Salt Lake City (February 17, 2013) — Following an incredible week of photography and skiing in and around the Cottonwood resorts, the Ski Salt Lake Shootout wrapped up its sixth consecutive year with a sold-out Awards Party Saturday night and crowned its first repeat grand prize winner, Salt Lake local Steve Lloyd. Each year, the Shootout pairs top professional ski photographers with local professional skiers to capture the magic of the Salt Lake’s four world-class resorts: Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude.
Taking home first prize in the “Best Portfolio” category, featuring two images from each of the four resorts taken throughout the duration of the competition, Lloyd was awarded $3,000 plus year-long bragging rights. Mike Schirf, also from Salt Lake, took home second place prize and $2,000 in the portfolio category, while Australian Tony Harrington took home third place and $1,000.
In the popular “Urban Meets Mountain” category, which tasks photographers and their teams to showcase the accessibility and unique après ski scene Salt Lake has to offer, James Douglas of Cleveland, Ohio, took home the trophy and $1,000.
Willie Nelson took home the first place trophy in the new “Athlete’s Choice” category, earning him not only bragging rights but also a full-page advertisement in partner, POWDER Magazine, and $500. Tyler Peterson took home $500 with his second place trophy, and fellow teammate Marcus Caston was awarded third place and $250. The Facebook Fan Favorite was awarded a week later to local photographer Jonathan Cracroft and athlete Luke Perin who each took home $1,000.
An equally stellar panel of judges determined each category winner, including Dave Reddick (POWDER Magazine photo editor), Lee Cohen (world-class photographer), Chris Pearson (Ski Utah creative director) and Sean Buckley (Visit Salt Lake creative director). All ticket proceeds from the Shootout Awards Party, held at Salt Lake’s Brewvies, benefitted the Utah Avalanche Center, while the evening’s festivities allowed the public to celebrate the hard work and stunning photography from the weeklong competition.
The “Facebook Fan Favorite” category, which awards the winning photographer and athlete $1,000 each, begins Monday, February 17, and runs through Sunday, February 24.
Ski Salt Lake promotes Salt Lake and the Cottonwood Canyon resorts Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude. The Cottonwood Canyons are the ideal winter vacation destination unmatched in accessibility, variety, value and snow quality. Located just 40 minutes from the Salt Lake City International Airport, the resorts average 500 inches of snow each year and collectively offer more than 7,500 skiable acres.
--www.Ski-SaltLake.com--