The boy in the field who has everything

Blair Habenicht,  Haines , Alaska

Heliboarding in Alaska usually take place in the later spring months when the days are longer and the snow has had the whole season to pile up. This trip was different. We were the first group to go up there for the season as it was mid February.  The days were short, the temps were cold and the snow stability was yet undetermined. The guides that do a lot of the reconnaissance work had just begun to test the conditions for the season and we were right there with them, as we would reveal precarious evidence of avalanches waiting to happen. Nobody had ridden this line so far this year and Blair was the first one into it. Actually, I had the fortune of being the first one since I had to get down and actually shoot the photo.  It can be a fairly puckerish experience creeping over the ledge with camera bag in tow to get to the spot.  It didn’t take too many turns for me to get to the point where I saw this amazing spire of fangoria unveil itself as it towered directly above a totally virgin and pure patch of powder. Any fear I had was long gone at the sight of it.  Blair was up top waiting for my call that I was ready to shoot and then the rest just fell into place.  This was Blair’s first trip ever to ride Alaska. A trip that had probably been in his dreams longer than it hadn’t.

Blair Habenicht’s name translates in German to “Boy in the field who has nothing” Well in this field, he clearly has it all.

This is what dreams are made of and the photo exists as evidence that commitment to follow those dreams sooner or later lands you in the dream itself.