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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Plummeting At Breakneck Speed

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Joy of the Crash
for Anthony, the whole point is to crash

The weather during our visit to the Makino Ski Area wasn't the only thing that was wild... some sledding was pretty wild, too.

Each run started with a long climb....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/16, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Clawing Up The Final Few Meters

It's difficult to show the steepness. It was pretty steep. Few people actually ventured all the way to the top of the groomed area, where we came a few times...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/16, ISO 320 — map & image data — nearby photos
Vista from the Top

It was exactly like the safe and wholesome summertime sledding I wrote about in “Slippery Green Slidy Day of Fun”, except for two little things: the cold, and the ever-present threat of a horrible and painful death.

If you started at the top and weren't careful, you'd be completely out of control before you got half way down, and even worse, there were some spine-compressing moguls hidden at the bottom, and if you hit them at speed, you were in for a world of hurt. So, like skiing, the ever-present danger of disfigurement or death added to, er, the thrill.

I could keep control fine, so Anthony and I went together sometimes from the top, but he never did by himself. He did go from lower down by himself plenty of times...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Sure What He's Gotten Himself Into
he'd veered off course, to a much bumpier area near the edge

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
About To Catch Some Air

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Only Possible Outcome
wipeout

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38 mm — ¹/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Yup, Wiped Out

Our first foray into sledding didn't last long, but it was really fun. Eventually we went back to skiing...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 56 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/22, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Practicing Control
unlike sledding, crashing on skis not so fun

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/13, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Enter Exhibit A

He was going fairly slowly and I was planning on taking a shot as he zipped by, but he suddenly crashed — the only time all day — and did not like the experience at all, especially the super-ouchie thumb that resulted. I worried that he'd seriously sprained it, so ran to the ski patrol to get some ice (just joking, I grabbed a handful of snow, silly) and he liked that even less. So, I thought it was a good time to break for lunch.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/2.8, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Kitsune Udon
through the fog condensing on my cold lens

He had trouble with the chopsticks at first because of his thumb, but by the time we were done, he'd forgotten about his injury. Refreshed and healed, we then went back for some real sledding....

Continued here...