No Heli, No Problem: Leo Taillefer and Thomas Delfino Take On Alaska’s Infamous Storm Troopers

With the goal of riding some of the most beautiful spines in the world, snowboarder Thomas Delfino took along fellow Frenchman and Picture Organic Clothing athlete Leo Taillefer to the majestic Alaskan fishing town of Haines.  Back in 2015 on a recon trip photographer, snowboarder and Haines local Zach Clanton along with pilot Drake Olsen, the unofficial mayor of these mountains, was first shown the spine filled face dubbed Storm Troopers. Clanton was blown away by the face, and knew he had to gather a crew to ride it.

Heli-skiing was banned from the legendary face several years ago, so Taillefer, Delfino, Clanton and mountain guide Tony Pavlantos — a known promoter of the human-powered experience — geared up for the trip of a lifetime at Zach's home in Haines. After Thomas spent a solo night out on the glacier, the entire crew was flown out by Drake Olsen to set up a base camp as close as they could to Storm Troopers. Watch the full-length film, presented by Picture Organic Clothing and Almo Film, as Thomas Delfino and Leo Taillefer take on Storm Troopers with nothing but their splitboards, skis and skins.