The Blue Room: the story behind Marc Weiler's breathtaking image

1/05/2017 ISO 1200 Magazine 0 Comments

Today we have the pleasure to feature photographer Marc Weiler with their latest project 'The Blue Room'. This article and all the images were originally published on elinchrom.com/bts/blue-room and shared with their permission. We hope you enjoy their behind the scene look into speedride, lights and ice tunnel.

The Gear

2,5 hours of hiking on my split board at a minimum altitude of 3000m above sea level was the call for the next day. Light weight equipment was necessary.

My decision went fort the Canon 5DsR camera with its manageable size to get as much detail as possible. § In addition to that, I needed a powerful fast flash duration to illuminate the whole tunnel and capture fast action.

My choice?

The Elinchrom ELB 400 battery pack; lightweight, compact, power and the possibilities to work in Hi-Sync mode and having a fast sync speed.

The Blue Room: elinchrom ELB 400 Marc Weiler's

The Hike

Bluebird and perfect powder conditions draw a big smile on our faces the next day. The hike was gnarly.

Almost 20 kg of photo equipment at my back didn’t stay unnoticed. We often stopped to take some images on the way up. At midday we reached the summit: time for action!

Ueli Kestenholz, the rider, got ready with his Speedrider. To get to the ice tunnel we had to descent a little bit first. We decided to use this beautiful and stunning mountain area for some first action shots.

The Shoot

Ueli, the rider, got ready with his Speedrider. To get to the ice tunnel we had to descent a little bit first. We decided to use this beautiful and stunning mountain area for some first action shots.

Our tension was growing the closer we got to the ice tunnel. Ueli stopped on a small hill a few hundred meters above the tunnel and pointed to the entrance. From afar it looked rather small to me.

I wonder if he really fits with his whole Speedrider in this natural ice tunnel.

"I give it a try, the first line is worth doing it on sight" said Ueli and started his GoPro on his helmet.

"And what happens if you get stucked?" I answered a bit concerned.

"No worries mate!" replied Ueli with a big smile on his face and dropped in.

I stayed where I was and captured the whole thing in burst mode till the moment Ueli disappeared in the tunnel!

"Bingo,"

I was cheering when I saw Ueli suddenly showing up again a few seconds later about 200 meters further down. He stopped after leaving the tunnel and was delirious with joy.

I followed his skiing tracks and entered the tunnel fort the first time, incredible!

I have never seen such a natural wonder in my whole life. Imagine a natural ice tunnel with some big melted in stones as long and big as probably a sports hall.

My photographer’s heart was simply stoked and we completely lost time until we left our playground three hours later to get back home.

About Marc Weiler:

I'm a professional photographer & filmer for more than 10 years. I mainly work in the fields of (extreme) sports, sports fashion, interior, hotel, people, advertising, landscape, architecture, events and travel. Let's Get Connected: www.marcweiler.ch