Iconic Zion Canyon

Angel’s Landing

 

Angel's Landing

The trailhead to Angel's Landing begins with a spectacular view of the buttress from the ground-level.

by Parker Alec Cross

It has been a very long time since my family got together to do any adventures. Growing children and complex schedules, combine with a split-family home and parents living in different cities all complicate the process of merging time and energies in order to successfully plan and carry-out a vacation.

I recently had spent a little bit of time exploring Zion National Park, but despite having been there a few times, I’ve never had the opportunity to hike to the top of Angel’s Landing, one of the most iconic vistas in the entire park. Continue Reading

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Climbing: Merging my Worlds

by Parker Alec Cross

My passion for splitboarding, and my increased desire for proficiency in mountaineering in order to ride bigger and better terrain, has caused a couple of recreational collisions over the past year or so. I never thought of myself as someone who could get super into rock climbing, and although I admit that I’ve wanted to do it for years, I never had a core group of friends that was passionate enough about the sport for me to get any actual access to real climbing.

Sure, I’ve spent a few days in the climbing gym here and there, but it wasn’t until late last summer that I ever actually was able to climb on natural rock. Now I’m addicted. One of the rad things about rock climbing is how actively the skills you develop translate into mountaineering and climbing in the winter. The techniques you master in rock climbing are absolutely essential for effective mountaineers to understand and have practice doing. The lines of my sports have been progressively blending, and although I never even considered that rock climbing and snowboarding could be, in any remote sense, related, I’m beginning to discover that they are more blended together than I realize, and it’s a realization that next year’s videos will visually identify for you, the humble viewer. Continue Reading

Wilson and Keith on the Pool Arch rappell

Rock of Ages

by Parker Alec Cross

It’s sublime, to me, to see the power of nature. The bulk of my year is spent seeing what water and ice can do when it is super-cooled and wrapped around an aerosol, but for the first time in several years, I was able to witness what water can do when it is erodes sandstone.

Southern Utah is home to some of the most impressive rock formation in the entire world, and the principal eastern hub city of Moab has grown in recent years into one of the premier tourist attractions in the world, but still only housing around 5,000 full-time residents. A principle crossing of the Colorado River during the 1800′s, the city is a mecca for rock climbing, canyoneering, off-road exploration, hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and river rafting (among other recreational activities). Part of this large recreational push is the fact that the city is located just a few miles from two National Parks and one State Park, including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and Dead Horse Point.

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Beit Lehi

I left on Friday for Jerusalem, and it’s been a totally amazing experience. Thusfar it has included incredible archeological sites, almost getting arrested by Israeli police, having my passport checked at every turn (but nobody else in my group), swimming in the Mediterranean, diarrhea, amazing food, really horrible food, beautiful sunrises, underground rivers, desert slums, anti-American sentiments, unrestrained expenditures, and a lot of phlegm (AKA the Hebrew language). I don’t have time to do a full recap right now, but here’s a bunch of images from the trip so far!

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Dew Tour SLC

My buddy Kit Nordfeldt called me up recently and asked if I’d be stoked to shoot photos of the Dew Tour. I said, “Duh! Of course I would!” He said he’d get me a media credential if I did the photo work for Clear Channel Radio SLC and I could get on the floor of the Skate Vert Finals. It was pretty cool to be down in the media pen, and apparently I was on the TV a bunch of times as well because I was posted up in the perfect spot to get picked up by one of the broadcast cameras. My phone started going off with a bunch of my friends saying I got a sweet close-up on the TV. Yeah, I’m famous. I know. It’s extremely impressive getting down low with these events and being able to really see just how big and fast these athletes are riding. And I almost got teary eyed when Shawn stomped his winning run because it was seriously amazing. Feeling the positive energy of these guys as they succeed and fail at their goals; it’s almost tangible. The air feels thick with it. I’m a fan. Continue Reading

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Oh, Beachley!

Luke Beachley and Teri Mitchell are tying the knot in October, and I was privileged enough to take their engagement photos this past weekend. I always get a ton of crap from my photographer contemporaries because when I go out on a shoot I usually end up shooting fewer than 40 photos, and I’ve been trying to get a little bit better for the sake of the clients, because they like to have a lot of photos chilling at the reception, so I made sure to snap quite a few images of these two folks. Although, I only took about 50. Continue Reading

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Great Balls of Fire

Sweat drips down my face as the open palm of my left hand elevates the 40mm orange ball near vertically before striking it with my paddle. A good service, followed by a good return; the sound of the hollow filament impacting the playing surface echoes in my ears as I try to increase the speed and intensity of my returns.

Despite my best efforts, I still lose. Beaten. By a thirteen year old boy. Continue Reading

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Ferocious Oaks

I’ve had a crush on Christel Duckwitz for like two and a half years, but in that period of time we’ve only taken pictures together once. She’s recently become one of my best friends and it was cool because last night she invited me to come watch her and her band, Ferocious Oaks, to perform at a poetry reading in downtown Salt Lake City outside the Kayo Gallery on 2nd and 3rd. I was more than happy to oblige, and after getting a 32oz Slurpee, I could’ve stood and listened to music and poetry all night. Sadly for me, however, it was only a 1.5 hour performance. Continue Reading

Timpanogos Summit

Timpanogos 7/18/2010

Friends and I decided to climb Mount Timpanogos (11,749 ft) on Sunday July 18, 2010. Special thanks to Andy, Anna, Russ, and Ryan for tagging along on our shindig, despite the lightning and the rain.

This is one of the most memorable adventures I’ve had in recent years, and I think the video speaks completely for itself. I hope you enjoy it. For an additional writeup you can check out Andy Earl‘s blog. Continue Reading

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Pelican Point

Pelican Point is home to a quarry where contractors glean all their structural fill rock for use in marshy or high water-table areas. It’s a busy, busy zone during the day, with trucks coming to and fro starting from about 6 am until dark. But at night, it’s a ghost-town, and the perfect place to have some solitude and setup an overnight time-lapse session. I’ve been wanting to do an overnighter for awhile, and I’ve been waiting for the right moment. It’s hard to nail it perfectly, and a lot of of the time, you can end up with a full night wasted, and a relatively boring series. I got to Pelican Point about 1 am, and setup my camera only to realize that I had left all my Compact Flash cards at home. Fernanda and I cruised over to the Wal-Mart in Saratoga Springs and grabbed a quick 4GB. On the settings I was using, I only had enough memory space for 241 images, so I did some math and decided that a six hour time-lapse could be condensed into roughly 216 images, if played back at 24 frames per second, and end up as 9 seconds of video. So I took a picture every 90 seconds to get the time lapse you see below. I don’t think I could have hit it on a better day, and I had a very amazing morning watching as the sun crept above the horizon and bathed my bare feet in warmth as I lay in the back of my car with the back hatch open to the air. Couldn’t ask for a more pleasant time. Here’s a few more pictures and then the video. It turned out so sick. The song is by Love As Laughter, called Coconut Flakes, and it’s from the movie 180º South, which is one of the best documentaries ever (in my humble opinion). Enjoy. Continue Reading