To me this photo represents the pinnacle of backcountry skiing: climbing to the top of a mountain or couloir and skiing down in deep powder with aesthetic mountains in the background. It showcases a photographer and athlete unknown outside of their local community, climbing and skiing powder under their own power, sans hoopla, which makes it more inviting and attainable to readers. Therefore, to me, it depicts the essence and integrity of what inspires Backcountry Magazine and Couloir and the sport of backcountry skiing in general.

This was the first issue that we finally branched out from our stagnant orange or red banner. Just look at it in the library, and you finally see green among the black spines. And the sell line ‘Catching A Ride’ in a font that became part of our style brought us into the contemporary age of design and in the snow industry. And yes, it sold really well.

Of the covers I shot, I probably like the one of ‘Grom’ from Haines the best. The shot was taken near or in Glacier Bay National Park on a plane-drop trip that took off out of Haines in May 2000. It certainly wasn’t the earliest plane-drop ski trips, but there were few people doing it compared to nowadays. Dave Richards sent the fall line on a good pitch, and the rimed background screamed coastal AK.

I was looking over covers I worked on more than a decade ago, and the 2004 Photo Annual caught my eye. Not sure if it’s because of the photo of the guy catching air or typography—I think it’s the mix of both. Also, at the time, Backcountry didn’t have a ton of air shots and, if I remember right, using this photo added some tension between art and editorial departments (not that there ever was tension…).

From 1994 through 2003, my brother Carl had nine cover photos in Backcountry Magazine, more than anyone else, ever. Each of those shots displayed Carl’s knack of placing a skier in a setting that made you want to be there. My favorite is the photo of Brian Sato on Mt. Baker in Issue 24. It’s a picture that—in the Lower 48—could only have been taken in Carl’s beloved Cascades.