Powder Announces Nominees for 2012 Powder Awards

Photo: Sherpas Cinema

By POWDER staff — With just a week to go before the 12th annual POWDER Awards presented by Casio G’zOne Commando and Verizon Wireless, POWDER Magazine is pleased to announce nominees for the 2012 competition. The prestigious event will take place at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado, with a live webcast here at powderawards.com on Jan. 25, 2012. A judging panel comprised of POWDER staff and experts in the world of skiing poured over countless entries to narrow down the nominees and will ultimately vote on the winners.

“Choosing the nominees gets harder and harder every year as more talented filmmakers enter the fray, and the veterans continue to reach new heights,” says POWDER Editor Derek Taylor. “Our panel of 26 industry experts really had their work cut out for them this year.”

Initial feedback from the judging panel suggests that the “Movie of the Year” category was particularly tough to judge this year. Stalwarts such as MSP and TGR continued to hit the bar they set year after year, several two-year projects, such as The Ordinary Skier and All.I.Can. really impressed, and a few smaller companies, such as Stept Productions, really raised their level this year as well.

The complete list of nominees includes:

Best Female Performance
Ingrid Backstrom – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)
Lell Tone – Like There’s No Tomorrow (Warren Miller Entertainment)
Christine Hargin – The Sunny Side (Free Radicals)
Guilia Monego – The Sunny Side (Free Radicals)

Best Jib
L.J. Strenio – The Grand Bizarre (Poor Boyz Productions)
Tom Wallisch – Begging For Change (4bi9 Media)
J.F. Houle – After Dark (Level 1 Productions)
Cam Riley – Weight (Stept Productions)

Best Natural Air
Kye Petersen – All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)
Todd Ligare – One For the Road (Teton Gravity Research)
Dane Tudor – The Grand Bizarre (Poor Boyz Productions)
Sean Pettit – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)

Best Manmade Air
Simon Dumont – The Grand Bizarre (Poor Boyz Productions)
Bobby Brown – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)
13-man train – Nothing Else Matters (Legs of Steel)
L.J. Strenio – Prime Cut (Meathead Films)

Best Male Performance
Sean Pettit – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)
Parker White – After Dark (Level 1 Productions)
Kye Petersen – All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)
Eric Hjorleifson – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)

Best Powder
Tobi Reindl, Paddy Graham, Thomas Hlawitschka, and Sven Kueenle – Nothing Else Matters (Legs of Steel)
Wiley Miller, Tanner Rainville, and Parker White – After Dark (Level 1 Productions)
Noah Howell and Andy Jacobson – Breaking Trail (Powderwhore Productions)
James Heim, Chris Rubens, Mark Abma, Matty Richard, Sean Pettit, and Eric Hjorliefson – All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)

Best Documentary
Très Bonne Équipe! (Pixl Family Productions)
Winter (The Ski Channel)
The Ordinary Skier (1242 Productions)
The Freedom Chair (Switchback Entertainment)

Best Line
Eric Hjorleifson – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)
J.P. Auclair – All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)
Dean Cummings – The Steep Life (Nick Bowie)
Seth Morrison, Nathan Wallace, Dave Rosenbarger, Matty Herringer – The Ordinary Skier (1242 Productions)

Best POV
J.P. Auclair – All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)
Eric Hjorleifson – Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)
Ian McIntosh – One for the Road (Teton Gravity Research)
Seth Morrison – The Ordinary Skier (1242 Productions)

Best Cinematography presented by GoPro
The Ordinary Skier (1242 Productions)
All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)
Weight (Stept Productions)
Solitaire (Sweetgrass Productions)

Movie of the Year
Attack of La Niña (MSP Films)
One for the Road (Teton Gravity Research)
After Dark (Level 1 Productions)
Weight (Stept Productions)
All.I.Can. (Sherpas Cinema)

Honors will also be given to the top 10 male and top five female skiers as voted on by fans and readers of POWDER Magazine.

The POWDER Awards debuted in 2000 and have become the premier ski awards. A who’s who shows up year after year at the big event during the Winter X Games in Aspen. And for those unable to get a coveted ticket or make it to Aspen can watch all the live action and behind-the-scenes coverage at powderawards.com beginning at 7 p.m. (MST) starting with red-carpet arrivals followed by the awards presentation at 8 p.m.

Special thanks to presenting sponsors Casio G’zOne Commando and Verizon, as well as supporting sponsors Kru82, GoPro, The North Face, Red Bull, Sailor Jerry Rum and Heineken.