Twelve Feet of Fresh – Tahoe in Photos

This past winter, Canadian-Swiss photographer Aaron Schwartz and crew chased the snow to Tahoe, and the team of six backcountry gurus hiked and splitboarded everything they could get on top of. Aaron’s elegant, visually simplified approach to his craft sets this work apart from all whom have come before, and with this crew’s collective of fresh eyes, they were able to produce this new-wave Tahoe portfolio. – Basher

In the 21 years of putting this magazine together, we’ve seen plenty of amazing photography come from the Lake Tahoe backcountry. Even long before our inception, there was a crew of freestyle snowboarding trail blazers who set the tone of what was possible on a snowboard. The likes of Terry Kidwell, Chuck Barfoot, and Tom Sims come to mind as some of the most influential and iconic in that era. From the nooks and crannies of the Donner Summit area, these pioneers made history, and it was usually Bud Fawcett behind the lens, documenting it all.

Over the years, through the work of Fall Line Films, Standard Films, and Mack Dawg Productions, countless Tahoe spots have been immortalized through dozens of snowboarding movies. If you’re a student of snowboarding cinema, you just know Tahoe when you see it.

It’s rare, though, that a photo submission comes our way, full of inspiring photos in their own right from the Tahoe area, but we don’t recognize the specific locations. It’s even rarer that an entire crew shows up to ride and film Tahoe, and not a single person in the crew has ever set foot there. The vastness of it can be daunting, but with the excitement of fresh eyes and legs, apparently, there are still stones remaining to be overturned.