Double Exposure

    The first time we shot this feature, Steve had no intention of riding it that day. I was out scoping angles, and he got a good feeling that it was going to be the day. I set up my shot and filmed the first hit in pure silence. Watching him skirt the edge of a 100-foot cliff at full speed was terrifying to witness. Celebrating at the bottom, just the two of us, is something I will always remember. — Kelsey Toevs

    Double Exposure In The Moment With Kelsey Toevs and Steve Vanderhoek

    Photos by Kelsey Toevs

    By this point, hundreds of thousands have seen North Vancouver-based freerider Steve Vanderhoek charging some of the most consequential lines ever filmed on the North Shore in Scott Secco’s visual opus, “Risk Is Reward”—a raw and muscular salute to freeriding’s perilous past and uncompromising present. The short film itself is a triumph, offering perspectives that drive home the abject risk taken by Vanderhoek while drawing cinematic parallels with his work as a firefighter.

    Watch the short film over and over (and you should!), one thing you won’t see is the unshakable solidarity of Vanderhoek’s partner, Kelsey Toevs, a professional photographer who helped him with builds and stood by, stone-faced, as he guinea-pigged unfathomable features. She also documented some of Vanderhoek’s boldest moves with her camera, in an unflinching display of vicarious courage. Here is a gallery of Toevs’ images, complete with her thoughts from the moments when she captured them.

    Photos and video do not do this feature justice. We shot this at 6 a.m. to beat the sun and it was the first time I’d seen Steve so nervous to hit a line. I had to hold my breath to slow my heart rate and keep my hands from shaking. — Kelsey Toevs
    I never really got worried when Steve went to fight fires at work, but after photographing him in a room fully engulfed in flames I was stressed! I kind of liked that I didn’t know the reality of his job, but it’s eye-opening to see and experience what he goes through when there is a real fire. — Kelsey Toevs
    It’s fun to watch Steve look at a line and try to find a different way to ride it. To me, just riding the regular line is hard enough to imagine, and then he says, “I’m going to try to air into it from the top.” I just shake my head and keep the faith. — Kelsey Toevs
    The first time we shot this feature, Steve had no intention of riding it that day. I was out scoping angles, and he got a good feeling that it was going to be the day. I set up my shot and filmed the first hit in pure silence. Watching him skirt the edge of a 100-foot cliff at full speed was terrifying to witness. Celebrating at the bottom, just the two of us, is something I will always remember. — Kelsey Toevs