Finalist for the Mountain Image Award at the 2022 Banff Mountain Book Competition
A beautiful collection of photographs and personal reflections on the life of professional ski mountaineer, surfer, climber, photographer, and all around adventurer, Chad Sayers.
At the age of 18, Chad Sayers chooses to pursue a perilous existence in the world of professional freeskiing. Immediately successful, he rides high on a train of celebrity, sponsorship, travel, and freedom. But “living the dream” is, in reality, a tiring treadmill of daily risk that eventually sets him adrift from family, friends, lovers — even himself.
As injuries and emotional traumas pile up, his identity fractures into a hall of mirrors — the flickering images of athlete, son, brother, traveller, and seeker veiling the reality of a man running blindly from heartbreak and physical debilitation. Then one day, in the mountains of France, hanging by a finger above certain death, he sees the one reflection that finally scares him straight: a man who doesn’t care. To heal this severed connection to reality and the constant pain he lives with, Sayers quits skiing and turns to his other passions of travel, surfing, and photography.
In Overexposure, some of the world’s greatest outdoor photographers contribute to this engaging story in order to parse not only the high-stakes gambits required for a pro skier to stay in the spotlight, but also the grandeur of the stage on which these play out. The international roster of renowned photographers included in this stunning work are: Oskar Enander, Mattias Fredriksson, Jordan Manley, Paul Morrison, Steve Ogle, Daniel Ronnback, Chad Sayers, Jason Thompson, Eric Berger, David Carlier, Guy Fattal, Garrett Grove, Guillaume Le Guillou, Bruno Long, Kari Medig, Bruce Rowles, Ben Thouard, and Don Weixl.
Chad Sayers is a skier, surfer, climber, and photographer. He has spent 23 of his 41 years inside the belly of the beast that is professional freeskiing: competing, adventuring, and experiencing ski culture in the far corners of the winter mountain world. Along the way he has graced dozens of magazine covers and starred in award-winning film projects such as A Skier’s Journey. An inveterate traveller, Sayers has made his way through over 60 countries on six continents, whether searching out the perfect ski run, the perfect wave, or the perfect light. Through it all, passion and spirituality have marked his path. He makes his home in Whistler, British Columbia, where he keeps one eye on the peaks above and the other on his daughter, Aiya.
Taylor Godber is a writer, backcountry snowboard athlete, surfer, traveller, and wellness and environment advocate based in Pemberton, British Columbia. Her freelance work has appeared in such publications as Mountain Life Coast Mountains and Snowboard Canada. She is also the editor of Below Zero magazine.
Leslie Anthony writes broadly on many topics, including travel and popular science, drawing on his diverse experiences as a zoology professor, outdoor adventurer, poet and writer, director, host, and performer in myriad projects, from stage musicals to television and film documentaries. He has written for Outside, explore, Mountain Life and The Tyee. Leslie’s two previous books are Snakebit: Confessions of a Herpetologist and White Planet: A Mad Dash through Global Ski Culture. Leslie lives in Whistler, British Columbia.
