WHISTLER, BC January 8, 2017 – Returning competitor Guy Fattal was awarded the top prize in the 2017 Samsung Deep Winter Photo Challenge, presented by GORE-TEX® Products. Along with the ‘King of Storms’ title, Guy was awarded $5,000 for first place. The youngest participant in the competition, Whistler raised photographer Michael Overbeck took home second place and $2,500. Alric Ljunghager rounded out the podium in third place winning $1,500.
“It really is a dream come true to come back to this event and win,” said Guy Fattal, after being named ‘King of Storms’. “I have chosen to follow dreams which have taken me so far away from where I came from, it is so amazing.”
The Samsung Deep Winter Photo Challenge, presented by GORE-TEX® Products People’s Choice Award contest is now live at www.whistlerblackcomb.com/deepwinter. Each photographer has a Deep Winter image of their choosing posted to the site, and everyone is encouraged to vote for their favourite image. Voting will be open until 9pm January 10, and the photographer with the most votes at the end of the three days will win $1000 and a trip with Whistler Heli Skiing.
This year’s competitors were:
Guy Fattal – An outdoor sports photographer born and raised in the hills close to Jerusalem in Israel, Guy first came to Canada last year to compete in the 10th Annual Deep Winter Photo Challenge. Guy has based himself out of Whistler for the 2016.17 winter season.
Alric Ljunghager – A member of The Bunch ski crew, the Swedish photographer was just awarded Photo of the Year at the 17th Annual Powder Magazine Awards.
Colin Wiseman – Hailing from Hornby Island, BC, Colin now resides in Bellingham, WA where he serves as Content Director for an independent publishing company known as Funny Feelings LLC.
Shannon Mahre – Shannon is a photographer, writer and adventurer based out of the small eastern Washington town of Naches.
Michael Overbeck – A Whistler born adventure photographer whose work is focused on creating authentic and inspiring moments in remote regions around the world.
Ilanna Barkusky – Born and raised in Vancouver, Ilanna has been described as an ‘up-and-comer in the world of ski photography’ and ‘one of five female ski photographers to follow’ by Freeskier Magazine.
All six of the photographers had three days to shoot in-bounds at Whistler Blackcomb with their athlete teams and the final slideshows were played in front of a sold-out audience of 1,100 and five judges at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.
The judging panel included Photo Editor at Coast Mountain Culture Magazine, Peter Moynes; veteran photographer, Eric Berger; former Queen of Storms and professional photographer, Robin O’Neill; senior Transworld Snowboard Magazine photographer Scott Serfas; and ski photography legend and the original King of Storms, Paul Morrison.
Guests looking to plan a trip to the consistently rated No. 1 Mountain Resort in North America can visit whistlerblackcomb.com/purchase/deals-packages or call 1-888-403-4727.