A Railtrip to Anchorage with the World’s Best Female Jibbers – Part 1

UPDATED: Check out Part Two HERE

Words & Photos by Erin Hogue 

Canada’s winter came to an abrupt end this year, after a season with a constantly sketchy snow pack and almost good snow, it was time to head north. A sweet crew of ladies formed consisting of; Hana Beaman, Leanne Pelosi, Erin Comstock, Corinne Pasela, Danyale Patterson and Joanie Robichaud. They made their way to the seemingly last place to still have rails with snow, Anchorage, Alaska.

Jibbing isn’t the first thing to come to mind when you think of Alaska, in fact it’s probably the last, but what the world has been waiting for, and what the world needs, is a Girls Only street video, and there is no better way to finish it off than with a railtrip to Alaska. This year, ROXY teamed up with the all girl snowboard film company Peep Show, to make it happen. And so, what started out as a 5-day trip to Anchorage with P.S. Webisode’s, quickly turned into two solid weeks shralping in the streets.

Gotta keep things light

Over the past few years, the residents of Anchorage have been overrun with professional skiers, snowboarders, filmers and photographers all taking over their neighborhoods’, the hand rails, the ledges and well, anything thing you can possibly jib. This seems to have led to a slight back arching of the local justice system, and a slightly over the top approach to anyone out getting shots.

Prep that shit

Danyale over Hana

On one such occasion, we were out shooting a creeper, near some unsuspecting residents abode, when a rogue security guard accosted us. Now, I'm not entirely positive but I'm pretty sure, being a dual citizen of Canada and the United States means that one can't get deported. However, this power tripping security guard, who somehow had more judicial stance than the actual police, seemed to think otherwise. Luckily, after some serious sweet talking, we were given the legit Alaskan community service option; pay a $500 fine or chip away at the 8inches of ice covering the sidewalk. Clearly, option two was the safer bet. 

Corinne gettng it done

End of a long day

Nothing in Anchorage seemed to be easy. Some days we would work so hard for shots and it just didn’t come together, "We got kicked out before we even got out of the car" – Erin Comstock

You spend the whole day driving to perfect spots, setting them up, testing the speed, getting everyone psyched and ready to go, and right when you are about to hit it, security shows up, pulls the ‘power trip’ card, and that’s it, all over. The hard work ends up being for nothing, perhaps even resulting in a fine or in our case some hard labour. But, there are rough times shooting everywhere, from no snow, to unfortunate conditions, to injuries, the list is endless. As a photographer, a filmer or a rider, you have to press on. For every hard time there are a thousand great ones so, we kept going, and ended up with a few epic shots that made it all worth it.   

The long search

Stay tuned for part two of the story next week and in the meantime check out more of Erin Hogue's amazing work on her website HERE

UPDATED: Check out Part Two HERE