I never thought I would find myself taking snowboarding photos, let alone in Montauk of all places. But after posting a photo of the freshly powdered hoodoo to Insta the other morning, a madman by the name of Mike Reale gave me a shout and said he wanted to have a go at drawing some lines down the snow-laden cliffs.
Reale was scheduled to fly to Japan the following day on a snowboard trip, but snowboarding down one of the hoodoos had been a feat that was in his mind for the past 20 years. Yesterday, the conditions had come together just right.
With a small groundswell running in the ocean just below, a crew of surfers in the water hooted as Reale dropped in on each virgin run. He put on an exhibition that may never be repeated, successfully completing multiple high risk lines through the chutes that make up that famous hoodoo cliff formation, and airdropping into steep sections on the backside of the cliff.
The reaction from onlookers on the cliff was one of doubt, followed quickly by amazement. It was quite an unforgettable winter afternoon in Montauk. The images I captured are some of the most unique photos I have taken, mixing the iconic Montauk Lighthouse, snow-saturated cliffs, Atlantic Ocean, and the legendary Mike Reale charging it all on a snowboard.
