Alpine Exposure 2023: ACC Calgary Section Photo Competition

Last updated on January 9 2024

Welcome to the 2023 ACC Calgary Section Photo Contest!!!

It’s time once again for our annual photo contest, AND your chance to win one of the many prizes! (See “Categories, Trophies, Prizes!!” section for details.)

  • Contest opens: Friday, November 17 @ midnight.
  • Submission deadline: Sunday, November 26 2023 @ 11:59PM MT to photo.contest@acccalgary.ca
  • Awards Ceremony & Social : Tuesday, December 19 2023 @ 7:30pm at the Section’s Year End Social at Joyce on Fourth.

We do this every year and every year we get more and more submissions of amazing awesome cool pictures of everyone out there enjoying our wilderness. We are inviting all you amateur photographers to enter as many digital pictures to our 2023 ACC Calgary Photo Contest as you would like. The contest is open to all Calgary Section members so start sending in those amazing skiing, climbing and what-have-you pictures of the great alpine outdoors. Please read the rules outlined below. This year’s winners will be shown off at the Year End Social on Dec 19 at 7:30pm. Please RSVP and sign up to the event on the Event Calendar at –> (event pending). This is one of the best attended events on our Section calendar and every year we have hundreds of great pictures and great times looking through them. 

Please review the entry rules carefully; paying particular attention to the “how to get the pictures to us” part. Basically we ask that all submissions be emailed in a full resolution jpeg or similar digital format. Please email each category you are entering separately and include the category in the subject line of the email. Also, all photos submitted must follow the “PhotographersName_PhotoTitle_Category” naming convention (see categories detailed below). Entries can be sent to photo.contest@acccalgary.ca,

Please review the rules below before you send in anything. Once you send it in we have to assume you have read and agree with our terms and conditions.

The DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS Sunday November 26 2023. This deadline is FINAL because the judging will take place the following weekend and there is time required for collating and organizing. If you have a Trophy from the February 2023 contest please email photo.contest@acccalgary.ca to arrange for the safe return of your trophy.

Rules:  PLEASE READ

Please read and follow these rules carefully. Failure to follow these rules will result in disqualification from the contest.
  1. The contest is open to any active Calgary Section member in good standing. If you membership has elapsed please renew before submitting entries.
  2. Entrants may win more than one place in a category. A maximum of 3 entries per category per person.
  3. Entries are not permitted from the judges or their family members.
  4. Entries will be received via email only at photo.contest@acccalgary.ca .
  5. Please submit separate emails for each category and include the category you are entering in the subject line of your email. This will make initial sorting much easier for the judges.
  6. Each photo filename must follow the “PhotographersName_PhotoTitle_Category” naming convention. Think up a great title as this is very key to our presentations.
  7. Please limit each image file size to a maximum 10mb uncompressed jpeg. When emailing entries please limit email total size to 10mb (uncompressed).
  8. If the judges feel that no entries are of the standard to receive a trophy in a category, no award will be made.
  9. Photographs must have been taken within three years of the contest deadline.
  10. All entrants must provide a list of their entries, including the respective category and title of entry, and include their name, address, and telephone number, as a separate e-mail with their name as subject line. 
  11. All entries into the photo contest are released by the entrant for future reproduction in The Breeze, the section website, and other publications and promotional material of the Calgary Section – including displays and slide shows.
  12. Non-winning entries from previous Calgary Section photo contests are eligible. 
  13. The judges may move entries to another category when deemed appropriate.
  14. Please remember that this is a FUN event and that all photos in category 8 (Mountaineers) will be shown at the show – we all like to see the people we know in the mountains! As well, all the pictures in category 11 (Humor) will be shown.
  15. All entries in Humor must come with a title, caption or story. The key ingredient in Category 11 (Humor) is a kick-ass caption, title or story.  Make the most mundane shot a winner with a great title. 
  16. Video shorts must be less than 5 minutes in duration.  These will be shown prior to the “official” slide show…make it fun.
  17. Professional photographers are NOT eligible to enter the contest if ALL of the following conditions apply:
    • sold a photo for more than $100.00
    • sold more than 3 photos
    • sold a photo within the last 5 years

Categories, Trophies, Prizes!!

  • “Category Name (Trophy Name) – Main focus of the each picture in the category”
  • 🏆 Prizes: MEC gift cards of up to $100 per category

Please pay attention to the focus of these categories.

  1. Canadian Mountain Scenes (Richardson Trophy) – Mountain scenery – 🏆 $100 MEC Gift Card
  2. Mountain Winter Scenes (Rex Gibson Trophy) – Canadian mountains in winter – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  3. Mountain scenes outside Canada (Jim Board Trophy) – Mountaineering scenes/activities outside Canada – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  4. Mountaineering (Marion Fawdry Trophy) – Mountaineering activities, summer or winter – 🏆 $100 MEC Gift Card
  5. Rock Climbing (Hillbilly Bowl) – Technical or solo climbing on rock – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  6. Ice Climbing (Kathleen Lucas Trophy) – Waterfall or extreme alpine ice climbing – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  7. Ski Mountaineering (John Hammond Trophy) – Ski mountaineering, ski touring, or telemark – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  8. Portraits of Mountaineers (L.C. Wilson Trophy) – Person or people in a mountain setting – 🏆 $100 MEC Gift Card
  9. Flora (Francis Pearce Trophy) – Plant life in a mountain region – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  10. Fauna (Bugler Hind Trophy) – Wildlife in a mountain region – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  11. Humor (Silver Skillet) – Humor or satire, taken in a mountain or mountaineering context – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  12. Best of Show (David Oldham Trophy) – All entries are considered for this award – 🏆 $200 MEC Gift Card
  13. Unclassified (President’s Trophy) – Any photograph in a mountain setting that doesn’t fit in another category – 🏆 $50 MEC Gift Card
  14. Club Activities – Person or people involved in a club camp or activity – 🏆 Free Porter Service from the Section Chair
  15. Legacy Award – An appreciation of the mountains being shared by youth or families – 🏆 Free climbing/scrambling instruction event for your kids
Meet the Judges!

Judging Panel

We’re so thrilled to have a judging panel of 3 internationally renowned mountain/adventure sport photographers!

Tim Banfield
https://www.timbanfield.com/
Peter Hoang
http://www.peter-hoang.com/
Pat Morrow
http://patmorrow.com/
John Scurlock
https://www.jaggedridgeimaging.com/
Detailed Description of the History of the Trophies

The History of Our Trophies

Canadian Mountain Scenes: Richardson Trophy

  • Category: Main focus of interest is mountain scenery.
  • History: This trophy was donated by Charlie Richardson who was prominent in the ACC and frequently the camp manager at many of the early GMCs. The Richardson family lived in a big old house on 15th street NW close to the now Jubilee Auditorium.

Mountain Winter Scenes: Rex Gibson Trophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a Canadian mountain in winter.
  • History: The trophy was donated and named after Major Rex Gibson a prominent Canadian Climber and President of the ACC from 1954 to 1957. He died in an accident on Mt. Howson in 1958. Rex helped train many of the Canadian Army troops on mountain warfare at the Columbia Icefields during the Second World War. Rex lived in Victoria, BC. He ran the GMCs with the same military precision.

Mountain Scenes from outside Canada: Jim Board Trophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a mountain scene from outside of Canada
  • History: The Jim Board Trophy was donated by his family. Jim Board was a keen young man in the Calgary Section and a fine climber. He came from the ranks of Bob Hind’s 18th Troop Scouts. Unfortunately Jim disappeared in an avalanche on a climbing trip on Mt. Cook in New Zealand in 1960. His body was never recovered.

Mountaineering: Marion Fawdry Trophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a person or persons involved in mountaineering activities. May be summer or winter.
  • History: Marion Fawdry donated this trophy. The Glenbow Museum reports that she was a prominent business woman and photographer here in 1935 as well as a Calgary Section member.

Rock Climbing: Hillbilly Bowl

  • Category: Main focus should be a person or persons involved in technical or solo climbing.
  • History: Donated by a prominent business man in Calgary,

Ice Climbing: Kathleen LucasTrophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a person or people involved in waterfall or extreme alpine ice climbing.

Ski Mountaineering: John Hammond Trophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a person or people involved in ski mountaineering, ski touring, or telemark skiing.

Portraits of Mountaineers: L.C. Wilson Trophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a person or people in a mountain setting.
  • History: L.C. Wilson was known as “Jimmie” to his friends. He was the ACC’s long time Secretary/Treasurer from 1947 to 1958. He was the Calgary Section Chairman in 1930.

Flora: Francis Pearce Trophy

  • Category: Plant life in any mountain region.
  • History: This trophy was donated by Frances Pearce from the famous William Pearce Family of the Pearce Estate which was located near what is now the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The family home was later moved to Heritage Park. Frances was a Founding Member of the ACC. She joined the ACC in 1906 in Winnipeg and only ever climbed one mountain in her life, her graduating climb, Mt Wapta in 1907.

Fauna: Bugler Hind Trophy

  • Category: Wildlife in any mountain region.
  • History: The Bugler Hind Trophy is named after Marjory Bugler, a nurse and early Section member who later married Bob Hind the ACC President and later Honorary President as well as a very active leader with Calgary Section.

Humour: Silver Skillet

  • Category: Any humourous or satirical photograph taken at or on a mountain or in a mountaineering context.

Best of Show: David Oldham Trophy

  • Category: All entries will be considered for this award. The winner will receive a 16×20 custom print.

Unclassified: Presidents Trophy

  • Category: Any photograph taken in a mountain setting that does not fit in any other category.

Club Activities: Edie Shackleton Trophy

  • Category: Main focus should be a person or persons involved in a club camp or activitiy.

Legacy Award

  • Category: Main focus should be an appreciation of the mountains being shared by youth or families.

. — Historical summaries provided by Bruce Fraser.