Braden Dean Dot Com

Myself and Voleurz filmer Mason Mashon decided to take a last minute trip down to Idaho to meet up with Skiers Josh Bibby and K.C. Deane and shred some “secret” zones near the Wyoming/Idaho boarder. A 7:00 AM departure quickly turned into noon-thirty and we sent it for the boarder with an epic rig, a truck stacked with all our snowboard/film gear, 2 sleds, knives, hatchets, slingshots and a blow-dart gun. All the basic supplies anyone needs for a ten day road trip.

Our drive was uneventful for the first several hours until we missed a gas station and ran out of gas near Rhitzvill (Shitsville?), WA. After several tries to siphon gas out of our snowmobiles using the blow-dart gun we finally gave up and called a tow truck.

1 hour, several coffees and many Snus later we were back on the road. At around 4 am, as we began to run out of caffeine I started to look for other methods to stay awake while driving, such as pumping the Mars Volta, and driving with my head out the window of the truck at full highway speed. Seconds after pulling my head into the safety of the vehicle after one of these “refreshments,” a massive owl, with an estimated 4 foot wingspan smashed into the side of the window in a collision course with where my face had been only moments before. Mason wasn’t convinced we had hit an owl until several hours later, when we found the owl’s wing hung up on his snowmobile and several other smaller pieces plastered over mine.

We arrived while the rest of our group was already out shooting photos so we used the first day to unload sleds and get prepared for the following week of shooting. After KC and Bibby returned to the cabin we heard horror stories of a massive avalanche that had been released that day taking out 30 ft (10 M) Trees as it came down. Definitely an eye opener, we were on our toes and extra cautious for the remainder of the trip. We ended up having a couple awesome sessions  and put together a fun segment for the new Voleurz movie. I also downloaded a sweet ap for my iphone and made several mini timelapses. Here’s one from the continental divide.

After 6 days of shooting we started receiving non-stop phone calls about the epic conditions and over 200 cm’s of snow that had fallen in Whistler since we left, the decision was made to cut the trip short and power back up to Canada. Mason and I jumped back on the road and drove another 20 hour straight drive (with only one pit stop for a shredded trailer tire) to catch the tail end of the system that was hitting Whistler.

After spending a full day and a sleepless night in the car we still managed to make first chair on Blackcomb on our first day back!!!