This year’s judges for the ProAM were:
- Taro Tamai
- Tsutomu Nakata
- Yoichi Watanabe
- Neil Hartmann
- Torah Bright
- Eric Pollard
- Matt Hampton
- Winse Heyward
Judges Choice: The pursuit of perfect pillows
📷 Aaron Jamieson 🎿 Dennis Ranalter
Niseko is famous for its powder pillows – or mushrooms as they’re called locally. Pro-pro team made up of local photographer, Aaron Jamieson, and visiting pro skier, Dennis Ranalter, took out the Judges Vote with a spectacular bluebird pillow-line shot.
It snowed almost every day between 01 December through the contest period ending 09 January, meaning there were plenty of mushrooms ripe for harvest for the ProAM.
This particular line is a favourite spot for travelling ski and snowboard media, however, getting a good photo is much trickier than getting a good video.
The judges all know this fact well and recognised the difficulty in capturing such a pristine bluebird powder shot, awarding Aaron and Dennis the win.
Public Choice: Mi casa es su casa
Proof of aloof on the roof
📷 Tomek Ustupski 🏂 Henry Johnson
Deep powder isn’t the only thing Niseko is known for! A quirky custom-built Japanese “kei truck” has captured the attention of the voting public to win this year’s ¥80,000 Niseko Shootout ProAM Public Vote.
Kei truck’s are mini pick up trucks that are cheap to register and run, and are seen everywhere in rural Japan – Niseko included. This particular kei truck is called Sabi-chan and was customised by the rider in the photo, Kiwi Henry Johnson. The photographer for this shot was Tomek Ustupski from Poland.
Niseko Shootout Founder, Winse Heyward, said it obviously resonated with the voting audience. “So many locals own a kei truck or van because they’re cheap and have character, and this one is like the poster child for Niseko,” said Winse.
He continues, “The patchwork of coloured timber panels popped with the lighting, and the ridge on the roof created a classic Niseko urban feature for Henry to transition on. Very cool, very Niseko and a very worthy winner of this year’s Niseko Shootout ProAM!”