Words & photos by John Vandervalk

Thanks to the warm weather we've been experiencing since the beginning of the Nike Ski Chosen Shoot here in Keystone, Colorado, the conditions started getting more and more slushy on Day 3, which made it a bit more difficult to maintain the snow on the host of features on hand. Dozens of salt bags were needed and used to help solidify the in-runs, particularly since we waited until late afternoon to head up the hill, in hopes of capturing some epic sunset shots.

Andrew Napier and Dale Talkington, winners of the Nike Ski Chosen Contest.

The riders (sans Dale Talkington, one of half of the winning duo of the Nike Ski Chosen Contest, who after spraining his ankle on the previous day opted to chill out) started getting warmed up on the wall ride, which ended up being a bit of a challenge for everybody...except Andreas Håtveit, who proved this week that he can do just about anything. Dre was the lone skier to hit the jump and grind the top, continuously spinning off the wall with solid grabs and lapping the feature so many times that the ski patrol and sleds were both ready to call it quits.

Andreas Håtveit

Likewise, the brothers Wells (Jossi and Beau) tackled the wall straight on, spinning out of it with the style and precision we've all come to admire and expect from the Wells family.

Jossi Wells

Beau-James Wells

Following the session we stopped a barbecued dinner (consisting of some tasty chicken and beef burgers) to wait for the cloud cover to break on the horizon, but much to our chagrin, it wasn't meant to be.

Andreas Håtveit still sending it, despite the murky weather.

Andreas and Beau still hit the jump a few times to get a couple of shots before everyone agreed to call it quits, with the exception of Andreas, who still wanted to ski. What a machine.

Beau-James Wells

Stay tuned for the final installment of coverage on the Nike Ski Chosen Shoot, along with some edits from Poor Boyz Productions and the co-winner of the Nike Ski Chosen Contest, Andrew Napier.

Andrew Napier. Videos coming soon!