THE STORY BEHIND THE COVER PHOTO: Benchetler Tells All
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During spring '07, Mammoth skier Chris Benchetler and photographer Christian Pondella cruised up to Mammoth’s Unbound Park for a day of skiing and shooting. And what a day it turned out to be. Benchetler and Pondella produced such a unique photo—one that few of us have ever seen—that made it a no-brainer to put it on the January Photo Annual cover.
But the story behind the shot makes the photo even that much better. I caught up with the 21-year-old Benchetler after he got a rod taken out of his collarbone to discuss how it went down the day of the shoot.
Powder: First off, who conceived the idea of shooting this sort of photo—you or Pondella?
Chris Benchetler: It was totally Pondella. He called and asked me if I’d be willing to do it. And I said, “Of course.”
P: Tell me how the day went down.
CB: During the day, we practiced a few times because it was a night shoot. Pondella shot during the daytime and they were looking good. When night rolled around, we got out the flashes and they closed down the mountain for a private shoot.
P: Explain the contraption that Pondella strapped to your arm in order to take the photo.
CB: He connected a big camera with a fish-eye lens to a baseball catcher’s leg guard, so that the camera wouldn’t fall out of my hand in case I dropped it in the air. It was connected to my forearm under my jacket. I had to hold the camera in my hand, which was a bit tough—made the wrist a little sore.
P: But you guys were having trouble with the remote and flash, right?
CB: Yeah, you can’t hit the remote trigger for the flash and the camera to go off at the same time. So the trigger had to be connected to the camera; it couldn’t be wireless. So Pondella had some cable that he connected to the camera and ran it through my sleeve underneath my jacket and I held the trigger in my mouth. So when I was in the middle of the air and I felt good with a good grab, then I would just bite down. And that would fire the flash.
P: Wow! In your mouth? So on a scale of one to 10, how hard did you have to bite down on the trigger?
CB: Not that hard. I had to bite down to make sure it went off, but I wasn’t about to bite my tongue off or anything. Just a nice chomp. So I’d say about a six on the scale.
P: What about the jump? How big was it and what did you throw?
CB: It was the middle jump at Mammoth, which is about 60 to 70 feet. I thought about throwing a switch 9, but I kept it to a cork 3.
P: What was that like flying through the air with an outstretched arm and a camera in your hand while trying not to bite your tongue off and biting at the right time? ‘Cause it sounds really easy.
CB: That was the hardest part of the operation. I focused on clearing the jump and having enough speed. And I had to make sure I had my grab. So I just stuck my arm where it felt comfortable, and we practiced during the day, which gave me a better idea of where my arm needed to be. So I made sure I had my speed dialed, had my grab, arm was where it needed to be, and the trigger in my mouth.
P: So the question has to be asked: Were you suffering from uni-poleon complex? Do you have a pole in your right hand?
CB: Yes. No, I only used one pole, but you can’t tell anyone that!
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