Our editors select the year’s strongest winter action and landscape photos from western Canada.
Blake Marshall, Shames Mountain, B.C. Photo: Abby CooperChristina Lusti, Burnie Glacier, Smithers, BC. Photo: Angela PercivalEvan Palmer-Charrette sending it off a small booter high above Elbow Lake in Kananaskis, Alberta. Photo: Cody Shimizu. “Long hikes in the hazy heat of summer are rewarded with sun-crusted lines littered with rocks perfectly positioned to chew up bases. The absurdity of it all, coupled with fist bumps and drinks kept cold in the few remaining pockets of natural ice, is almost enough to make a person forget the weight of a backpack laden with heavy skis on sweaty bare shoulders. As temperatures trend higher every summer, glaciers are beaten down into bony renditions of their past forms and the tug-of-war between rock and ice continues.” –Cody ShimizuIcefall Range, heading up from Rostrum Hut. Photo: Steve OgleMax Hitzig laying out the biggest landed backflip in Freeride World Tour history. Photo: Jeremy Bernard Location: Kananaskis, Alberta. Surfer: David Manning. Photo: Paul Manning-Hunter. This photo won silver for Best Photo in the category Landscape, Still Life and Architecture, at the 2023 Alberta Magazine Publishers Association Conference.
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Chesterman Beach, Ucluelet. Photo: David McColmCharles Reid, Whistler Backcountry. Photo: Erin HogueSunset silence in the Revelstoke backcountry. Photo: Laura SzantoCruising along the Icefields Parkway under a full moon, an illuminated Parker Ridge caught the eye of Lada Kvasnicka. The only possible improvement, the photographer and skier thought, would be if the ridge was adorned with fresh turns. Lada knew his “down-for-anything” friend Mato Vrato would be keen to hike the ridge under a full moon and lay down the necessary tracks. The pair drove to the Hilda Creek parking lot where Lada watched Mato’s headlight ascend for an hour and a half as he speed hiked in the crisp, dark night. When Mato gained the ridge, he readied himself to ski a continuous line to the base while Lada watched through binoculars then snapped this long exposure image. Photo: Lada KvasnickaGreat gray owl. Photo: John MarriottNeha Acharya-Patel enjoys some clear winter water near Ucluelet. Photo: ANDREW MCCURDY
