by Konrad Bartelski
Behind the Image
The pioneering big-mountain skier, Ptor Spricenieks, who has laid first tracks down some spectacular peaks around the world, including the North Face of Mt Robson, charmed me, in his usual amiable persuasive way, to make the extremely long trek to the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan. There, we were blessed with the most wonderful isolation at 8,500ft living in two Yurts in the depth of Central Asia, surrounded by endless fresh snow all around. Ptor proudly shared the endless options for hiking up the 11,000 ft high, Terskey Ala-Too range of mountains, many of which had never been touched by skis before. Here there are many challenges working with the heavy photographic gear in such a harsh environment and without a readily available power supply. Fortunately, banks of solar panels hung off the trees helped keep the essentials going, especially as it was down to -18°C in the Yurts at night. This is the moment when our host, Ryan Koupal boarded down the majestic ridge.
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