Josh Daiek: Boom and Bust

A new film project from Josh Daiek documents the highs and lows of skiing in Nevada

Adventure begins where certainty ends. And in Nevada’s Great Basin, there’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to skiable terrain. Despite Nevada’s status as the second most mountainous state in the country behind Alaska, not many folks venture deep into the heart of the Great Basin to ski. Of course there are the Ruby Mountains just south of Elko and the beloved Lamoille Canyon — not far from Ruby Mountain Heli-Experience, one of the longest running helicopter skiing operations in North America — but there’s so much more to skiing in Nevada than just the Ruby Mountains.

To document this fact, South Lake Tahoe-based professional skier and Salomon athlete Josh Daiek thought up a new ski film project, doing something different, truly adventurous and filled with uncertainty, as he describes in Episode 26 of Mind the Track, a podcast for mountain athletes.

“I’m always trying to think of how you stay relevant,” said Daiek. “How do you do something different? Everything’s been done. You’re not going to come up with a new idea. Pretty much the only thing you can do is tell a unique story.”

Daiek often traveled to Colorado and Utah for big mountain competitions, driving Highway 50 and Interstate 80 across Nevada, seeing the endless potential but never stopping because of his busy travel schedule. So Daiek and his filming partner Hazen Woolson packed up the camper, loaded the snowmobile trailer and pointed their sights east into the Great Basin. But what they were expecting and what they experienced were two completely different things.

If you’re not already familiar with Josh Daiek’s skiing exploits, his style can be summarized as King of the Straight Line. Daiek’s Instagram feed is chock full of absolutely terrifying POV footage of him fearlessly pointing straight down couloir after couloir, usually peppered with shark-toothed rocks and mandatory airs at speeds above Mach Chicken (aka faster than you’d ever dare to ski). Couloirs that most advanced skiers would be hop-turning and tip-toeing down, Daiek swallows whole in a matter of seconds. Daiek also broke the internet in 2019 in the Salomon film The 7 Stages of Blank, when he sent possibly one of the biggest road gap backflips ever filmed, soaring over Highway 50 just below Echo Summit near his home in Meyers.

Daiek is the everyman’s hero, a low-key personality hailing from Rochester Hills, Michigan, who after visiting his cousin in South Lake Tahoe nearly 20 years ago, moved there shortly after. Honing his snow sliding chops in the double black diamond terrain of Kirkwood, Daiek learned from local pro Craig Garbiel, who got Daiek into big mountain competitions.

Woolson has been making ski films since he was in high school on the east coast, starting a small film brand called Janky Films when he lived in Utah. Woolson was connected with Blank Collective and Daiek in 2019, and since then the two have been close friends, working together on numerous films including the jaw-dropping backflip segment over Highway 50.

Part I – Mountain State

The first act of Daiek and Woolson’s Nevada experience was documented in the short film Mountain State. The winter of 2021 and 2022 in Nevada not only had very shallow snowpack, but also very unstable snow, making for difficult and dangerous skiing. The team got skunked numerous times, and after retreating from Arc Dome Wilderness in dangerous avalanche conditions, they resorted to skiing Sand Mountain, a massive sand dune 30 miles east of Fallon on Highway 50 that at least made an entertaining and novel segment in the film.

Another disadvantage of a shallow snowpack was long approaches on patches of snow, overheating their snowmobiles and grinding down the machine’s ski carbides just to reach skiable terrain. Once they reached skiable terrain, the variable conditions created dangerous situations, including one incident with Daiek’s Salomon skiing partner, Trevor Semmens, breaking his leg on a hard landing far from anywhere, which ended up in an all-day snowmobile extraction.

The most harrowing incident documented in Mountain State was one of Daiek’s closest brushes with peril, skiing a 50+ degree couloir that looked more like a snow-covered, 1,500 vertical foot elevator shaft than it did a skiable line at Hole in the Mountain in the East Humboldt range.

“Looking back, that was very, very poor judgement,” said Daiek. “When I made this film I wanted to blow peoples’ minds. And if you want to blow peoples’ minds, you gotta ski rowdy and be aggressive.”

Snow conditions were less than ideal, with a variable ice crust layer, but because Daiek had been accustomed to variable snow all season, he felt confident. But as soon as he dropped in and made his first turn, his ski punched through the ice crust, sending him into a front flip. Daiek recalled on the Mind the Track podcast what went through his mind in the moment.

“If you allow yourself to tumble one more time, you’re going to tumble the entire face and you’re going to die,” said Daiek. “I have to get back to my feet, straight run and regain control.”

And that’s exactly what Daiek did, committing to the front flip, whipping his shoulders and getting himself into position to regain control, harnessing every skill he’s ever learned. As a testament to his skill, Daiek handled the situation so well that in the film it almost looks like he meant to front flip. The near disaster put a serious scare into Daiek and made him reevaluate his risk-taking for the film.

In another segment, Daiek and Woolson geared up their snowmobiles and sledded more than 50 miles from Wild Horse Reservoir to the town of Jarbidge, known as the most remote zip code in the lower 48 states, only 15 miles south of the Idaho border. It was a real adventure for the boys, especially considering how remote the region is and the fact neither of them had ever been to Jarbidge before. But potential Jarbidge visitors take note: it’s Jar-bidge. Not Jar-bridge.

Part II – Mountain State 2.0

After the challenges of filming Mountain State, the decision to return for a third winter in Nevada generated a lot of raised eyebrows and confused looks in Daiek’s circle of friends.

“I had people ask me, ‘it seems like you guys are really struggling out there, why don’t you find something else to do?’” said Daiek in the opening scene of Mountain State 2.0. “It goes back to what I said in the first film, ‘I know there’s good skiing out there, and I’m stubborn enough to stick it out.’”

Perseverance pays off, and the third time in Nevada was the charm for Daiek and Woolson. Whereas the winters of 2021 and 2022 were dangerously shallow and unstable, the winter of 2023 was one of the deepest in recorded history in the Great Basin. But what made last winter extra special was how far south the deep snowpack extended, opening up zones to skiing south of Highway 50 that are normally not covered in enough snow.

For their second film, Mountain State 2.0, Daiek and Woolson targeted some new zones including the Toquima Range and Great Basin National Park. Both Daiek and Woolson were blown away by skiing Great Basin National Park with clear weather and good snow, not an easy feat to pull off in winter. In addition to skiing some big lines in the park, Daiek, Semmens and Woolson overnight camped and sessioned some aggressive lines, culminating in an exhilarating final few minutes of the film, showcasing Daiek’s classic straight-line style.

The boys hit ideal conditions skiing the Toiyabe Range from the small town of Kingston and Kingston Canyon, and filming a funny segment hanging out with locals in the ghost town of Belmont, shooting off Civil War era cannons, drinking whiskey and running around with a ball and chain clamped to their legs. Daiek also scored redemption in Mountain State 2.0, going back to the East Humboldt Range with his other Salomon partner Stan Rey, skiing the elevator shaft couloir that almost cost Daiek his life, scoring good conditions.

After the two-part Mountain State project, Daiek and Woolson now have their sights set on other little known corners of the West to document. But in the afterglow of both films, Daiek sees himself going back to Nevada for the rest of his days.

“Whether it’s one trip a year, or a trip every couple years, I love it,” said Daiek. “Nevada is second to none in my eyes. It’s a very unique experience and I think that’s what attracts me to Nevada. Not only the skiing, but the whole adventure that goes along with it. It’s wild.”

For Daiek and Woolson, their persistence not only paid off in getting all-time ski conditions last winter, but their film footage also won them “Best Backcountry Segment” at the 2023 IF3 International Freeski Film Festival. Watch Mountain State and Mountain State 2.0 on YouTube and get inspired for a Nevada adventure. But keep in mind, Nevada is rugged, raw and remote. Be prepared, have a plan and know the snowpack before you go. Help is a long way off.

Both Mountain State films are available on Salomon TV’s YouTube channel, and you can stay tuned to Josh Daiek’s adventures by following him on Instagram @joshdaiek.

Read more articles by Kurt Gensheimer here. 

Josh Daiek

Josh Daiek