PHOTO: Justin Hostynek
RIDER: Craig Kelly
LOCATION: Island Lake Lodge, British Columbia
CAMERA: Canon EOS 1 (analog)
At the peak of his powers, Kelly quit competitive snowboarding to focus on big mountain riding and backcountry guiding. Prior to Kelly, no other celebrated athlete in professional snowboarding had made this leap. Craig was the first. At the time, very few people questioned it. If anything, many revered him all the more for having the vision to step away from the contest scene to pursue his greatest passion—freeriding.
In this photo captured by Justin Hostynek of Absinthe Films, Kelly performs a frontside straight-leg air. As tricks go, it is one of the most difficult straight airs to do. Firstly, because it requires considerable flexibility. Secondly, because making it look good is no easy task. Do it right, you look like a God. Do it wrong, you do not look like a God.
“The year was 1993. This was my first trip to Island Lake Lodge. I went with the riders Craig Kelly, Dan Donnelly, and Steve Matthews,” says Hostynek. “Craig had the eye of a photographer, which was a big part of what made him such an exceptional subject to shoot. Craig was the first, and maybe the only rider to make a straight-leg air look good. It was quite the yoga move.”
After Kelly walked away, he embarked on a surfing expedition to Central and South America. Thereafter, he began life anew as a backcountry guide in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It was here that he continued to connect snowboarding to two of life’s most precious gifts: Creativity and the Great Outdoors. Craig Kelly, Rest In Peace, 1966–2003.