We took a hiatus for the winter but now we're back with a new installment of Shot List, the series that lets filmers explore their favorite clips. Today, we have Spencer Whiting, although you probably know him as Gimbal God. Over the years Spenny has captured some of snowboardings most outlandish—and viral—moments. We figured there was no better person to kick off the return. Enjoy.
Torgeir Bergrem—Cab 12:
We were at the tail end of our time in Canada shooting for Torgeir’s video part Temple of the Dawg. We still had yet to lock in an ender and Torgeir had been on the hunt for the right cab 12 jump. At this time I’d been envisioning a doors off shot that felt like a follow cam for a long time. We had hit the jump a week prior and it didn’t work, after rebuilding and Mason Mashon calling in his buddy with an R44 it was go time. Still remember how wild it was that 1: We had been camping for 18 days and in the zone we were in there is a lot of traffic and that day not one soul. And 2: Heli comes in out of nowhere and no safety briefing, no harness just a seatbelt, we take off and I think we did a couple laps to get the feel. I believe Torgeir laced 2nd try and I’ll never forget the frame in the monitor with the Heli tracking dead even. Torgeir lands and does this Ollie out of frame with a perfect pinstripe. I knew that second it was the ender. A shot I’d dreamt of for many years. And the night cap to a 21 day camping trip that took it all out of us mentally and physically. Forever will be one of my favorites of all time.
Brandon Davis—Follow:
This one was special. Brandon is my long time best friend and we don’t often get to work together in the winter. I’d been wanting to go on a trip with him and we decided on a little surf trip with the possibility of maybe getting in on one of our friends who had prebooked a heli trip. The morning was pretty rushed and this was my first day riding since April. I remember run 1 was some of the best snow I’ve ever ridden. Run 2 I forgot my airbag backpack dropping in. Run 3 was a wild view. Then run 4 the guides were down to let us follow cam. With all the logistics it takes to score chile in general, the complexity of putting two people on a big face in avalanche terrain and the fact this was the first shot on the card, first time I’d shot a follow came since April (it was August) and Brandon absolutely lacing and making it feel so smooth. It was a one in a million moment I will never forget. Felt like a video game, looks like a video game.
Stale Sandbech—FS 1440:
Stale originally hired me for this follow cam project he had in mind. After shooting for about a year so far we hadn’t nailed an ender. The tricky part was that we had to match cut every beginning and end of the shot into the next. We had an idea to go build a jump in Folgefonna, Norway. Long story short I had just arrived in San Diego from Norway. I get a text from Sean Messing as I land to basically high tail it back to Norway within 48hrs Sage and I are being picked up by Halldor after 32hrs of travel. We drive straight to the mountain for day 1 of 4 flawless sunset sessions where we shot Golden Hour, the edit that got me signed to Monster. A full trip that was never supposed to happen. Stale and I stay 2 extra days and he is absolutely battling this front 14. A pretty flat landing made it tough, he snapped his binding on the 4th attempt and had to go down and setup a new pair. I’m having to keep the shot perfect every time as this is the ender to our film project meaning stay close as possible and in frame in a harder to shoot slomo resolution. When it all came together and he nailed it I remember the happiness I had for him. Absolute beast and won the war. One of my favorites of all time for sure.
Judd Henkes—FS Triple Cork 1440:
This shot was one of Judd’s first backcountry jumps he’s ever hit and our first jump built for the project. Between getting stuck 22 times in day 1, almost dying because I told him to go twice as fast as Kyle Mack who dropped first and him learning a new trick on the fly. It was a pretty unforgettable moment for me. Judd is my little brother and between how early we had to go up that day to get the sunrise and his nerves on learning his first FS triple cork on a jump he’d never hit before it made me a proud older brother that day. He absolutely stomped the sh!t out of it and I felt so psyched we had one shot in the bag for him off the bat.
Sage Kotsenburg—BS 1080 Rewind:
Probably the most technical follow can I will ever do. I’d been on a kick of trying to do the front follow where I drop in front of the rider. We were down in NZ and riding the Jossi Wells Invitational. I remember perfect weather and the vibes just so good. Sage had an idea for a BS 1080 rewind and at this point in the session I had done a few front follows and was feeling so dialed with the jump. I had an idea of me taking off left side of the jump and drifting right aggressively while sage took off right side. This was I could keep his face to the camera the whole time. In a stroke of magic it all worked out. Never going to forget landing at like 45-degrees, scrubbing onto my toes and then him catching right up to me in the landing. Definitely a shot that in that moment in time was so monumental for me.