnarled trees and drove home hoping things went well. The shots came out great and were used to make our first Gnu “Feel the Carve” brochure. PETE SAARI 075
The Snowboarder's Journal The Snowboarder's Journal 20.4: Page 75
