Post by: Sara Tollestrup

On Friday January 9th the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler welcomed an unlikely bunch. Yes, Dr. and Mrs. Jones from Albany were checking in as per usual, but they were followed by hundreds of snowboarders, skiers, photographers, industry types and their friends who were there for the 3rd Annual Deep Winter Photo Challenge.

5 pro photographers; Jordan Manley, Dan Carr, Andrew Bradley, Crispin Cannon and Brian Hockenstien spent 3 days shooting photos on and around Whistler with a crew of their choice. They were then asked to put together a slideshow of their best shots for everyone to see. The resulting slideshows were met with thunderous cheering, whistling and people yelling "siiiick."

 The only thing missing from the event? Ladies! In the film Lost in Translation Scarlett Johansson says "Every girl goes through a photography phase...you know like horses...you know take pictures of your feet," and it came to mind as I watched the show. Why are there so few female photographers in snow sports and why were the few who do exist not participating in the photo challenge? Fortunately, SBC contributor, Ashley Barker's roommate, Robin Van Gyn was standing next to me and explained that Ashley was going to do the Challenge until her flash, computer and cell phone all blew up  the week before. Even still none of the featured riders were women.

Despite the lack of female contribution I was blown away by the slideshow, and equally impressed by the judging (when does that ever happen?) Jordan Manley's creativity and talent stood out, which is undoubtedly why he won the Challenge and the award for Best in Show. His most eye catching photo was rider, Dave Short, reflected in an icicle. Crispin Cannon's overall presentation was impressive,  several time lapses interspersed with great action stills. Cannon's day-in-the-life approach was awesome too, and capped off with SBC Editor, Gerhard Gross passed out in a candlelit bath with a beer resting not far from his reach. The photo of Gross was of course, in a room filled with more empty Stella bottles than people, a crowd pleaser. Third place was given to another SBC contributor, Brian Hockenstein. Hockenstein captured the camaraderie of his crew exceptionally well. My favourite shots in his show were the opening and closing black and whites of the crew in a tunnel on the mountain. In the opening shot the guys are lined up side by side, in the closing shot they are each busting an on-the-spot snowboard move. Each of the photographers, including those that weren't awarded prizes, should be proud of their work. To keep a ballroom full of party people silent isn't an easy feat, but they did it with their art.