Who: Jesper Tjäder (Swedish Freeskier), Emma Dahlström (Swedish Freeskier), Will Hodgett (Director), Alex Meliss (Filmer, Followcam Guru)
Where: The first half of the piece is shot in Huacachina, which is an Oasis in the South West of Peru, the second half of the piece then follows our journey to Cerro Blanco in the Nazca region of Peru at one of the highest sand dunes in the world – which sits at nearly 2100m above sea level.
Watch the video HERE
Jesper Tjader and Emma Dahlstrom ready for the adventure.
We had lost valuable time and gear before we even set foot on the sand. As we arrived in Peru with all our equipment for filming and Skiing, it attracted more attention than we had planned for. We scurried through the airport in Lima, dragging our Skis and bags in tow, but we were quickly grabbed by customs officials and it became clear that all our months of planning for this project were now in the hands of the local Custom Officers who were arguing amongst themselves as they ploughed through our bags.
After several hours of attempting to explain what we were doing there, we came to an agreement to leave behind half of our gear with the customs officers in the airport (Including our one and only drone). The challenge is that everything we shoot on our GoPro productions has to always be shot 100% on GoPro - so losing a piece of equipment such as a drone, which provides us with such an agile way to establish locations and capture the vast landscapes for a piece like this, was a big deal.
From there we met up with the rest of the local team, lead by Carlos 'Conan’ Muñiz, and spent the night in an old part of town in Lima. In short, we spent the first night and following day scurrying around town trying to recoup some of the gear we had lost, going through any electronics and hobby shops we passed desperately trying to find a replacement drone. In Peru at the time drones were really strictly regulated under government restrictions, and it became apparent the specific drone we were looking for was nearly impossible to find in any shops there. Through one of the shop owners, we ended up starting a chain of phone calls across half of Lima with amazingly friendly locals calling friends and networks until finally someone revealed they had an old one stuffed in a box somewhere that would work for us. This was our first introduction to the amazing people of Peru and their willingness to go out of their way to help complete strangers. Secondly it was also our introduction to ‘Conan’, our local fixer, who would prove to be our biggest asset during the trip - Conan has the unique ability to pull all sorts of strings to make anything happen, even with an extremely limited budget and manpower.
Eventually we had made it through customs and out of Lima, second hand drone in hand. We began our trip spending 2 days building and shooting the freestyle segment of the piece in the Sand Dunes surrounding Huacachina. When we arrived we managed to find an old local blacksmith who was able to custom build rails last minute based on rough drawings done by Jesper. The next challenge was to drag these huge rails (one was 12 meters long) out using sand buggies and our hands into the desert, over sand dunes and eventually dig them deep into the sand once we found the right location with the help of some locals. We also prepared ‘kickers' in certain locations which we made by filling up big old potato sacks we got from the nearest town with sand, which we then stacked up on top of another and covered with sand.
Jesper Tjader digging in rails in Huacachina
The next challenge came up straight away with Jesper & Emma never having tried sand skiing before, so it took some getting used to for them. We actually didn’t shoot any of the piece on the first day as the guys needed the day to adjust and couldn’t get used to the speed required for the rails etc. Also the weather on the first day was overcast & wet, which was really rare for that area and frustrating for us as we were on such a short time window.
The second day we woke up to sunshine and Jesper was able to successfully stick the big 12 meter ’S’ rail on his first attempt and we then spent the whole day running around sunrise until sunset shooting everything in the first half of the piece. We ran around like mad men. By the end of the day we were were completely covered in sand which had glued all over our sweaty faces but we were all smiling and stoked. After all the difficulties of the first day, back at the hotel in Huacachina the night before we were all really questioning if any of this was going to work, so to wake up the next day and have such an incredible day and end up getting all the shots we dreamt of prior to our trip was a pretty amazing feeling for everyone involved.
Emma Dahlstrom shredding some sand
From there we continued our journey south to attempt to hike and ski one of the highest sand-dunes in the world – Cerro Blanco which sits at nearly 2100m above sea level.
The hike up the Cerro Blanco dune and ski down the following day was all done in hot & windy desert conditions and it made carrying all the gear on the hike really challenging. The Cerro Blanco sand dune is a unique formation, it is basically where the desert stretch of Peru hits the mountain range. Sand blown over by ocean winds has formed into a giant dune that started at the top of the mountain range. We had to hike several hours through the mountains and then once we reached the base of the dune we hiked the final few hours during the complete darkness of night. I remember I had also picked up a bug from somewhere along the road and was really sick, vomiting and passing out during the hike which made it extra fun haha..
The hike up Cerro Blanco with Jesper Tjader and Emma Dahlstrom
Once at the top, we set up camp and spent the night sleeping under some one the most beautiful star filled nights I’ve ever seen.
At 5am we woke up and made our way to the final summit of the dune and took in the sunrise over the mountains before a short run down of about 200m to get the golden sunrise shots you see in the piece. We then hiked back up in the searing desert heat, cleaned up the camp site and then made our way to the peak again for one final run down the whole dune from top to the bottom.
Jesper Tjader taking in the sunrise in Cerro Blanco
Once at the peak, we knew we only had one chance for this final shot as no there was no way anyone would have the energy to hike back up for a second attempt. We spent a long time at the top almost orchestrating this final shot like a dance, with the Skiers and Alex (Follow cam), to ensure we would maximise the run and get both the follow cam + clean POV shots we needed for the piece. We figured out what we thought would work as the best formation and then went for it.
The guys nailed it.
We re-grouped at the bottom of the dune to watch the footage and everyone lost it, screaming and laughing, as our plan had worked perfectly! I remember talking in disbelief to Alex Meliss over how well he was able to carry out the plan with that one take follow cam, he deserves so much credit for his role in making the piece happen, years on Alex still manages to inspire me all the time with his ever-evolving creativity.
Check his instagram feed HERE.
The heat combined with the challenging hike, scorpion encounters, sleeping under the stars & the final run down one of the highest sand dunes in the world made it a pretty incredible experience and way to finish the shoot… and we all left the trip feeling like we had been on one big adventure together more than a production.
The crew exhausted but stoked.
Jesper Tjader and Emma Dahlstrom ready for the final run down Cerro Blanco.