The first few things that pop into your head about Munich, Bavaria, Germany are Oktoberfest beer, finely engineered BMW`s and bratwurst so delicious you can eat it for breakfast.

But a lesser known mental image for those “in the snow-know” is the excellent skiing & snowboarding only 1-hour South of Munich originating in the jointly named villages of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Snow conditions on the Zugspitze Glacier are usually very good, yet even native Germans don`t seem to know how good it is up there as they normally travel abroad for snow trips into Austria, France, Italy or Switzerland. This image is from May…looks magically wintry to me.

ShredStory

One of my main themes shooting in the mountains attempts to capture the miniscule relationship of humanity with a far more powerful, unpredictable alpine environment. I`m constantly amazed & reminded that we`re just little ants roaming around massive snow covered ant hills.

I often find images like this one framed atop the Zugspitze Glacier (2962m/9718ft) more inspirational and moving than shots of billowing overhead powder or high-adrenaline action. Maybe more than anything, I appreciate how this shot was entirely impromptu without any discussion or planning in advance. We`d just finished shooting some action photos minutes earlier and I lagged behind preparing to pack my gear for the descent. Just as I was switching off my camera, I looked up, saw Eric framed within the perfect Bavarian alpine backdrop and rattled off a few frames smiling, knowing it was going to be a good one in the end.

Check out more beautiful Bavarian shredhsots at the Alpine Objectives Instagram, @powpusherman