Low snowfall Niseko Shootout ProAM photo comp inspires epic creativity

A spectacular and unseasonably colourful collection of 22 photo entries elevated the second annual Niseko Shootout ProAM to lofty new heights this year.

The Niseko Shootout ProAM offers two hotly contested grand prizes – the ¥120,000 Judges’ Choice and the ¥80,000 Public Vote.

This year’s Judge’s Choice was awarded to American photog Tanner Dobbins and Japanese rider Ryu Atobe with their ironically titled “‘Bad snow conditions’ in Niseko featuring Mt Yotei”.

Judges Taro Tamai, Yoichi Watanabe and Neil Hartmann said the photo summed up the universal beauty of Niseko in what would usually be deep powder season.

“It captures a different kind of Niseko beauty, which is quite special to this season. There was some powder snow on the trees, untracked snow on the ground with sasa. The light is soft and gentle and the snowboard position and spray was perfect.

“It’s quite amazing for the team to capture this special moment and show the uniqueness and spirit of Niseko’s backcountry. It doesn’t have to have big pow or dump to make the photo stand out.”

Winners of the Public Vote – amazingly for the second year running – were photog Tomasz Ustupski and skier Aron Hayes with a killer flip of a huge backcountry feature, titled “Sunrise Revenge on Lupo Killer”.

The ProAM is one of three competitions that makes up the Niseko Shootout, along with a season-long Instagram-based hashtag contest and a season-end film festival.

The ProAM is a photo contest in which athlete-photographer teams (both professional and amateur – hence the ProAM title) enter the best image they capture within a four-day window.

Contest organiser Winse Heyward said the lack of snow and cloud cover resulted in an unusually colourful collection of entries.

“Usually we’d expect to see plenty of deep-winter, deep-pow shots, but because there was sunshine we actually saw plenty of blue sky, green sasa and some beautiful sunrise and sunset colours.

“The teams really worked hard to find something different and it was great to see the variety of shots, with some featuring the ocean or landscape and a few this year taken at night. It makes you realise there is much more to Niseko than just deep powder.”

The awards ceremony was hosted at the new Rhythm Base store with all photos shown on the big screen and the winners presented with oversized novelty cheques along with their wads of real yen.

Next up on the Niseko Shootout schedule is Niseko Shootout Film Fest on March 14, when the top films submitted will be screened and judged, and the winners of the hashtag contest will also be announced.

If you can’t make it to the event we’ll link to the entries and winners in our blog after the event.

More details on how to enter a film at Niseko Tourism.