The season hadn't started yet back in 2008, but I decided to get some early season impressions of Hintertux in Austria. The conditions were pretty good - fresh snow and bluebird skies were forecasted. We went up the glacier really early to check everything out.
Daniel Schiessl, who had just got back into skiing after his knee surgery, was part of the crew. He came up with the idea to do some fast plant shots at the knuckle of the jump. The jumps weren’t that big so I thought it was a good idea. I wanted to get the camera as close as possible and use a fisheye lens so someone looking at the picture could really get a feeling of how the trick is done.
It took a while to set up the shoot so Dani didn’t hit the equipment, or me! The sun came out behind the mountain at just the right time and I gave Dani the go-ahead. I think he flew by about 30cm from my camera. It was a close shave, but we got the perfect shot.
Christoph Schöch

About the shot

Biography
I was born in 1985 in Vorarlberg, Austria. When I turned 18 I bought my first SLR camera and fell in love with photography from then on. I started by shooting snowboarding and freeskiing with my friends. After a while I realized that photography was more than just a hobby; I started spending all the money I earned from selling photos on buying new camera equipment, and my photography became more and more experimental.
Nowadays, I’m working for different companies, crews and magazines all over the globe. I’ve shot for Adidas, Oakley and Atomic and many more. A photographer has to learn different styles and show variety in their work, so it was good for me to also get into commercial and industrial photography to help me develop. In 2009, I also finished a master’s degree in photography.
Photography gave me the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures, but also the chance to show others the world through my eyes. But it was my passion for freeskiing and snowboarding that gave me the spark to begin shooting.