Words & photos by Rocky Maloney

After a long and intense week at the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour, the crew at Monster Energy decided to utilize Snowbasin's jumps and their amazing superpipe for a team photo and film shoot. I was lucky to enough to be invited, and joined Nate Abbott, Kyle Decker, Duncan Lake and Michael Clarke to help cover the shoot.

Dave Smidt from Monster worked with Snowbasin to have a two-day shoot in the pipe, but unfortunately the monstrosity was not ready the for the first night of shooting. Rather than calling it off, Snowbasin offered up the last jump in the slopestyle course, and the talented gaggle of athletes got down to business.

Kevin Rolland

Jossi Wells

Alex Schlopy

Monster athletes Alex Schlopy, Tom Wallisch, Jossi Wells, Kevin Rolland, Justin Dorey were all in attendance, along with the injured Colby James West, who was on hand to watch, cheer on his teammates and commentate throughout the evening. After arriving at Snow Basin around 4pm under cloudy overcast skies, everyone got set up and was ready to shoot just as the clouds cleared and the winds died down. We were then were treated to a beautiful Utah sunset amidst some of the most stylish skiers in the world putting on a show.

The crew gearing up.

Justin Dorey

After a sweet hour-long session, everyone started dropping out one-by-one until Wallisch (as usual) was the last man standing, hitting the jump until the light was completely gone.

Tom Wallisch...

In contrast to the short-lived weather scare the day before, the second day of shooting brought beautiful bluebird skies and spring-like temperatures. The day began with breakfast in the lodge at Snowbasin, and after everyone's bellies were nice and full, the troops made their way up the the hill to wage war in the superpipe for a short day shoot.

Kevin Rolland

Justin Dorey

Jossi Wells

Kevin Rolland, Justin Dorey and Jossi Wells were all on hand to GTS, and although the Snowbasin superpipe saw a lot of action during the previous week, the Monster crew figured why not get a couple more sessions in (and stress-free ones at that) on what some called the best pipe they've skied all year. After a solid three-hour go at it, everyone was ready to take a break until sunset.

Justin Dorey...

Kevin Rolland

After a few hours of resting and some time to recharge batteries and dump a pile of CF Cards, everything was set for the final shoot. From strobe lights to fog machines, Monster brought it all in an effort to make the night as special as possible. Joining Rolland, Dorey and Wells was Sarah Burke and Peter Olenick, all of whom were consistently whipped up to the top by snowmobiles in 30 seconds or less, allowing them to engage in non-stop flights down the pipe for three hours straight. Unfortunately still suffering from a nagging and serious knee injury, Peter Olenick couldn't get as wild as he wanted in the pipe, but as always, was happy to enjoy the company of the crew and riders. Here's hoping for a quick recovery for you Pete! At about 8pm, the shoot came to a close, the geared was packed up and the riders took off towards their next destinations, allowing things at Snowbasin to return to normal after a hectic week. Enjoy the shots below, and be sure to check out Nate Abbott's coverage in Freeskier for most stellar photos from the shoot.

Kevin Rolland

Sarah Burke

Jossi Wells