Photographer Spotlight: Seth Foltz

All photos courtesy of Seth Foltz.

Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is one of the most badass trail crews anywhere. Most of their worksites are above 10,000 feet in intensely rugged and exposed environments. Often working above treeline in alpine talus fields, the majority of their work involves wrangling enormous boulders into staircases and walls. They are very good at what they do.

Trail crew member and photographer Seth Foltz spent the 2024 season on Mt. Shavano, capturing incredible moments with his camera in between swings of his pick-mattock. I reached out to Seth to learn a little more about him and the stories behind his favorite images.

*“This is from our first hitch. I had this shot in my mind and I was just waiting for the right sunrise for this silhouette. It finally came on day 7 and we made it happen.”*

Joe Gibson: Where are you from?

Seth Foltz: I’m originally from California, but I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado and have lived there most of my life.

*“This is a shot of slinging up a boulder to pull uphill on the griphoist. Even though the work is tough we kept the jokes alive and smiles on our faces.”*

JG: Tell me about your work with Colorado Fourteeners Initiative. What was your role with them? What were your goals as a trail crew photographer?

SF: At CFI I was a crew member/photographer, so my job was 85% trail work and the rest was to take photos. (Action shots, before/after photos etc.) I was on the High Shavano Project so we were above 13,000ft every day dealing with a lot of talus and tundra. It was my first season in trail building so a big goal was to learn how to do the work and become as good as I could at it. Another goal was to create images that display what trail work is really like and try to tell the story of our season up there through my photographs. I wanted my shots to show how tough the work is and the kind of environment we work in.

“During mid season we dug a long bench in the hillside. We moved so much dirt and the only place to put it was high up on the loose hillside. We were doing around 1,700 ft of vert each day just carrying dirt.”

JG: How long have you been practicing photography?

SF: I started photography a little over three years ago.

*“We dealt with some nasty weather, but it was during the storms that I had my camera out the most because the conditions offered unique opportunities for images.”*

JG: What gets you excited about picking up your camera and shooting photos?

SF: I love recognizing a beautiful moment and being able to freeze it into an impactful image that has a story behind it. I’m always excited to take photos in the mountains because it provides so many opportunities for stunning images.

*“This is definitely one of my favorite shots of the season. I probably spent 20 min playing with the sun and my settings until I finally nailed this.”*

“I had this idea stuck in my head but it took a while to figure out how to do it. This is a photo of myself from the inside of a dirt bag. It took a couple tries to time it right and not drop dirt on top of my lens.”

JG: Who are some of the photographers who have inspired you the most?

SF: I admire the work of Dan Patitucci, Renan Ozturk, Ragnar Axelsson, and Hamish Frost to name a few.

*“This was the coldest day of the season. High of 19 degrees F. Brutal day but made for some awesome shots.”*

JG: Can you select one of your favorite photographs and tell me the story behind it?

SF: This shot is special to me. This was taken in Moab Utah. I had just finished a trail run with my buddy and noticed that the sunset was going to be incredible so we got my camera from the car and headed back out to the sandstone slabs. We only had a few minutes of light left so I asked my friend to run and jump off the tip of this rock. I never expected him to jump as high as he did. I lost my mind when this shot appeared on my screen and started cheering but then was immediately concerned as I watched my buddy tumble down the other side of the rock. Fortunately he was fine.