Ahmet Dadali in Ogden, Utah. Photo: Erik Seo.
Skier Ahmet Dadali and photographer Erik Seo share 10 tidbits about the day they teamed up for one last season’s most memorable images
Sliding this billboard railing in Ogden, Utah, wasn’t a walk in the park. But, taking the easy street has never been Ahmet Dadali’s style. The urban-skiing maestro tackled this feature while producing an edit for the 2016 X Games Real Ski contest; the video-based competition pitted the world’s best urban skiers against one another for a shot at
X Games-branded medals and big prize money. And to think… all it took was a dare.
1.
“I was triple-doggy-dared by some heavily-bearded men to slide this rail.” — Dadali
2.
“Ahmet took a generator and powered angle grinder to work off the rust and nubs on the rail.” — Seo
3.
“We shoveled a lot the day before Ahmet hit the 12-foot-tall jump. Then we shoveled some more. Old, salty snow doesn’t really pack into a jump very well. It was like a swamp in there.” — Seo
4.
“First hits went like this: Too small, build the jump bigger. Too small, build the jump bigger. Then, way too big. Shave the lip.” — Dadali
5.
“A cop came as soon as we got the setup done, but the claim of being an X Games competitor somehow sent him on his way.” — Dadali
6.
“The landing was so slushy. I fell to my side from over 20 feet and it felt like landing in a hot tub.” — Dadali
7.
“Ahmet went about eight feet over the handrail that sits 30 feet above the ground and landed sideways in the swamp way past the landing.” — Seo
8.
“Ahmet tomahawked and face-planted into the swamp so many times.” — Seo
9.
“The rail was so wobbly, it was ready to break at any point. Scary when you come from a big angle into a lipslide.” — Dadali
10.
“Ahmet greased the rail, sucked up the pile of crappy snow for a landing and somehow rode it out, back into the swamp. I thought it was impossible, but as usual, Ahmet blew my mind and nailed this one.” — Seo
