Public and Celebrity Judges Decide 2021-22 Niseko Shootout ProAM Winners!

More than 1500 Niseko Shootout fans helped decide the ¥80,000 (USD700) Public Vote winner of this year’s Niseko Shootout ProAM.

Their choice? Japanese Snowboarder Daigo Yoshino launching out of a disused lift station at Iwanai Resort (now operating as a cat ski resort) near Niseko, shot by British photographer Duncan Wright.

Niseko Shootout Founder Winse Heyward said the photo captured the charm of Southwest Hokkaido’s rustic ski scene alongside the powder-producing Sea of Japan.

“There are plenty of older resorts across Hokkaido so rusting, disused lift stations are actually quite emblematic of the broader ski scene in northern Japan,” Winse said.

“Duncan’s image of a ‘modern-day’ snowboarder popping off a rusting ski station into the setting sun above the Sea of Japan obviously resonated with voters who love the area.”

Meanwhile, votes by the international all-star cast of official judges resulted in a tie for the first time in Niseko Shootout history.

All-Japanese combo Katsuya Yamamoto of Makkari and Rusutsu snowboarder Masaki Kubota caught the judges’ eyes with their monochromatic image of Kubota-san launching out of a plume of powder in front of a setting sun.

At the meantime, long-time Niseko resident/photographer Aaron Jamieson and Yunosato snowboarder Tatsumi Kono captured the judges’ attention with a moment they captured during a gnarly, coastline blizzard.

The teams split the ¥120,000 (USD1,000) prize money awarded for the coveted Judges’ Vote.

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Huge thanks to the judges who took part remotely from Hokkaido and around the world – Eric Pollard, Mattias Fredriksson, Neil Hartman, Taro Tamai, Torah Bright, Tsutomu Nakata and Yoichi Watanabe.

The Niseko Shootout ProAM is one of three categories under the 2021-22 Niseko Shootout photo and film competition banner.

A total of 40 professional and amateur athlete-photographer teams took to the mountains in and around Niseko between 7-10 January, 2022.

Each took as many photos as they liked during the competition window, but submitted only one for judging following the final day.

Still underway this winter is the headline Niseko Shootout hashtag photo competition, with any photo hash-tagged #nisekoshootout this winter in the running to take out one of a host of prizes.

The Shootout culminates with the Niseko Shootout Short Film Festival to be held on March 5th this year.

For more details about the Niseko Shootout, check out HERE and follow @NisekoShootout and @NisekoTourism to stay up to date.

Check out the Award Video below!