Jordan Manley Wins Deep Winter Photo Challenge... Again.

Judges had a difficult time choosing a winner last night at Deep Winter. 5 photographers, including last-minute invite Brian Hockenstein, had 3 days to portray in photos what skiing at Whistler Blackcomb is all about, and they didn't disappoint.

First up was Nicolas Teichrob, a newbie on the action sports photography scene but a serious contender during the competition. His show was filled with stunning lifestyle and action images featuring Matty Richard. Teichrob used creative angles and took advantage of natural light. For a first-time competitor he had a very strong showing and is sure to become a big name soon.

Photo by Nicolas Teichrob.

Next was a show from Colin Adair, DC snowboard team photographer, and he gave the audience a blast from the past with radical shredding and bitchin rocket airs from 80s-clad snowboarders like DC rider Andrew Geeves. The neon ensembles were perfect for the mainly greybird days photographers were dealing with. Never before have I seen so many sick methods in such quick succession during the slideshow, and the audience was stoked.

Photos by Colin Adair.

Tessa Treadway, Lotte Bond, Sarah Frood, Holly Walker, Kirsten Lyle, and Amy McDermid of the Rad Boob Club sold calendars at the Deep Winter event.

Jordan Manley's show was third, and from the moment it began everyone knew that he would keep the crown as Deep Winter champion. Manley had some really arresting images in his show, including a very serene Chad Sayers in the creekside gondola and a birds-eye view of Sayers from very high up in a tree. I think Manley's ability to choose really dramatic music and selective timing throughout the show are what put him on top in competitions like these.

Photo by Jordan Manley.

Brian Hockenstein was asked to compete at 11pm on Sunday night, the night before the competition began. In his pretty funny intro speech he proclaimed that he did for the contest what he would do any other day: ride the Creeside gondola, Red Chair, and Peak chair with a handful of his best friends, but maybe yell at them a bit more. His slideshow was a funny, fast-paced photo montage of three days of Khyber laps with Hockenstein's core snowboarding crew. His group included Robin Van Gyn, one of the only females to be featured in the contest, and Jonny Caulfield.

Photo by Brian Hockenstein.

The first-ever winner of Deep Winter back in 2007, Paul Morrison, was the last slideshow to go on. Morrison's winning slideshow in '07 featured event emcee Mike Douglas who made sure to throw in a number of digs about Morrison's shooting methods. This time Morrison chose a team of his son Ian Morrison, then James Heim and Dana Flahr to round out the group.  Morrison won best image with a really abstract photo of his son Ian. The father/son team worked to Morrison's advantage and he walked away with second place.

Photo by Paul Morrison.

Nicolas Teichrob won 3rd, not bad for a first-time competitor. Jordan can use his $3,000 of winnings to pay pack Chad Sayers for all the times he made him hike features and ski them, only to not use the images in the finished slideshow. Or he can put the money toward his trip to India that is coming up soon.

The show was great and I can't wait for next year's event. Check out the website here: http://www.deepwinterphoto.com