Island lake Lodge photo shootout

The Island Lake Lodge photo shootout goes down every year gathering 9 photographers and 27 riders from all over the wild west. Each Photographer was allowed a team of 2 male riders and 1 female, our team was made up of Martin Gallant, Helen Schetini, myself (Justin VanDerPoelen) and Mark Gribbon as our Photographer. Driving for 12 hours ain’t easy when you’re using all 4 seats in an extended cab pickup. With Mark Driving the distance to Fernie we took turns letting our asses fall asleep on the back bench swapping front seat every other stop. A stop at Surplus Herbies gave us a reason to switch and motive to buy some crazy shit. Martin picked out a boomerang, which led to many appeals to stop and try it out in some wide open spaces. We made a stop in Revelstoke at the Great White North for a nice big plate of food before the last long haul to our destination. In between the many naps along the way we were blessed with the life stories of Mr. Gallant. Its not often you get an opportunity to be on a trip with a legend who has been a pro since you were born and still kills it. Martin has so many stories and has led an intriguing life so the 12 hr drive just flew by listening to tale after tale. When we rolled into Fernie it was pouring rain and we had missed the meeting that would have filled us in on the next day. That being said we ordered a few shots and sat at the bar praying it was snowing at the top. We awoke to a light dusting on the ground and were prepared for the worst from the conditions we drove in on.
Day one got off to a slow start, we met all the guides got familiar with all our avy gear and did a whole run down on how everything would be working for the days to come. We took some soul turns then got to work shooting anything we saw as we crept down the mountain with our eyes peeled for unique features. Slashes, bonks, cliffs, and road gaps were all present in our shots for the day. By the time we had top go home we were so tired I fell asleep sitting upright, Helen was out cold against the window, and Mark worried about getting his photos ready for submission. Martin was stirring up some shit by saying skiing was easier than snowboarding and of course to a skier. We hustled out of the cat before Martin got punched and got ready for the night ahead of us.
Every Night was spent at a different bar with awards for the day for different categories Composition, Athletic performance, Scenic, and Action. Monday night the bar was Bulldogs, this really homey place was filled with classic antique memorabilia so when I wasn’t in conversation I was looking around at all the rad pieces of history. Martin saw that I was looking at the old Lamar Ranquet pro model and fed me a story about riding “back in those days”. Drinks were had, new friends were made and in martins case amends were made with the skiers. We called it a night early so we could have a better chance at winning some of those awards on day two.
Tuesday we were blessed with another 10-15 cm and got to switch it up onto another cat boarding operation called Powder Cowboy. No sun made us stick within the trees and play mini golf, we found some really amazing features and got a few great shots. Martin went to slash a wind lip beside a tree and came off right into the tree all of us were laughing pretty hard when he said what he hurt. I mean he hit the tree so hard with his lower back and body, so when he said it was his groin we all started cracking up. Helen was next up building a jump through some trees and all of us were watching wondering what was going on because the jump was crooked and pointing in the other direction but none of us said anything in fear of coming off like know it alls so we watched and waited for her to drop. When she called drop and the shot was taken Helen plowed through the trees beside where mark had setup for the shot and once again we broke out laughing so hard because the photo made no sense at all. Helen came over and we explained to her what we thought she was hitting and asked her nicely to do it again. That night again we took to the bar and arrived late again missing them announce that we won two categories, pretty typical I would say for the west coast but everyone else didn’t seem to have any problem being on time. –
“when I was younger I was shy just like you guys, then I moved to BC and tryed to start speaking English and everyone thinks I am hilarious!” Martin pointing out that Helen and I don’t talk as much as him, followed by the story about why that is(in a very French accent).Wednesday was the day that made the trip for us. Everyone burst out of the cat looking for features to shoot because the sun was out and the clouds were moving in, it looked as though we would only have 15 minutes until once again we were in the fog. The moose was loose, martin got to break out his Canadian moose hat and first thing he did was a textbook method off this natural lip, Helen busted one of many amazing slashes and I took martins line with a stalefish. While the other crews sought after the higher alpine we stayed tucked away in the trees trying to get some photos that were not whiteout. The clouds rushed in and we soon found ourselves in a snow squall. We waited about 20 minutes before the snow let up leaving us with probably 3 more cm of fresh and Helen dropped a man size cliff logging another banger shot. We milked the spot we were in and hustled down to the cat which our guide commandeered and we had it all to ourselves. Now this cat ride up was epic we had Pink Floyd playing, we were all stretched out enjoying a sandwich, and the next couple tracks were just as good as the first. When we reached the top, we ditched the camera gear and just shredded untouched rolling faces and bonking and popping off anything that was in our path. Best lines of the trip. This took my mind off the shots and was genuinely all about cat boarding, nothing attached. Even though we won the overall competition that night, partied and carried on I think those lines and songs will be in our minds when it comes time to remember the high points of the trip.
After riding we went to the party and awaited the results. Gribbon was announced the winner and delivered his tear jerking acceptance speech we got our drink on and got to party with all the staff from Island Lake Lodge. Martins reputation followed him home last night and gave us something to talk about in the morning as well as marks hike in the woods to some girls hippie pad.
It’s the end of the trip and we are all packing up getting ready to leave this beautiful place. I look around at everyone’s face and Mark, Helen, and Martin all have a pent up smile growing on their faces because they all feel, I am sure the same way about the last 4 days spent together. When I see this I can’t help but feel proud to have been a part of this trip, we knew it was a competition but I never felt the pressure of it. We worked hard for the shots so we could give our souls some turns in the historic terrain of Island Lake Lodge resort.