Andreas Wiig's TW Gear Guide Cover Shot

Along with getting a closing video part, scoring the cover of a magazine is a highlight in any pro snowboarder's career. It's the result of an entire winter's worth of hard work, and getting photos that are good enough is not an easy process. More often than not, it's a painstaking and time consuming collaboration between the rider and the photographer to find the perfect combination of trick, location and lighting that produces a cover worthy shot. For the cover of the 2012 Transworld Snowboarding Gear Guide, Andreas Wiig took matters into his own hands... literally. He teamed up with photographer Frode Sandbech to deliver one of the most unique and creative shots of all time. We asked Andreas exactly how they pulled this off.

How did you get this shot? Obviously you shot the photo yourself?!?

I was at Strynefjellet glacier in Norway with the National team in the beginning of June. We were supposed to hit a jump, but the weather wasn't that good. We didn't really get to hit the jump that much, so Frode Sandbech and myself decided to build a road gap jump instead. The road is at the bottom of the glacier so it was less windy and better weather down there. The first day we tried to get the shot, the jump was too small and it was really hard to keep the camera steady. The next day we built the jump bigger and better, and it finally worked out. I had the camera in my hand that was connected to a transmitter in my pocket. That way Frode could take the shot with a remote control.

What kind of camera did you use?

Canon 5D.

Where was the shot taken?

It's at Strynefjellet glacier in Norway. It's actually the same road gap from Jamie Lynn's Transworld cover in the mid 1990s (not too sure about the year). Not sure where they built the road gap back then, but it's probably within half a mile from where we built ours.

Have you ever taken a photo like that before?

I took a photo like that two years ago with Frode, but I don't think it worked out that well back then. As far as I know the photo never got ran.

How does it feel that it would up on a cover?

It feels awesome! It's my second Transworld cover, and it's been a while since the last one.