The Top 10 - Danny Davis Means Winter Photo Contest
The top 10 have been selected! Check out the finalists and the stories behind their photos that they submitted for the Neon Wave X Danny Davis Means Winter Photo Contest.
If a photo is worth 1000 words then we received nearly a million words explaining just what winter means to you. We narrowed those 900+ photos down to just 10 finalists, and those top entries are in! Stay tuned next week for the final winner announcement from Danny Davis himself. In the meantime, get a good look at the entries that made the top ten and enjoy winter where ever you can find it!
Neon Wave Means Winter.
TYLER BURNS
ELLICOTTVILLE, NY
ABOUT THE PHOTO: This is our local surf crew! Finding the goods after a big storm!
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter means fun! Get out there an enjoy it with your crew even if the weather doesn’t always cooperate it’s always fun with friends."
ELISE JOHANSSON
GRAND TARGHEE, WY
ABOUT THE PHOTO: Mudflap (the liftie voted most likely to steal your heart and/or your mom) is never not putting on a show. Here he is taking advantage of a warm February day and serving up a full helping of Canadian tuxedo realness.
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter means nonstop smiling. It's being in my favorite place, doing my favorite thing with my favorite people. It's watching my nephew's nuke through the trees and hit jumps so big they get cheers from the lift. It's seeing people stop to grab a strangers skis after they yardsale. It's sharing pocket snacks and the perfect song to ride to. It's laughing so hard on the lift you have the put the bar down. It's riding in the back of your crew, watching everyone doing their thing and feeling so grateful that you couldn't stop smiling if you wanted to.
HUBERT FRĄCZEK
TATRAS MOUNTAINS, POLAND
ABOUT THE PHOTO: The photo was taken in Tatras, Mountains in Poland, and it was on Kasprowy Wierch (1987m) , one of the most famous Polish peaks.
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter is part of me. Winter means freedom. I saw a video with Nick Russel, one of the best friends of Danny and he said, that winter and splitboarding gives freedom. And you can’t splitboard without winter, without snow. Chasing those lines, inaccessible for most people is what winter can gift me. The best part of it is that it’s totally for free. I just need to take care of the Earth
When you say winter some words “show up in my mind”: 3… 2…. 1…. droppin’, that’s what winter is all about!
HUNTER LUKES
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
ABOUT THE PHOTO: This photo was taken in the backyard of my college house. Our backyard, consisting of 15 feet of scaffolding as a drop in ramp to different jumps, rails, and transition features is known as "Ducky Mountain." The end of the season in Michigan is always a tough time for the backyard as the snow depreciates very fast. We decided to do a classic end of the year ski hill event in our backyard, the pond skim. We took the remainder of our snow and made a single track from the scaffolding ramp to the pond skim. Throughout the day we started to get a little funky, putting a 20 foot rail over the pond as well as adding a jump to the start of the pond with the goal of jumping over it. Of course, we had to snap some pictures of this with two people laying in the frigid hose water :)
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter truthfully means everything to me. Whether I am at a big mountain resort getting free refills all day, at my local hills Alpine Valley and Pine Knob, in the street, or in my own backyard I am most happy strapped into my snowboard in the winter. It is a time where I get to express my creativity. It may sound cheesy but snow is my paint and my backyard is my canvas. I am constantly thinking of features to build and new ways to hit existing features. The possibilities are really endless on what can be built even if that means bringing in pickup truck loads of snow from parking lots in order to build the feature I had in mind. The hard work of building is so rewarding once you get to ride it yourself. More rewarding than that is seeing other people enjoy riding it too. From first timers dropping into the ramp, to late night sessions with closest friends under the lights, to hosting a rail jam with your college ski club, seeing others stoked on winter makes me even more stoked on it. All of this joy is because of winter.
KEVIN MCAVEY
BIG SKY RESORT, MONTANA
ABOUT THE PHOTO: My twin brother Chris and I grew up on the east coast shredding and shooting photos together. After high school Chris moved to Colorado (Keystone) and I went to college (upstate NY). Following my graduation we both decided to move to Montana to shred together once again. This season was epic. Riding again with my twin brother/best friend we were shooting photos like crazy. Some folks may have crazy stories about their photos but this was honestly just a natural day in the life. I took out my camera after hitting the drop myself and I grabbed this shot of Chris steeezing a sweet frontside grab. After he landed we just high fived and kept cruising.
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter is the time of year I look forward to most. This is my first season away from my brother since moving to Montana (I'm in Utah and he is back east). Less photography this winter but I'm trying to slow down and splitboard more than ever in the Northern Wasatch near Powder Mountain. This winter has been filled with smiles and low angle pow. I'm just gonna keep looking forward to winter and keep being thankful for snow when it comes!
ZACK MURRAY
BLACKCOMB, WHISTLER, BC
ABOUT THE PHOTO: I took this photo on the first day I went to shoot in the park with one of my new housemates, Gabriel. I knew I wanted a photo of a method on this hip since I first saw it, and when Gabriel said he could do one for me I found my spot and caught him full stretch.
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter to me is many things, back in Southern Ontario it was a search for snow and something to do. Now It's about getting out in the mountains, riding with friends and capturing my love for snowboarding in perfect moments. I moved to Whistler to experience winter in its full glory and to make my way up in the snowboard industry shooting photos and sharing them with as many people as I can. Winter is a time I can express myself artistically, on and off the board. I hope you are as hyped as I am!
MARKO LÖYTYNOJA
NORWAY, LYNGEN ALPS
ABOUT THE PHOTO: While skinning in the Lyngen Glacier, we noticed this beautiful and large “ice cave,” which of course we needed to take a closer look at. My friend went ahead and I stayed a little further to dig out my camera from backpack. When got out the camera, my friend had already gotten to the front of the cave and that’s when I took the photo I only had a fixed lens with it that day and I was a little too far away so I had to crop the image a bit The photo wasn’t planned, and I hadn’t instructed my friend to go to a certain place to stand.
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Pure joy!
JORDAN LUTES
NORTH LAKE TAHOE BACKCOUNTRY
ABOUT THE PHOTO: This is One of my favorite photos ever, shot by my wife in the backcountry near our house in north Lake Tahoe, basically us just always trying to tire our dog out. This is a really special spot and run for us, it’s where we escaped to do runs just the two of us when the pandemic shut down all the resorts, and it’s a trail we take our 1 year old daughter on (who’s also just started riding and loving her Burton Riglet setup).
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: Winter really just means more adventure less crowds - I’m lucky enough to have some solid friends and family who will get up before the sun with me, throw the kids and dogs in the car, and go find some deep snow to make some big smiles. And now getting to share this lifestyle with my daughter as she grows up in it is a pretty amazing feeling
SOLOMON ARTHUR
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, SOUTH LAKE TAHOE
ABOUT THE PHOTO: My friend Tucker Osborne took this backcountry pond skim photo of me on a summer backpacking trip
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU?: I love snowboarding so much that I search for winter year-round!
MARIO EDER
ZILLERTAL ARENA, AUSTRIA
ABOUT THE PHOTO: It was one of these pow days last year, while everything was shut down because of corona. My son Fabian and me went out for a ride. The snow was fresh and fluffy - just like “Champagne”. I just had to capture one of the waves we created this day. That’s one of the moments worth living for.
WHAT DOES WINTER MEAN TO YOU? Winter for me is freedom, being outdoors alone or with my fam and friends. Going for a new adventure and finding the first line.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this contest! Keep riding, keep shooting, and look out for our livestream with Danny to announce the winners!