Garrett Grove Photography Blog » Climbing

2011 | A Retrospective

Garrett Grove — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:33:35 +0000

The dust has settled from the holidays and I now find myself based in Revelstoke, Canada for the next 3-4 months. The last year was certainly a good one filled with travel, new friends and growth personally and professionally. In chronological order below you will find a single random photo from nearly every trip I took my camera out on over the past year, most are the “b” shots that I never put up online or have gone to print. After spending most of the day going through all these photos taken over the last year I find myself incredibly grateful for the support that sits around me constantly. It is the most important aspect of my life and the driving force behind nearly all that I do, without these relationships my motivation would run dry and my life wouldn’t hold the purpose that it does. A big, big thank you to Bridget, family, and dear friends for all of your support over the last year.

- New Years Eve 2011, Mount Baker Backcountry with Molly Baker, Zack Giffin and Jeff Campbell

- Sorcerer Lodge, Northern Selkirks, BC. Best snow we experienced all winter. Jennifer Ketler is the snowboarder enjoying the goods.

- Adam Roberts enjoys the Baker Backcountry while Mount Baker looms in the background. Just another day in the Northern Cascades.

- Greg Hill ascends Mount Cheops, Rogers Pass, BC. Working with the fine folks of Fitz Cahall and Byran Smith who put together the webisode series The Season.

- Adam Roberts on the Curtis Glacier below the summit of Mount Shuksan before descending it\'s prominant North Face

- Nick Russell in the Wasatch Backcountry during the 2011 Salt Lake City Shootout competition which our team including Forrest Coots and Jason West had the honor of winning.

- A bluebird day back at home in the Baker Backcountry with South American skier Santiago Guzman.

- Low snow levels allowed Sakeus Bankson and I to explore the lower moss covered trees found in the North Cascades, WA

- Slick conditions covered the roads throughout British Columbia. On our way up to the Kootenays we ended up being first responders to this semi accident.

- Jeff Campbell enjoying Nelson, BC after a mid winter storm. It was my first time exploring this sleepy Canadian town that offers tons of amazing skiing and biking.

- Forrest Coots drove out from Utah for an extended stay to enjoy what the NW has to offer...this shot was from our first day exploring the trees at Mount Baker Ski Area.

- A self portrait in the Mount Baker backcountry.

- Once again Forrest Coots enjoys some more NW snow during a rare clear day in the North Cascades, WA.

- Holden Village, WA, Central Cascades. A week long trip exploring the culture, community and skiing surrounding an ex-mining town and now current Lutheran Village.

- Jeff Campbell exploring the recently opened Three Sisters Wilderness yurts in Oregon.

- A late season storm gave all of us a surprise. Adam Roberts is enjoying it\'s bounty. North Cascades, WA.

- Spring skiing began with a trip to the North Sister in the Cascades with Drew Tabke and Adam Roberts.

- Adam U at the Mount Baker Ski Area after completing the Watson Traverse up and over Mount Baker this past May.

- Bridget Grove works her way up Mount Baker on the Roman Headwall.

- Greg Hill takes his final steps up to the summit of Mount Rainier as we concluded the filming for The Season webisode series.

- Let summer begin. Art Lim climbing Equinox in Gold Bar, WA

- Bridget and I took an excursion out to the Washington Coast to celebrate our six year wedding anniversary.

- I went back out with the fellas to film the mountain biking segment for The Season. Matt Madolini is seen taking a much deserved rest. Squamish, BC.

- 11 friends and many days spent enjoying the alpine rock climbing found in Glacier Gorge, Colorado. Bacon, whiskey, egg scrambles, burritos...just to name a few of the creature comforts we induldged in while "roughing it".

- Good friend Ben Ketler took me out to a secret bike trail nearby Mount Hood, Oregon...it turned out to be the most productive day of mountain bike photography I had ever had.

- Blake Herrington and Scott Bennett ascend "Let it Burn" in the Enchantments, WA, one of many new modern alpine rock climbs found in the area.

- A few days spent in the North Cascades while on assignment with Outdoor Research.

- Bridget and I spent a week exploring the trails around Nelson, BC. Here Kevin Landry rides some of the single trak found in the Kootenays.

- Ryan Wapnowski walks towards the waves on the Washington Coast.

- Bridget and I picked up our home and moved onto the road in October, the first month was spent in the Utah Desert climbing and mountain biking. Here Scott Bennett and Troutman put in bolts to start the second pitch of a seldom climbed 5 star finger crack.

- After a month in Utah we traded bikes and climbing gear for surf boards and wetsuits. During the 3+ week road trip up HWY 1 we tried to learn how to surf while visiting old friends and family.

- After surfing we spent some time in the redwoods...in awe.

- Early season snow stacked up fast and brought me back to Baker in anticipation of powder...the storms stopped fast & quickly turned to the driest December the NW has seen in a LONG time.

- Since the snow stopped we ventured into the alpine. Here Aneka Singlaub works her way up to Mount Matier in the Joffre Group, BC.

- Down to Oregon we went to visit family and friends, the snow still wouldn\'t fall, so we gave in and picked up our bikes. Tyler Horton on an un-named trail in Oregon.

- A few months of planning and prep allowed a move up to Revelstoke, Canada.

- So that pretty much does it, the current location is Revelstoke and I can\'t wait to see what 2012 brings.

New Website Imagery

Garrett Grove — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:19:30 +0000

This has been on the boiler for about 8 months and I finally decided to tackle this project. After a stellar winter & summer exploring via bikes, skis, climbs and runs I had a back stock of imagery that I really wanted to throw on the site and I also wanted to add a new section, stories. Right now the stories cover a skiing magazine assignment to Holden Village in the Central Cascades, a bike trip exploring the newly revealed Retallack Lodge biking program in the Kootenays and a climbing trip to the spectacular Glacier Gorge with 10 great friends.

Overall I felt that my website was lacking a bit of story and that is what I love to cover, the whole experience. Action shots are fun but without the details, people and landscape they can be pretty lifeless. So enjoy the new bigger photos.

www.garrettgrove.com

Ode to the Creek | Indian Creek, Utah

Garrett Grove — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:25:10 +0000

5 years have come and gone where every fall I make a pilgrimage to the Utah desert. Next to glaciated mountains the unique landscape of the desert is the place that I find rest and true solitude, it always leaves more to be explored and soaked in. The place seeps with history dating up to 2,000 years ago when carvings and housing were made by the Archaic, Basketmaker, Fremont, and Pueblo cultures who farmed the Puerco River Valley until a drought caused them to leave around 1280 A.D. A more recent history involves the BLM, a Dugout ranch, Heidi (the owner), her cowboys, open pastures and a mutual use agreement held between it and the tourists/climbers who flood into the area. Not many places in the world can offer what Indian Creek does; cowboys herding, ancient ruins, petroglyphs, worldclass climbing, and so little bureaucracy. I just hope that as the place gains popularity respect and appreciation will be given to such a delicate landscape.

Cascades Climbing Assignment

Garrett Grove — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:34:13 +0000

This is a bit overdue but I wanted to get a few pics up from an assignment with Outdoor Research and Rock & Ice magazine I worked on this summer. The pictures and article should go live this coming December so keep your eyes peeled…lots of good shots I can’t post here will be featured by them. Huge thanks goes out to Blake Herrington, Scott Bennett, Ginnie Jo and Sol Wertkin.

Published | Backcountry, Powder, Scarpa, Outside & Patagonia

Garrett Grove — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:47:46 +0000

Some new photos went to print recently for Backcountry Magazine, Powder, Scarpa, Outside and Patagonia. A pretty random collection of imagery from this past year but it is great to start seeing ski photos from last winter going to use!

Jeff Campbell has the opening spread in the 2012 Backcounty Gear Guide. North Cascades, WA on New Years Eve 2010.

This photo was taken on our way up to the Sorcerer’s Lodge in January and was used by Powder as the opening image for their article reflecting on the epic La Nina winter we all had this past winter. It was snowing hard and gave me the feeling I was in Star Trek hitting warp speed.

This was a shot from skiing in the Holden Village area this past March. Skier: Forrest Coots.

A couple old photos from 2009 of Mark & Katie Regier on Cutthroat Peak, North Cascades. The other is of the Park Butte Lookout nearby Mount Baker, WA.

This shot was taken on an assignment with Rock and Ice magazine in Red Rocks, NV. Climber: Scott Bennett

Ryan Wapnowski running through some old growth in the North Cascades, WA

Why I Do What I Do

Garrett Grove — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:02:00 +0000

This video isn’t about me it’s about Jimmy Chin, an adventure photographer who has been in the field and accomplished things I can only dream of and has been an inspiration to my photography for a long time. This video just came out regarding an assignment he had with National Geographic a few months ago. It pretty well sums up why I do what I do. The adventure, the challenges, the friendships and the luring reward of taking that one amazing photograph.

Climbing Photography FYI

Garrett Grove — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 22:18:00 +0000

I don’t want to be a tech head or turn this blog into a how to for photography but after a few emails and spending this past week taking climbing photos and thinking about what system to use and how to get there it is on my mind. Climbing is by far the hardest and most demanding activity that I photograph, especially in the mountains. From rigging ropes, hiking deep into the hills, jugging or following behind climbers that are stronger than me, it is exhausting. That said, here we go, a rant on climbing photography and what I use.

Photo Gear:

Typically I bring the Nikon D3s and four lenses for all things outdoor/action photography; a Sigma 15mm Fisheye, Nikon 17-35 2.8, Nikon 35mm 1.4 and the Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR. Due to most alpine climbing circumstances that kind of weight can’t be justified. So I bring Nikon’s 24-120 f/4 lens and the fisheye up on the climb but have the 35mm prime at base camp for lifestyle/documentary shots. I still haul the extra size and weight of the D3s because it is worth it’s weight in gold due it’s durability and how high of an ISO I can shoot at when climbing during the dawn and dusk hours.

Some accessories that I find handy are an extra battery or two for the camera, a Singh Ray 4×6 3 stop soft step filter, Singh Ray Warming Polarizer, some sort of sensor cleaning device, a lens cleaning cloth, tripod, headlamp and a trigger remote for longer night exposures.

That is about as light as I go into the hills for multiple days on a photo centric climbing assignment. I carry all of this in with the F-Stop Satori backpack, their small ICU and I attach the Mala with nothing in it on the outside of the Satori. It looks pretty janky but that Mala bag is about the best I have found to climb and take photos with. It is comfortable and holds my lenses plus food, a liter of water and layers with no issues.

Climbing Gear:

Most of the time I try to climb the routes because I enjoy climbing nearly as much as I like taking the photos. Plus being in the action and taking part also gets a more personal angle and the opportunity to catch some unique moments. Ideally a team of 4 will join you that way myself and one other can go first and then I can shoot down on the team that is following. When on a fixed rope I typically use a cinch or grigri with an ascender, an alpine aider, daisy chain and the rope thread through a biner attached to the ascender which gives you a little more efficient ratio to pull yourself up on the rope with. Pretty simple. This said I am not talking about big wall, El Capitan style days. These are typically about 4-12 pitches long and done ground up, not rigged top down with fixed lines all over the place. If that were the case I would use a more complex/efficient way to move quickly and bring more lenses.

I hope that helps a bit. Feel free to comment and ask more specific questions. I am no guru compared to other guys that I know who photograph climbing nearly year round but I have a few systems that have worked well for me over the years. Cheers, G

Glacier Gorge, CO | forgotten moments

Garrett Grove — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:47:34 +0000

Throughout the Glacier Gorge trip I was intent on capturing the forgotten moments, the ones that are so often overlooked while out camping and climbing. To those that don’t climb these moments might seem obvious to capture but after 10 years these little things can go without notice. Similar to someone wanting to take a picture of you while vacuuming your house or making some dinner. In general focusing on these moments has been a growing goal of mine over the past year+ and it is exciting to see it become more of a habit and excitement. I take off tomorrow for 7-8 days for more climbing and camping but this time on an assignment and in the Cascades, stoked to see what comes of it.

Published Climbing Magazine S.Platte

Garrett Grove — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:08:13 +0000

An article in Climbing Magazine on the South Platte climbing area in Colorado went to print (written by Jason Haas). His new guidebook should hit the shelves this fall. I was excited to see they used one of my favorite images from my time down there as the opening double page spread (climber is Blake Herrington). I highly recommend checking out the area, it is a very unique spot to climb in Colorado. Below are the pages where images from my trip down there last October were used. A photo essay of my time down there can be seen here.