Zeattle

Gondola in the Stars

Story behind the photo: Once a week, this resort offers a dinner service at a restaurant at the top of the gondola. I worked here for a season, and was able to ...
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Story behind the photo: Once a week, this resort offers a dinner service at a restaurant at the top of the gondola. I worked here for a season, and was able to ski down from the top at night, despite the mountain policy. Guests and employees rode the gondola down and it was finally shut off around 11pm. Originally I was much higher up on the slopes, with the goal to get a 30 minute exposure from beneath a gondola with the north star behind it (i.e. star trails would spin around the gondola). However, strong winds created so much blurring it rendered the shot virtually useless. I decided to pack up and ski down, and as I came over a ledge, this image is what I saw. Even at a 30 sec exposure you can still see some blurring in the upper gondola from the wind, which was roughly 35-40mph by that point.
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