Last week I had the pleasure of spending a day with Erik Roner, LifeProof Ambassador, BASE jumper, professional skier and a member of Nitro Circus.
Erik is a well-known athlete in the skiing community here in Tahoe, and because of this I have followed him as an athlete growing up. When LifeProof came to me with an idea to follow along, photograph and join Erik for a “Day in the Life,” I jumped at the opportunity. In addition to photographing the day, I also took over the LifeProof Snapchat and Periscope accounts with Erik. This really gives everyone a true inside and live look as to what typical summer day is like for Erik Roner at Lake Tahoe. Erik had a day of activities planned including water skiing, skydiving and mountain biking.
That morning I woke up bright and early to make my way from South Lake Tahoe to North Lake Tahoe to meet up with Erik at 6 AM. I met him in Homewood and it was right to the boat. Here we met up with Erik’s friend, Jr. We fired up Periscope/Snapchat and started the day off with a ‘hello’ and then it was off to waterskiing. The water was perfect! No wind and flat water meant a great morning was ahead.
Erik hopped in the water and got right to rippin. Jr jumped in for his turn as Erik drove the boat and handled the Periscope account. It is not often that the water stays this flat and calm, so Erik decided to take one more pull and go for a second ski.
Erik giving Jr a tow and showing everyone on Periscope the driver’s view.
We wrapped up with the sunrise session and drove up to Sunnyside. Here we met up with Erik’s wife, Annika for a few turns. Erik decided to get back in the water for a third ski, even though he was regretting it, as he had to put his wet/cold wetsuit top back on. After a pull, Annika hopped on in. She is an incredibly good skier!
Erik Periscoping while Annika rips some turns.
Fast-forward an hour and it’s time for the part I was looking forward to the most, skydiving! We met up with Erik’s jumping partner for the day, Aaron McGovern, at the landing site and then drove over to the airport in Truckee to meet up with pilot Mike Vail. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to jump, but it was still an awesome feeling and sight going up in the plane over Tahoe and watching Erik and Aaron jump. As Erik got me situated with a parachute, just incase something were to happen, my mind started to get curious about what it would be like jumping out of a plane. Sounds like fun to me so I will definitely be adding that to the bucket list!
Focusing on the jump and taking in the view.
Looking south towards my end of the lake. An amazing view from up above.
We all hopped in the plane and updated followers on Periscope/Snapchat all the way to jump time. Erik using the FRĒ Power iPhone 6 case.
The guys got ready to jump, opened the door and climbed out on the wing for some fun. Then they were off with beautiful Lake Tahoe down below.
Erik and Aaron landed back in Tahoe City. I flew back to Truckee to grab the car and drive back to meet up with Erik to plan the next part of the day. After meeting back up at Erik’s house we decided to grab some lunch and then go mountain biking up Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. This was a tough one for me, as my legs were sore from having ridden 50+ miles on my mountain bike the previous 4 days, and up one of the tallest peaks in Tahoe, Freel Peak, but I knew the ride down was going to make it worth it. A freshly cut trail winding up Alpine took us to the top. It was a rocky and dusty fire road with no one else up there except for the few guys working on the trail and prepping for the upcoming winter season. As we made it to the top, I was blown away by the views below. It was amazing to see the lake from here and look back at a ski resort that I’ve only ever seen covered in snow.
Erik setting up Periscope with the LifeProof Bike + Bar Mount for the ride down.
After a quick sip of water and a relaunch of Periscope, showing the views and climbing up the lift towers, it was time to ride down. We decided to try out the LifeProof Bike + Bar Mount with Erik’s iPhone 6 in the LifeProof NÜÜD case. I’ve used the mount before when road biking, but never for mountain biking so we were excited to see how it held up during this bumpy and sandy downhill ride.
We really put the case and mount to the test and they both passed with flying colors — although it might have been a bit bumpy for those watching on Periscope during the ride down. This was an awesome trail, extremely fast and a great cross-country trail. Erik took me to one of the new secret trails that seemed like it was only ridden 30+/- times. Way too much fun! I was the one to go down on this ride and slid out in a sandy corner and cut up my arm a bit, but it was definitely worth it! We cruised back to Erik’s house and wrapped up the day with a little Q/A on Periscope. We said our goodbyes and I made my way back home.
During the drive, as I sat in road construction, I started thinking about the next “Day In The Life” shoot to do with Erik. Maybe we’ll reconnect during a stop of Nitro Circus or during the winter ski season!
-Brian Walker, LifeProof Ambassador, Professional Photographer.
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