It was 5:23 a.m. when our alarms went off. It was time to grab our gear and motor over to Breck for our 6 a.m. ride up the mountain. Photographer extraordinaire Nate Abbott and myself rallied up the road with the full moon as our guide and met up with Breck’s Amy Sabreen, filmers Rex and Kate, pro poacher Grant Savage and the star of the show: Bobby Brown.

The mission for the day was to shoot a photo that we envisioned beforehand: sick action on Breck’s biggest table shot from a crane. The idea was to have Bobby big in the frame, while using Breck’s picturesque backdrop to fill it out.

Breck somehow managed to bring Keystone’s cat/cherry picker down the road and to be perched atop atop the table. Nate Abbott set up his army of flashes, got in the bucket, elevated to 15 feet, and it was game on.

Grant Savage accompanied Bobby for the shoot, playing as his wingman and inspiration while Bobby lapped the park via sled for two full hours. With not another soul in sight (Breck closed down the park for us), it was nothing but crisp blue sky, the hum of the snowcat, and Bobby and Grant spinning with style for Nate’s cameras.

By 10 a.m., we were mowing on eggs and hash browns at Columbine Cafe, a whole day’s work put in before most people got to the mountain. Epic.

The shots are scheduled to run in the 2011 Freeskier Buyer’s Guide (dropping this fall), so be sure to pick up a copy and see the fruits of our labour in glossy hardcopy.