The 2012 World Heli Challenge wraps up this Thursday, August 16 with the ION Showcase Awards and Canon Shootout. A live webcast of the awards will be broadcast right here on this page beginning at 9:00 p.m. NZST (5:00 a.m. MST). An evening of celebration will culminate in award presentations for photography, film, and—of course—skiing.
On the ski side of things, the top performers from the two days of heli-accessed competition—Freestyle Day and Extreme Day—will be crowned. Prizes will be awarded to winners for each respective day of competition, and also for overall performance. New this year, one male and female will also be selected as the best overall athlete of the 2012 World Heli Challenge, regardless whether they ski or snowboard. Will a one- or two-planker emerge on top of the pack? Time well tell. The ultimate bragging rights are on the line.
Photo courtesy Tony Harrington.
The film competition pits five five-minute short films against each other; the films showcase the entire two-week-long affair. To be clear, there are only two days of actual competition, but two weeks are allotted to the WHC as a whole, allowing event organizers to host the on-hill competition in optimal weather conditions. Having shot two week’s worth of skiing and snowboarding in the hills surrounding Wanaka, NZ—plus a tramload of off-piste action—the teams’ documentary style edits are sure to impress.
In regards to the photo competition, five photographers are in contention for the Canon Shootout awards. Collectively, the photogs captured more than 25,000 images during the event, showcasing both lifestyle and action. Each photographer submitted five of his/her images to be judged, each photo designated to one of five specific categories. The categories are: Best Extreme Day Shot, Best Freestyle Day Shot, Best Carlton Dry Shot, Best Exide Batteries Shot and Best Canon Shot.
All of the images entered into the competition will be posted in a gallery on www.worldhelichallenge.com; the gallery will be live following the airing of the awards show.
Tune in on Thursday to watch the awards live, and stay posted as we’ll bring you a recap following the show. *The embedded video below will appear blank until the start of the webcast.
World Heli Challenge ION Showcase Awards and Canon Shootout Webcast Live, Thursday, 9pm (NZT)
*About the World Heli Challenge
The World Heli Challenge brings together the cream of snowsports athletes from around the globe to compete in a unique helicopter-accessed competition. The goal is to find out which athlete is the best “all rounder” by combining their freeride and freestyle strengths to showcase their overall talent on snow. The main event period is jam-packed with events, parties and adventure days.
