All imagery courtesy of Eric Sales Photography
Written By: Giray Dadali
We needed to see it for ourselves.
Was the snow more divine than our Alta Magic?
With me, the youngbucks Max Meza and Alex Lundstrom joined.
Max, Alex, and I on the far right in 2015 when they were just Groms.
Team coaching then evolved to a multiyear mentorship of skiing local terrain and heading to competitions with them.
They were ready for their first big film experience.
Our first scheduled day of film occurred at a notorious touring zone outside of Niseko.
The snow that moved in was a refreshing blessing but also a complete disaster.
led Alex to take another cleanup hit.
He twisted his ankle, and the session was over.
Alex mid 3-tree tap.
He still attempted and got a few turns in front of the lense.
Our set was small inbetween and too tight ( Girays crash in the opening of the video).
We got up early on Day 3 to head straight to a zone I was very excited about.
You’d race another crew for this across a river too.
Upon arrival we saw another crew unloading their gear nearby the river.
I reached this pillow line and held ground below it right as the other crew was crossing the river.
The weather was beginning to build and our window was dissipating.
Verdict: Max slayed it.
He was born for this shit, and I was a proud veteran skier watching the boy grow up!
(Photo: Eric Sales)
The session was on.
Its a world illuminated in white, and Japan delivered more snow to us.
Coming from the east coast originally, night skiing meant cold and ice.
The following day we headed for Niseko again.
We tried to be productive on the hill but it just wasn’t the same.
We were high, we wanted more of it!
Our lives felt drained of the good stuff and we were left with the decaf version.
Like a pie, whats the edit without some filling?
Maxs father Mike, a legend in his own, hiked up and started laying turns for the camera.
Mike Meza on a styled out turn.
The only lift open at Rusutsu.
The nail in the coffin was the flat light and treeless prospects.
I pushed back hard to change our location.
The guides pulled the plug on the location and opted for touring a pass 2 hours away.
We were in 2 vans and about an hour into the drive when the van in front stopped.
I was told to get out of the van and hop into theirs to film something here.
The dark recession of my brain was clearly off when i saw Max smiling.
Operation mode, this process is ingrained in us.
We worked quickly and laid down our quick gotos.
A misty 7 and switch 5 from me followed by a boosty flat 3 Japan by Max.
Max laid down a styled out straight air before nightfall.
We called it as the light diminished and the snow softened the world around us for the final day.
Max got corked without running into the river.
A quick bonus round from us before our legs were tired and the shot list satisfied.
Our trip was a wrap.
Whatever “it” is.
We made a movie.
Was it better than our “Alta Magic”?
The question really doesn’t matter.
The snow choked us, stuck to my beard, stuck to Max’s unibrow.
All familiar snow things in an unfamiliar snow place.
Ahmet’s Brother and the Daymaker Crew.
