A sunny springtime shoot on Mount Hood, OR, Alex Zimmerman’s backyard and favorite spot to tour. Photo: Zach Joseph

Editor’s Note: Core Creators shines a light on the writers, photographers and artists who contribute to The Ski Journal. While we love to go deep with household names and athletes, this series is an opportunity to flip the script and quiz the storytellers themselves.

Oregon-based photographer Alex Zimmerman first picked up a camera to capture some of the big waves he was traveling the world to ride. Growing up in San Diego, CA, body boarding encapsulated most of his early years. He traveled to Australia, Fiji and Hawaii, always with some sort of camera in hand—whether it was a Nikon Coolpix, a GoPro or a handheld camcorder. 

For the last 15 years, he’s set his sights on snow, a side passion to what he refers to as “a very boring career in office furniture sales.” Though he’s only been contributing to The Ski Journal for the past two volumes, he’s got an eye for crafting unique shots—like the TSKJ 18.3 Table of Contents photo where he coordinated a sunset, skier and pilot’s flight path. 

The Ski Journal: Tell us about your background as a skier.

Alex Zimmerman: The irony of all of this is that I actually don’t know how to ski. I shoot tons of skiing, all my friends ski, my wife skis—I can make some tele turns on a splitboard. But if I were to click into alpine skis it probably wouldn’t go well. I started snowboarding when I was 13 since that was all the surfers were doing. When I was 25 I decided it was time to commit to snow life and the mountains, so I moved to Portland, OR from San Diego, CA since I had some ties to the Mount Hood area.  

An unknown skier throws a Lazy Boy 3 off the main jump at the 2024 Illumination Saddle Solstice Party. Zimmerman wrote this department story in TSKJ 18.4. Photo: Alex Zimmerman

How did you get into photography?

Growing up in San Diego, I used to do a lot of boogie boarding, and I competed in a few different bodyboard competition series. It was during the big Jackass era, and all the surf movies were stunts with some surfing mixed in. My friends and I decided we should make some movies. I had one of those mini camcorders, and we used to film ourselves boogie boarding and pulling pranks that would probably get the cops called on you these days… I’ll just say golfers were not the biggest fans of us. Eventually I ditched the video camera and picked up a camera to start shooting waves. I got my first digital camera, a Canon Rebel, when I was in college, either freshman or sophomore year of college, and I just figured it out as I went. I had a lot of people who held my hand, like friends Chris Park and Mark Tipple. Both of them taught me most of what I know about photography. 

What are some of your favorite scenes or subjects to shoot?

I really enjoy the “little people, big world” vibes. Using the compression from a telephoto lens to make backdrops huge and subjects small really gives that feeling of how big the world is and how small we are as people (and how small skiers are in the mountains). In the Cascades, it’s so fun to pull in tight on a subject and make the volcano backdrop shine.

Is there a particular shoot that stands out the most?

Definitely the summer solstice in June 2024 on Mount Hood. I was on the phone with the pilot before I lost him behind Illumination Rock, so I was trying to count in my head and do the math to figure out when the plane was going to come into sight. He was moving at 140 miles per hour and a half a mile away, and then I had a skier (Miles Kemph) 100 yards away, moving 30 miles per hour. So I was trying to line those things up in my head to call the skier drop on the radio. Somehow we nailed it, so that was pretty fun.

Coordinating a skier, pilot and sunset all in one shot is no easy feat. This photo appeared in the Table of Contents in TSKJ 18.3. Photo: Alex Zimmerman

What are some creatives you look up to?

First and foremost, Darcy Bacha. The stuff that he’s done on Mount Hood, knowing the work that goes into the builds, the timing with the light and just where they are and what they’re doing. It just blows me away. Pete Alport, too, Bend and Bachelor legend. The dedication he puts in staying up all night to get the shot, getting up at 1, 2 or 3 a.m., that can be one of the hardest things to do as a photographer. The only thing that could potentially be harder is convincing athletes to do it. Finding people that want to go do these things at the stupid hours of the day has been the biggest challenge for me, so whatever he’s doing, that’s a secret I need to learn. And definitely Colin Wiseman, who I’ve looked up to for a long time before I got to actually exchange words with him. He’s offered great guidance and been a huge mentor to me. 

One thing you can’t go without on a ski shoot?

Definitely my zinc stick. I hate getting sunburned so i’ll be completely whited out. It’s always on my hip and it never fails. Especially Mount Hood in the summertime. People always ask if I have sunscreen and I’m like, look at me—of course I have sunscreen. The other thing is gummies. I’ve always got snacks in my pockets and I’ve usually got a bag of Trader Joes Scandinavian Swimmers on hand. 

From the Tips Up gallery in TSKJ 18.4, Jasper Skidmore, Andrew Bird and Aaron Cook train a whale tale feature on Mount Hood while filming for “Soda.” Photo: Alex Zimmerman

Tell us why you love print media!

For me growing up, The Surfer’s Journal was the pinnacle for me. So it was natural to turn my head to The Ski Journal and The Snowboarder’s Journal when I moved to the mountains. 

I like to have a collection in my office and living room of the history of the sport, both skiing and snowboarding, and I always travel with a magazine or two. I’ll purposely not finish a few magazines so I have something to take with me on a trip, and then by the time I’ve finished that the next one will come out!

Backyard vibes. Zimmerman kicks back on a summer evening in the shadow of Mount Hood. Photo: Doug Raschio