You know those ‘bail sections’ in your favorite shred flick? The shots of a rider overshooting the landing, coming up short on a gap, pinging a rail, or catching a downhill edge? Or one of the worst: decking on the pipe then falling into the flat bottom. Bails are the agony of defeat, an evil shadow to the thrill of victory that shines so bright on a stomped landing. Getting served up due to a miscalculation of speed, trajectory or rotation is part of it, especially when you’re at a new spot, with a new trick; it’s a part of the game.
Good snowboarders will always have their fair share of first tries and minimal takes, with “the battle” looming on any given day. Often testing the mental toughness, and physical durability of a rider; to continue until the clip is earned. This image of Zak Hale is the sum of all these parts; high speed, tech trick, lots of stairs, plenty of metal, high consequence, and the ability to not give up. It was a session where vocal reassurance from all involved played a big role in the continued motivation to regroup, walk back up the stairs, and say “ready.” At day’s end, Zak rode away with one of his best clips ever, knowing good and well that paying to play was there. He walked away a victor, well on his way to another completed video part. — Dean Blotto Gray
Zak Hale, Ogden, Utah
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This month, Burton’s principal photographer, Dean Blotto Gray gives us a glimpse into archive of his illustrious career. Blotto’s eye has produced some of the most iconic images of this generation, with riders including Jussi Oksanen, Mikey Rencz, Mark McMorris, Zak Hale, Gigi Rüf, Jeremy Jones, Danny Davis, Roope Tonteri, and countless more. He is one of our favorite photographers, and we are proud to feature him in our inaugural story for the Those Days series.
See Those Days 001 here
Those Days is a new, weekly series from Snowboard Mag that gives photographers a platform to share some of the most memorable moments from their careers. Each month, we give a different photographer the platform to share photos that spur feelings of nostalgia, triumph, pain; anything with a story they want to tell. Our culture’s history is vast and full of these special, fleeting moments in time. Those Days is here to bring them to you.
