MSP retains stranglehold
For the third time in the three-year history of the Powder Video Awards, Matchstick Productions walked with the show's top honor. Ski Movie III: The Front Line retained MSP's strangle hold on Movie of the Year honors, beating out a strong field of nominees, including Poor Boyz Productions Happy Dayz and Teton Gravity Research's The Prophecy.
"Skiing's biggest stars and a crowd of special guests flooded The Joint in the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The event, emceed by famed X Games and Olympic announcer Chris "Uncle E" Ernst, awarded the best of the best in ski cinematography for the 2002-'03 season.
But while MSP continued to dominate the most comprehensive award of the show, the rest of the show revolved around a slew of new comers. Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and Rachel Belliveau emerged from the shadows as the Breakthrough Performers of the Year. Belliveau had a strong opening segment TGR's Salad Days, while Cattabriga-Alosa posted a combined performance in Salad Days and The Prophecy that almost earned a nomination for Best Performance by a Male. That award went to Mike Douglas, who provided some of the most diverse and well-rounded segments of the year in Happy Dazy and The Front Line. Kristi Leskinen also debuted at the Powder Awards, snaring the top individual award for women for her performance in Happy Dayz as well. The 2003 Powder Awards were the buzz of the SIA trade show, drawing interest from across the gamut of snowsports. "I'm pretty much blown apart right now," said Powder Editor Steve Metcalf. "The support for this event was incredible. The momentum of skiing is unstoppable."
The event was a who's-who of skiing, past and present, culminated by Scot Schmidt presenting Seth Morrison with the Full Throttle Award. "You don't know who sick it is to be getting an award from Scot Schmidt," Morrison told the audience. "He is the reason I do what I do." Morrison then insisted the crowd honor a moment of silence for all the skiers and snowboarders who have lost their lives pursuing their passion, naming, in particular, Trevor Peterson and Craig Kelly. "This is dangerous Shit we do," he said.
2003 Powder Video Awards Winners:
Best Line: Kent Kreitler, The Prophecy
Worst Slam: Dave Crichton, Strike Three
Best Powder: Dave Swanwick and Will Burks, The Prophecy
Best Chase Cam: Steve Rosendaal, Volume 8
Best Humor: Mike Douglas, Tom Erickson; Vincent Dorion, The Front Line.
Best Cliff Huck: Chris Collins, The Prophecy
Best Trick: Jon Olsson, switch D-spin 1080, Happy Dayz
Male Breakthrough Performer: Sage Cattabriga-Alosa, Happy Dayz, The Prophecy
Female Breakthrough Performer: Rachel Belliveau
Best Performance by a Male: Mike Douglas, Happy Dayz, The Front Line
Best Performance by a Female: Kristi Leskinen, Happy Dayz
Full Throttle: Seth Morrison, The Front Line