Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project

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Ray Atkeson - Ski and Snow Country

The photo captions in this book are by Warren Miller, who also wrote the opening essay, "Black & White & Snow All Over." Miller describes meeting Ray Atkeson in 1950 and learning "how he composed a ski action shot, about backlight, about how to trust your own eye no matter what the light meter said, how to frame a tree, a skier, and the lodge but not have the cars in the parking lot in the same picture." Miller writes (p. 12) that "Ray was the only photographer to chronicle the western mountains of America and the emerging ski industry during its early years." I've noted a small selection of photos relevant to this project.

p. 13: Photo of two skiers swinging turns among seracs on the Eliot Glacier, Mt Hood (fine).

p. 16: Photo of skiers loading the rope tow at Paradise, Mt Rainier, in 1938. The view is up the slope with the mountain in the background.

p. 27: Photo of a skier swinging turns in corn snow on Eliot Glacier, Mt Hood.

p. 48: Photo of skiers crowding the slopes at Snoqualmie Pass, circa 1954.

p. 60: Photo of a skier side-stepping through rime-plastered trees near timberline on Mt Hood (fine).

p. 100: Photo of skiers gathered on the rocks below Eliot Glacier, Mt Hood, having left tracks in the corn snow on the glacier above (fine).

p. 112: Photo of Mt St Helens under winter snow from Spirit Lake in 1943.

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