If you can see Mt. Baker, you are part of The Experience
One of North America’s premier adventure sports photographers, Bellingham’s Grant Gunderson has been a frequent contributor to a who’s who list of international magazines, outdoor equipment makers, top resorts, and more – he has over 250 covers of North American, European, and Japanese publications. A short list includes Ski Magazine, Powder, Ski Journal, Skieur, Bravo Ski, Patagonia, and Eddie Bauer and, of course, Mount Baker Experience.
This being the 40th anniversary of MBE, we thought it perfect timing to feature some of Grant’s work and to interview him about his career and where his new goals are leading him.
Mount Baker Experience: Remind us – where are you from originally?
Grant Gunderson: I’m originally from Yakima and moved to Bellingham in 1998 to study engineering at Western Washington University.
MBE: When did you get into ski photography?
GG: I’ve been doing it for 25 years, which seems like it was just yesterday. Ski photography has always been my passion – it’s what I love to do more than anything else. I’m not going to stop shooting – anytime it’s a good day, I’m going to be out shooting with a bunch of guys and doing what I’ve always done because I love doing it.
MBE: What’s the business like these days, what with the decline in print magazines and so on?
GG: The ski industry is not what it was as far as being financially viable. I’m still going to do it. I used to have unlimited freedom. I’d go out all winter and front the cost of shooting for a season out of my own pocket, the travel, and everything, and I knew I would sell enough photos the following year to pay for it all and go out and do it again. When the magazines started dying off, it started being a little more commercial-based. So I shot more for the ski brands and a lot for the resorts, but you lose a lot of freedom. Now, the brands don’t have any money after Covid, and everyone’s afraid of tariffs. I don’t know how someone would get started in it right now, trying to rely on social media and what have you.
You know, when I started, magazines were king. As a photographer, we were kind of the gatekeepers for all of the athletes trying to break into the sport. For them, getting published in a national magazine was the key to having a career. I didn’t think about it at the time, but looking back at it, I kind of feel like I started a lot of people’s athletic careers, which is just really kind of cool.
MBE: What about video? You never really pursued that, right?
GG: Looking back, I’m sure I missed a few opportunities not doing video. But video and photography are two different animals, not just how you shoot it but also the business side of it, like the licensing, where you actually get paid. Most of the time with video, if you’re shooting for somebody, you don’t own the content, whereas with photography, I owned the content and would have residual sales, which would help everything out.
I always like focusing on photography, where I’m always about that one absolute peak action. It’s just a 1,000th of a second, and I want that perfect moment. With video, it’s more of a blend. I’ve always tried to gravitate towards creating photos that share what I love about skiing with other people. I have a pretty insane work ethic; it comes from the fact that I’m never satisfied. I’m like, “ I can always do better than my last one.” I’ve always loved that challenge. You know, up on Hemispheres (an out-of-bounds run on Shuksan), I’ve probably shot it 1,000 times at this point, but every time I go back there, the light’s different, the snow’s different, the wind’s different; it’s always a different challenge.
MBE: I hear you’re working on a book.
Kirsten Rowley skiing at Mt. Baker
Grant Gunderson
GG: Yes, it’s called The Soul of Skiing, and it’s being published by an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. (Editor’s Note: HBG is one of the ‘big five’ publishers in the U.S.) They wanted to do the best 100 places to ski in the world, but I’m not really into that. I said, why don’t we do a book that really gets into the heart of what it means to go skiing at all these areas? It’s not like we’re going to go to Whistler because they have the most lifts or acreage. It’s really because of the personality and the local culture of each area.
MBE: What’s the format?
GG: It will be a coffee table book, hardcover, and trade paperback. If everything works out, it will be ready for next fall.
MBE: Anything else you’re working on?
GG: Well, I just signed a lease for a place at 1431 State Street to open up Alpine Edge. It’s a few doors down from Backcountry Essentials. I’ve been offering ski tune-ups, mountain bike suspension rebuilds, and e-bike rebuilds out of my garage for a while to mostly professional athletes, but the demand has grown to where I need a commercial space.
MBE: What can you tell us about it?
GG: Well, I’m the only one in North America fixing Shimano e-motors. I’ve got a high-end ski tuning machine that costs a half-million dollars – there’s nothing like it in the area. I’m going to be concentrating on high-quality service rather than a broad retail.
MBE: When will you open?
GG: I hope to be open in six weeks. In the meantime, I will be open by appointment. (Ed. note: call 360/319-8922)
MBE: You have a son, right? How’s that affecting your professional life?
Stian Gunderson skiing at White Pass
Grant Gunderson
GG: Yes, I have my son Stian, who’s eight. Some of my motivation to do this whole shop stuff is that I was working for Icon Pass for four or five years, which is why I was on the road so much. It got really old flying out on Monday, coming home on Friday, having to edit photos, and trying to balance everything. He’s really into skiing and mountain biking, and he’s kind of at the point where he’s saying, “I want you to take a photo, but I want you to go stand over there to do it.” You know, he’s trying to direct Dad.
MBE: And the photography?
GG: I’ll be shooting a lot more photos than in the past. I honestly feel like all of my best stuff has always come from the times when I visit Mt. Baker, and when it’s good, it’s good, and we just go spontaneously to shoot. One of my concerns about opening the shop up is finding some really good employees. So when it’s good, I can go ski because that passion hasn’t changed. That’s why I’ve been doing this by appointments. I tell them, yeah, I’ll have this stuff done in a couple of hours or, worst case, the next day. But if it snows and dumps overnight, it’s after I get back from skiing.
MBE: See you up at the mountain.
Grant Gunderson skiing at Mt. Baker
Rene Crawshaw
GG: Or at the new shop. X
