Adventures in the Mountains of British Columbia

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, depending on where you live in the World 😄

Today I wanted to share with you all some of my most cherished mountain adventure shots from over the years. Most of these are taken somewhere deep in the back country of British Columbia, Canada and if you can't tell, I really have a thing for Winter.

Each photo comes with its own unique story, let me know which one is your favorite 🙂

Skiing in Dreamland

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This was taken on our annual Christmas ski tour with my good friends. Perhaps my all time favorite photo I've ever taken. It is quite a drive from where I live and then a 3 hour walk to the top of where we start to ski. The views from halfway down the mountain are just incredible and on this particular day the afternoon light popped perfectly through the clouds, creating a truly dream-like effect.

Head in the Clouds

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It was a beautiful day up high. The crisp winter sun was warming my face and the wind was calm. As we got to a nice take off spot we paused to take it all in. The temperature inversion had created a sea of clouds below us with the surrounding peaks seemingly rising out of nowhere. I posted up, had some lunch and watched my friend set up his paraglider. He meticulously double checked everything one last time and got ready for take off.

I grabbed my camera and waited for him to give me the signal. 3-2-1 and just like that he was off. I watched his sails inflate through my lens as he picked up speed racing downhill on his skis. The paraglider caught flight and he was up in the air. Soaring above the clouds after a perfect launch.

As I watched him get smaller and smaller in the distance, disappearing into the clouds, I felt humbled.

On Cloud Nine

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My breath hung in the crisp air as I took a deep exhale halfway up the ridge to the summit. It had been a brisk start to the day. However, we had climbed above the clouds and the sun was now beaming down on our smiling faces.

We continued our ascent, delicately manoeuvring through snow, rocks and ice on the wind affected ridge. My backpack, with skis strapped to it, was starting to feel heavy as we approached the summit.

Stepping onto the peak, I felt on top of the world. I gazed out at an ocean of clouds with prominent jagged peaks towering over the other side of the valley, taking in the beauty that lay before me. After a short and hair raising traverse, we reached our objective.

The avalanche rating was considerable that day. With a thorough assessment and a group decision, we decided to go for it. Peering over the edge, I watched my friend descend the length of the couloir. I waited anxiously, filled with nervous excitement for my turn. My radio crackled to life with a simple message, "all clear, you're good to go". I took a deep breath and dropped in. In that instant everything else faded away. All that was left was a tiny human, incredibly humbled and at the mercy of the mountains, hoping they would be good to me that day. Nothing else mattered.

The Perfect Pow Turn

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It was closing day at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, in the middle of April, some years ago now. It had just dumped snow the night before and stoke was at an all time high. My good friend and I decided to undertake the 45 minute bootpack to the summit. There is a chute just below the summit on the backside of the mountain called Thumbs Up (there is a giant rock pillar at the top of it that stands tall, like a giant thumb). After riding the chute once, with powder up to our knees, we decided we had to do it again. This is one of my most memorable experiences in the mountains and I still think about it with a smile on my face as I write this.

The Portal

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There are moments in this life that I will never forget, this is one of them. It was a frigid day in the mountains. The temperature was –30 °C, with the windchill it felt like –45 °C. It was the first sunny day in some time, so the opportunity to go outside could not be passed up. We set off into the backcountry. With skis on my feet and a heavy bag on my back I started the climb. It was so cold that any bit of exposed skin got frost burned within minutes. We slowly rose through the snow blanketed trees and emerged in the alpine. The higher we went, the more intense the wind got. There were mountains on either side of us, as far as the eye could see. I glanced back over my shoulder and there it was. A perfect 360 ° halo all the way around the early morning sun, which hung just above the horizon. I had seen weather phenomena like this before, but never as prominent as this. It was otherworldly. As if a portal to another dimension had been opened before us. I had to move swiftly, who knew how long this moment would last. My fingers instantly froze as I took the shot. The cold left a lingering pain as I quickly jammed my hands back into my gloves. I will always remember what I saw and felt in that moment.

These are just a few of my favorite moments I've experienced in the mountains over the years. If you would like to connect and follow along for more of my adventures check out my links below 😁 👇

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38 comments
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Amazing place.Thanks for the virtual tour.

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Great images love the last image keep up the great work 👍

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thanks so much Devos. If people have enjoyed my photos and felt something looking at them my goal has been accomplished.

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Indeed the last image stood out to me and thought what a great image .

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Hi there, @vincentschnabl. 😃 These pictures are perfect! I can't seem to make up my mind on the one I like the most. The last picture of the skiing man facing the halo of the sun is divine. I also like the first one. Quite some adventures you have had and I wish it's me. 🥲😃😃

Cool pictures. Thanks for sharing. 😊😊

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Hello Lady Titan! Thank you so much for the kind words :) I think the first and last are my favorites as well.

Hope fully you get a chance to get out on some adventures of your own soon!

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Thank you. 😃 I hope so too but in the mean time, I can live vicariously through your lovely photos 😃😊

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Awesome shots! Do you carry some kind of avalance safety system ? Looks dangerous as hell but awesome lol.

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Hey Greddy! Thanks for asking. I do carry a 3 antenna transceiver with me as well as a shovel and a probe and always travel with friends who know what do do if things go south. If I do go solo it's when the avalanche risk is pretty low and it's somewhere familiar to me. On top of that I've taken a few snow safety courses to educate myself on travelling in the backcountry. Of course all that being said, there is still an inherent risk to these activities and your risk tolerance definitely becomes a factor when you start exploring wilder terrain!

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As much as one can do for his safety then. I also mountain ski sometimes but usually not in wild. Ski resorts and so on. But oc course, wild skiing has different kind of magic to it.

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Stunning shots! You mentioned that the temperature was -30 C. I assume this place is somewhere in the northern part of the province where the days are clearly shorter than in the south around winter solstice in addition to the lower temperatures as well.

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This was taken near Revelstoke British Columbia, North, but not that far north. For a few weeks a year it gets down to -20 - -30 C without the windchill. Also it was higher up in the mountains at around 2000 meters :). It gets dark around 4pm on the Solstice.

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(Edited)

Hello Vincent,

I sent this to your personal website. Can you please respond and confirm its the real you. We get lots of imposters on HIVE.


Hello Vincent,

This is @slobberchops from HIVE. Can you please verify you have recently started posting your content on the HIVE blockchain? Otherwise, it's an imposter posing as you (and making crypto from your work).

Thanks, @slobberchops (a mid-sized HIVE stakeholder).

.. and now...

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These were almost too good to be true... so, i checked yesterday. He has been verified in the OCD server. Thanks for your diligence too.
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Thanks @castleberry, several of us are going to wait until he personally responds either on HIVE or via other means before giving any support.

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Sure thing! I was fortunate to have gotten a swift response in the private message on Twitter. I followed the link directly from the website and he mentioned the title of the post in the pm on Twitter without clicking my link to his blog. That was good enough for me. Thanks again for keeping an eye out!

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Hey Slobber chops, aka Bryn!

Thank you, I appreciate your concern and for looking out for me. It is indeed me and I have responded to your message on Twitter!

I just made my accounts a few days ago and am still figuring out the platform. (Hopefully I'm doing it right 😅).

Glad to connect here and thanks again for your help.

Have a great day,

Vince

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When someone out of the blue arrives posting images such as yours we get a little suspicious. Unlike Twitter and Instagram, there's 'magic money' here and that's the difference. Now you are verified, you wont be challenged anymore.

Hopefully I'm doing it right

Don't repeat content and make sure it's all yours; there are many undocumented 'rules' and then again there are none. You are responding to comments well, I don't see any problems with what you are doing. Welcome to HIVE. 😃

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Vincent, awesome photography! When I joined Hive back in the day... First, I was accused of plagiarism on my own work, but it was in fact someone who used my work (so I was welcomed with due diligence and concerns of plagiarism for the work of the photographer), not much later, I had to put a shoe on my head to verify myself back in the day. You are going to love it here.

Insane photography.

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hahah I've already gotten multiple messages to verify myself, although I didn't have to put a shoe on my head 😜

Thank you for the warm welcome

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Astonishing photos, man. I've been ski touring for a few years before, and recently I got into adventure motorcycling. But your photos open that memory box in my head and make me wanna go back to ski touring. Winter is so much better in the mountains when the conditions are just right.

If you're wondering why I'm not doing both, it's because they are both expensive. Especially motorcycling. 😇

Cheers from Romania. Enjoy that Canadian winter. One of my ski instructors did a few years of freeride in Canada. And during courses he talked a lot about his experience there. You're blessed with that backcountry.

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These pictures are awesome, great work👍

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Every picture tells it's own story and they are all magical.
Well done Vincent and all of the best for your future on Hive.

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Wow these are all amazing! First one is an amazing view, but then I also love the story of the powder day on Revelstoke! I've only ever had a chance to ride small back country hills, and haven't yet had a chance to go off the beaten path on a mountain yet.

Took a look for other snow sports communities, and so far I haven't seen a huge snow sport community here. Just one called Freestyle Sport, which isn't very active. That said, I'm a part of the SkateHive community, and we're working on onboarding a community of skiers / snowboarders called Shredding Sassy. So if they join, there will be a large amount of other snow sports enthusiasts to form a community with.

If you need a hand on building a web3 sports community, feel free to reach out to the @skatehive community, and we'll gladly share our experiences from building our community.

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Revelstoke was my home and favorite place of all time for the past 9 years

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Yeah not sure why I'm living in the prairies still.
I need to do this more often, and not just on my vacation time.

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