Since the inception of the Powder Awards, the number of professional ski films produced increases each year. This, of course, demonstrates the vitality and demand for ski cinematography. But it also makes the job of the Powder editors and videographers at Mountain Sports International (MSI) that much more difficult and demanding. Once we watch every film (over 30 in 2009), Powder asks each film company to submit their nominees for each category except Movie of the Year:
- Best Male Performance
- Best Female Performance
- Full Throttle
- Breakthrough Performance
- Best Documentary
- Best Point of View (POV)
- Best Line
- Best Powder
- Best Air: Natural
- Best Air: Manmade
- Best Editing
Once we receive each film company’s nomination, we combine their submissions with any notable entries they may have missed, and compile all the footage onto DVD.
How the winning films are chosen
Perhaps the most integral ingredient of the Powder Awards is the expert panel. Each year, we scan and survey the industry for about two dozen industry-wide experts, from photographers, to skiers, to filmers, to writers, to product and marketing managers, in order to judge and select nominees for each category. These experts vote for their top five nominations and a winner in each category.
Online and ballot tallying
And you, the reader, have a place too. As tradition dictates, readers are asked to vote for their favorite men and women athletes in the Reader Poll by voting online at www.PowderAwards.com. So make your voice heard, and see who wins on the night of January 25, 2012. Will Tom Wallisch and Ingrid Backtrom keep their places at the top of your list, or will someone new knock them?
Show Production
It seems as soon as one epic night of the Powder Awards and Reader Poll concludes, our marketing team is hard at work planning another unforgettable night for next year. It’s a scramble to organize all the festivities involved, yet somehow, the staff congeals and continues to elevate the fun each year. The wheel of plans and ideas spins around the Powder offices in late-spring, and we decide on a theme in early-autumn. Guest presenters, entertainers, and hosts get slated in the fall. Invitations are mailed out shortly thereafter for the best night in the ski industry hosted at Aspen’s classic Hotel Jerome.
Guest Presenters and Celebrities
The Powder Awards are hosted in Aspen, and who doesn’t party in Aspen? Shannon Elizabeth, the foreign-exchange hotty in American Pie, Lonnie Paxton of the New England Patriots Super Bowl championship teams, G. Love, and Jason Lewis from Sex and The City have all graced the fabled red carpet of the Powder Awards and Reader Polls throughout the years. Of course, every pro from the last couple of decades from Glen Plake to Kye Petersen has been in attendance in addition to all those scantily-clad pro clingers. Who will elicit the flashes of cameras on the red carpet this year? Which musician will have the packed crowd swaying, jiving, and dancing this year? If you’re on the list, then maybe you’ll find out while rubbing elbows at the bar or dance floor or in line to the bathroom.
