Last March, Boa Technology—makers of the award-winning Boa Lacing System—held a Snowboard Team Summit in Keystone, Colorado. The Boa snowboarding team is made up of “young-gun” riders from across the globe and was first formed in 2010. Each member of the team competes in boots with Boa closures. The summit brought together the entire team from around the world for three days of snowboarding and discussion of product developments.
Denver-based sports photographer Chip Kalback was commissioned to shoot the athletes snowboarding with the goal of capturing everything Boa Technology would need for the next two years of snowboard marketing; a huge undertaking to say the least. However, Chip, who’s “obsessed with snowboarding” was pumped to work with Boa and their team.
Boa Technology are the creators of the Boa Closure System, a dial closure able to crank boots closed—as opposed to shoelaces or Velcro. Their technology is used in a variety of footwear including golf, cycling, hunting, and of course, snowboarding, where they’re estimated to be used in 1/3 of boots. Chip first met with Boa’s creative team over a year ago when he stopped in to share his portfolio. He continued to keep in touch after his initial meeting until eventually, the right opportunity arose and he was hired to cover their Team Summit.
I was attracted to the opportunity to work with a brand that has become so well implemented in lifestyle sports. The scope of the assignment was exciting as well as being asked to help contribute to the overall look of Boa’s snowboard marketing.
Once in Keystone, Chip and the snowboard team (including members from Norway, Japan and across the US) got to work creating inspiring imagery for Boa. The shoot days were long, with call times around five in the morning so they could make it to the mountain on time. Chip shot all day for three days straight but enjoyed every minute of it.
It was a lot of fun, it felt like a big group of friends pretty much from the start of the summit. The athletes were really patient and more than willing to do tricks repeatedly for us if necessary, which helped out in terms of getting the exact images we were looking for. When the mountain closed, we’d go home and have dinner, review our shots and goals for the following day, and go out as a group at night. Boa rented two chalets for us with a chef, which kept everyone stoked and fed.
The assignment was one of Chip’s largest, most comprehensive shoots to date. But even with an aggressive schedule, he was able to “go with the flow” and get all the shots he needed in the three days. Once back home, Chip got to work processing the images and soon had selects prepared and delivered to the client. They’re now being used in Boa in snowboarding magazines ads, collateral marketing, at trade-shows, and in large panels at Denver International Airport.