Photographing athletes at the highest level
A first hand experience of a photographer during Dew Tour at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
Haruna Matsumoto off the second hit in women’s superpipe finals at Dew Tour Dec. 19.
Photographing Dew Tour was an absolutely incredible experience. I spent four days there, and every day was unexpected and amazing. After arriving at Copper Mountain and getting settled in to shoot this major Olympic-qualifying event, I talked to the ski patrol and caught a snowmobile ride up to the top of the superpipe.
I started the day shooting up at the start area with the athletes and then hiked up and down the entire side of the superpipe, leaning over the edge to get shots of the men’s snowboarders flying over my head and over the edge of the pipe. It was incredible to spend my first day watching some of the biggest names in snowboarding throwing huge tricks over my head as if it were nothing.
The second day, I went back to ski patrol and got a ride to the bottom of the slopestyle course, where I shot the men’s ski slopestyle finals. I started at the bottom of the course and eventually hiked my way through thigh-deep snow up the outside of the course so I could get access to multiple big-air jumps and the rail garden up top.
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Andre Hoeflich performs a grab during superpipe qualifiers at Dew Tour Dec. 16
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Etienne Geoffroy Gagnon grabs his ski during ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Finn Bulous grabs his ski during ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Red Gerard spins off the last kicker on his last run at men’s slopestyle at Dew Tour Dec. 18. Gerard placed first in the event with a score of 93.25.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Andre Hoeflich performs a method grab in the men’s superpipe finals at Dew Tour Dec. 19.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Valentino Guseli grabs his board and flips over the camera crew during men’s superpipe finals at Dew Tour Dec. 19.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Andre Hoeflich during superpipe qualifiers at Dew Tour Dec. 16
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Finn Bulous crosses his skis during ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Evan Mceachran flips during ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Eileen Gu on one of the rails in women’s ski street style finals at Dew Tour Dec. 18. Gu placed 3rd in the event and won best trick with a Switch Lip 270 Pretzel 270.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Max Moffatt in the air before one of the rails during men’s ski street style finals at Dew Tour Dec. 18. Moffatt placed 3rd and won best trick with a Back 540 Switch Up.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Colby Stevenson in the air before one of the rails during men’s ski street style finals at Dew Tour Dec. 18.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Nick Goepper Placed third in ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Colby Stevenson Placed first in ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Alex Hall placed second in ski slopestyle finals Dec. 17
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Nick Goepper stands at the base of the ski slopestyle course before finals start Dec. 17. Geopper placed third in the finals.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Chloe Kim shedding a tear in shock as she learns she has just won superpipe finals at Dew Tour Dec. 19. Kim’s final score was a 96.00.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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The podium of women’s superpipe finals at Dew Tour Copper Mountain is Queralt Castellet in 2nd place with a score of 95.00, Chloe Kim in 1st place with a score of 96.00 and Xuetong Cai in 3rd with a score of 89.00 Dec. 19.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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The men’s snowboard superpipe podium: Taylor Gold with a score of 92.00 in 2nd place, Yuko Totsuka with a score of 95.50 in 1st place and Ruka Hirano with a score of 89.00 in 3rd place.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Red Gerard holds his board up in celebration after winning slopestyle finals at Dew Tour for the second year in a row Dec. 18. Gerard placed first in the event with a score of 93.25.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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Chris Corning after getting his final score boosting him into 2nd place at Dew Tour Dec. 18. Corning placed 2nd with a score of 91.50.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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The podium of women’s superpipe finals at Dew Tour Copper Mountain Chris Corning placed 2nd with a score of 91.50, Red Gerard placed 1st with a score of 93.25 and Mark McMorris placed 3rd with a score of 90.00 Dec. 18.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
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The podium of women’s street style finals at Dew Tour Dec. 18. Johanne Killi placed 2nd, Kelly Sildaru placed 1st and Eileen Gu placed 3rd in the event and won best trick with a Switch Lip 270 Pretzel 270.
Collegian | Milo Gladstein
The third day, I shot men’s snowboard slopestyle finals and hiked a little bit up the other side of the course to get shots from the opposite angle, again through snow that was thigh- to waist-deep. I spent the afternoon editing the photos and then the night shooting streetstyle finals, running back and forth between the two media corrals. As it got dark, the lights came on, and the energy really increased as the crowd got more and more into it. After the finals was a massive fireworks show.
The last morning was the men’s and women’s snowboard superpipe finals. This was my favorite day of the entire event because it felt like everything had really come together. The sun was shining, and it was nice and warm. I got a ride up to the superpipe and spent the whole day on the sides of the pipe photographing the finals. I finally got the shots I had been waiting for. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun was out. I got to play with my camera and the riders flying over my head in front of the sun for the whole morning and into the afternoon. These were the shots I wanted from the first morning I arrived at Dew Tour, and I was so happy to be able to finally get them.
Milo Gladstein can be reached at photo@collegian.com
Milo Gladstein is a fifth-year senior majoring in journalism and media communications. He is currently serving as one of the two photo directors for the...
