By Erik Leidecker Alaska backcountry pilot, Drake Olson, waits for a lull in the wind and then guns the throttle. His plane, a highly modified Cessna 180 equipped with skis for snow landings, lifts off. circles around and heads back towards the tiny airport in Haines, Alaska.

By Reggie Crist Following eight days and more than 10 feet of new snow, the skies finally parted for our first “bluebird” day in Haines. The early morning pink light instantly generates enough ambient heat to evaporate the remaining layer of low-lying clouds.

By Zach Crist Although we’ve had a few great days of skiing in the last week, we haven’t had much in the way of sunshine to document the magic of Haines the way it deserves.

By Reggie Crist I recently took a trip to Southern Utah to ski terrain that hasn’t seen this much snow in upwards of 30 years. A giant amphitheater of towering red rocks above 10,000 ft., the conditions provided a great adventure through untouched lands.

First Ascent ski guides, Reggie and Zach Crist, design and test gear from head to foot working with both Eddie Bauer and Northwest ski company K2. This past week, they spent a few days skiing powder in Monarch, Colorado to capture photography in support of the 2011 K2 ski line.

We are excited to welcome competitive extreme skier, and movie and television skier, Lynsey Dyer, to our Eddie Bauer/First Ascent family! We’d also like to congratulate her on her recognition as Best Female Skier at the 2010 Powder Video Awards hosted by Powder magazine.