This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Ski Salt Lake Shootout, a weeklong photography contest that sets out to capture the essence of the county's four ski resorts in pictures, recently received a major award from the U.S. Travel Association.
The association honored Visit Salt Lake, which created the contest as part of its mission to promote Salt Lake County as a convention and travel destination, with its "Destiny Award" as the best single, target-marketing promotion.
Over the past six years, Visit Salt Lake has invited eight professional photographers (four local, two national and two international) to work with 24 professional skiers to create the most striking pictures possible over a four-day period at Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird and Alta ski resorts.
"Without a doubt, the 2013 Ski Salt Lake Shootout proved to be the most successful edition to date, exceeding expectations on all accounts," said Visit Salt Lake President Scott Beck.
Besides increasing awareness of Salt Lake County's ski product, he said the promotion receives considerable media coverage, builds Visit Salt Lake's collection of ski photographs and involves and expands its presence in social media.
Beck calculated the county has received $283,000 worth of editorial coverage from the 2013 Shootout, won this year by Steve Lloyd, 36, of Cottonwood Heights. Lloyd also won in 2012.
In the six years the contest has been conducted, he added, the value of the editorial coverage has exceeded $500,000.