Hard Pack #5
212 x 276 mm, 176 pages
New York, USA
First published 2023
Biannual
Founder and editor: Zach Seely
Creative direction and design: Brendan Dunne and Ken Tokunaga
Named after the condition of fresh snow tightly compressing (as opposed to the oft sought after soft, powdery kind), Hard Pack is a new skiing title aiming to ‘uncover and promote alternative ways to think about skiing, both new and forgotten.’ It's an ethos that translates well through the sophisticatedly designed (and almost snow-hued) pages of this niche but necessary, fashion-meets-slopes title. All pairing well with the rather cinematic, alpine photography.
For its sleek fifth edition, the Hard Pack team take inspiration from a recent trip to Japan, motivated by the oppositional selection of lift music to the choice EDM remix typically heard in Western ski resorts. For editor Zach Seely, the ‘lift ride felt like a subtle affirmation. There are infinite ways to tell ski stories.’
This issue, then, is an ode to throwing out the rulebook, featuring an interview with freeskier Cole Richardson and Tracy Kawalik; gorgeous photo essays by Julien Thomas Hamon, Thomas Prior, Tyler Roste, Boe Marion, AF Webb, Cody Cirillo and Matthew Tufts; plus, a drama set in a ski cabin in the woods by Adi Eshman.