But, just when tired photogs traded viewfinders for editing bays, deep winter returned to the Coast Mountains: snow began to fall at 6pm Friday night and delivered a healthy dose of fresh to the beleaguered masses. As Mother Nature continued to blanket Whistler Village in a sea of white, a sold-out crowd of 1,200 satiated souls drifted into the Fairmont Chateau Whistler to take in the work of six and-selected contestants. Along with Krabbe, the youngest competitor ever at just 21, vying for the crown of King/Queen of the Storms were last year’s second-place finisher Robin O’Neill, Whistler up-and-comers Mason Mashon, Mark Gribbon and Jussi Grznar, and Utah lensman Steve Lloyd.

Although all photographers had just three days to shoot within the expansive confines of Whistler-Blackcomb, the shows were surprisingly diverse: from Krabbe’s story of injury and redemption (and Dave Treadway surviving a Hollywood huck of Air Jordan) to Grznar’s diverse juxtaposition of behind-the-scenes imagery and in-your-face action and O’Neill’s more intimate presentation of a few key characters, the shows were nothing short of inspiring.

It seemed that locals fared well with their knowledge of where to find good snow amongst a week-long dry spell and, although it was very, very tough to call, O’Neill ‘s riveting show (which you can watch below) claimed the $5,000 novelty check and the title of Queen of the Storms. A huge thanks to the crew at Whistler-Blackcomb, Arc’Teryx, and the photographers for their inspiration and hard work amongst a rare January dry spell. And, perhaps most importantly, thanks to Mother Nature for returning us to deep winter—we hope all the athletes and photogs are out getting theirs as La Niña is back with a vengeance.

Robin O’Neill - Deep Winter 2012 Winning Slideshow from Robin ONeill on Vimeo.

"It’s unlikely there is any place on earth with as rich of ski history as Norway. Skiing is woven through every part of Norwegian culture and there is nowhere more beautiful to illustrate this than along the snowy Fjords of the Sogndal region."

"Many of the Salomon Jib Academy final participants say the week at Mammoth, California is the best of their lives.  In order to try and comprehend the awesomeness, we filmed just 6 seconds of the entire week at 1000 frames per second."

Not to miss out on the early season feeding frenzy, a few lucky folks at Whistler-Blackcomb got up on the glacier yesterday for some pre-season powder. According to the official release:

"Pro Skier Callum Pettit, pro snowboarder Mercedes Nicoll and the 'Godfather' of freeskiing Mike Douglas, skied and rode on Blackcomb Glacier yesterday enjoying some very early season powder turns.

'Being able to ski this early in the season is unbelievable,' said Callum Pettit, 'I can’t wait for Whistler Blackcomb to open.' The three athletes were joined by videographer Jeff Thomas and legendary ski photographer Paul Morrison, who were able to capture some footage of the incredible conditions. 

La Nina, the weather system to thank for this early blast of snow, brought 1,567cm (617 inches) of snow last year, which was the second snowiest season in Whistler Blackcomb’s recorded history. Meteorologists are calling for another La Nina weather pattern this winter."

Lucky fellas/fellette. Get stoked, cause it's on!