Two Revelstokians have landed one of the great achievements in their field - the cover of Powder Magazine.
Bruno Long’s photo of Sean Cochrane skiing on a snowshed over the Trans-Canada Highway just outside Glacier National Park has landed on the cover of the October 2013 issue of the famous ski magazine. For both of them, it’s a first.
“I know for both of us it’s a big time dream come true,” said Long. “For a ski photographer, there isn’t anything better than that. They don’t run that many issues a year and to get on the cover is something super special.”
Added Cochrane: “It’s a really cool pay off for me as far as having something to show for the work I’m doing.”
The photo was taken on an overcast day in March. Long and Cochrane were heading to Rogers Pass when they found out most of the area was closed for avalanche control. Instead, they stopped just before the park to ski a pillow line they had seen before.
On the way home, they both noticed the snowshed – the only one with a steep roof capable of being skied on. They parked their car and toured down the highway to the snowshed. Cochrane climbed up a service road to the top of the shed while Long set up his shot.
“I was freaking out, I was shaking,” said Long. “I was stoked. He was standing at the top and I could tell that if it worked out the way I think it is, it’s going to be unreal.”
They waited for a transport to come through. Eventually, Long called out to Cochrane. He poled a few times, dropped onto the shed and slashed a big powder turn right down to the bottom.
“It was one of the funnest turns of my life,” he said.
“I knew right away it was a magazine shot, guaranteed,” said Long.
Landing on the cover of Powder is often regarded as a pinnacle achievement for photographers and skiers. While I spoke to Long and Cochrane outside the Modern, about a half-dozen people came up to congratulate them on the achievement.
Long said he knew right away the photo was a winner. When he sent it in several months ago, Powder got back to him, saying it would make the photo annual as a two-page spread. Time passed and some more e-mails and calls came in from the magazine, raising their suspicions that something was up.
Last week, Cochrane went to see local filmmaker Frank Desrosiers about a video edit he was working on. He showed up at the studio to find Greg Hill there, and Long on Skype from Rossland, where he was shooting mountain biking. They both thought they were being offered a role in a new project.
Then Hill came in with a pizza box. “I flipped open the lid and inside there was a print that Powder had sent up on a piece of cardboard, and a GoPro to get the reaction,” said Cochrane. He held up the photo for Long to see.
“I’m excited it’s this shot and not something that’s been seen before,” said Cochrane. “It’s not just a turn with a scenic background or a cliff that makes you go wow. It’s just different.”
They both see it as a boost to their dreams – Long as a professional photographer and Cochrane as a professional skier.
“It’s a payoff for all the hard work that both of us had been doing,” said Long.