TGR On Location: Lofoten

In early April, Ian McIntosh, Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, and Christina Lusti headed to Norway’s Lofoten Archipelago alongside cinematographers Ben Dann, Dutch Simpson, and Austin Hopkins. Getting to Kabelvåg, where the team was based, took the better part of three days, but that wasn’t necessarily as much of a headache as one might expect. “Getting there was actually one of the coolest parts of the trip,” said Dann. “Flying above coastal Norway was incredible—our faces were glued to the windows the entire time.”

The team arrived at the tail end of aurora season, and were lucky enough to see the northern lights on each of their first three nights in the archipelago. “We were pretty worked from some long days of travel,” said Dann, “but it was easy to motivate everyone to wake up for some shots under the aurora.”

The first few days were also the best ski days of the trip. “The snow wasn’t amazing, but we were really hoping that things would get better as time went on,” recalled Dann. Unfortunately, snow conditions only worsened as the trip went on. “It was unseasonably warm in the area, and we had issues with rocks and rime coming down on our heads as we were approaching objectives,” said Dann.

Luckily, Ian, Sage, and Christina are incredible skiers able to rip under almost any conditions. “I was amazed to see them nuking down pitches that I wouldn’t even be stoked to ski under normal conditions,” said Dann. “That’s really what separates the professionals from the rest. It’s not about ripping deep powder turns, it’s about straight-lining a gnarly pitch in subpar snow conditions.”

Christina had to leave Norway early due to knee problems, but not before proving why she is considered one of the world’s premier big-mountain skiers. The team was sad to see her go, but happy that she was taking care of herself.