Precariously perched on a Volkswagen-sized boulder on the banks of the Lochsa River, I crane my neck and lean out just a little further, slowly panning my camera back and forth. Through my eyepiece I am tracking a dark silhouette as it slices to the right, darts back left and then races down the face of a massive wave. A moment later, it’s airborne.
On this rainy spring day, in the heart of Idaho, I find myself photographing a big-wave surfer from Hawaii. There’s no cool ocean breeze today though, just the biting cold and crisp scent of conifers.
As Chris slowly flutters back down to earth, I feel the anxiety building. The soundtrack to this beautiful dance I am shooting is the deafening roar of whitewater. On the face of the wave, Chris has complete control, executing moves with precision and fluidity. As long as he’s on top of his board, he is in control. If he falls into the water, all bets are off. This is still the Lochsa.
Authors note: We had a chance to catch up with Skip Armstrong and Thatcher Bean, from Forge Motion Pictures, while they were on location shooting “The Warrior” for the next Of Souls + Water segment.
Some of the images in the gallery came from an earlier nighttime shoot that we had the opportunity to do with the Warrior, Chris Peterson, for the cover of the July NRS catalog. During that weekend of shooting, Chris injured his ankle and leg, just weeks before he was set to shoot video with Forge. Not letting a few bad ligaments slow him down, he was shredding in true Warrior fashion. And the kayakers in the photos are Skip and Thatcher. In addition to being superb filmmakers, they’re also good ol’ dirtbag kayakers and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get in some surfing on this great river section.
—Jacob Boling, The Man Behind the Lens
cool pics. looks like you need some higher quality nrs stickers, though…
Thanks Pete! You are right, the graphics were definitely a problem during the first shoot. with the cold water and a painted board, I just couldn’t get anything to stick. We eventually figured it out, with a little bit of Idaho-ingenuity. We stripped the board down with some Buffalo Trace whiskey and the sticker worked just fine.
Impressive, but I’d like to see NRS promote the use of helmets and PFDs for all river boaters. A head injury affects many people, a death even more.
Kelly, Thanks for your comment. This is a topic of much debate, and one I personally haven’t formed a clear judgement on. PFDs are bothersome to surfers, who have to lie on their chests to paddle into waves. I’ve yet to see a non-stand-up surfer wear one. Like anything, I think it’s about risk management. Namely, choosing to surf only on waves with clean runouts, such as Pipeline. When these pics were shot, the banks were lined with guides and other experienced, safety-conscious boaters, and I can attest that we all felt comfortable with the level of risk given Chris’s vast expertise and the favorable conditions. -Mark