Contest season: What will you win?
Contest season is in full swing in the outdoors world.
While many contests are ultimately more work than others, great things usually don’t come easily.
Here are a handful of contests currently underway that you’ll need to put some effort into in order to make it worth your time:
Eastern Mountain Sports Gear 4 A Year
The only thing Eastern Mountain Sports likes better than getting outside is seeing you outside – in their gear.
In true technology-meets-the-outdoors style, to enter, you just have to submit a video by Dec. 15 showing how much you love being outdoors – in EMS gear.
- EMS contest Web site
Of course your 2-minute (or less) video can’t have other brand names noticeable or profanity or nudity or all that other potentially offensive content.
The public will judge the videos between Dec. 16 and Dec. 23 to narrow down the five finalists. Then EMS judges will pick the winner “on or about” Jan. 5 based on “creativity, originality, appeal to EMS customers and overall entertainment value.”
Oh yeah, and if you win, you’ll receive a new piece of EMS gear every month for a year.
That ranges from jackets and backpacks to sleeping bags and gloves.
What’s Your Everest
Everybody faces challenges. If you think your hardship is better (aka: worse) than everyone else, then listen up! By creating a video or writing an essay that tells the tale of your trials, you could end up with $10,000 to help achieve your goal.
Have a disability but want to climb Denali? Enter the contest. Have 10 kids and can’t get away to hike a part of the AT? Enter the contest.
Just make it fun and submit your entry before Dec. 31.
The top 100 entrants, as voted on by the public, will then be judged by Hanesbrands (the sponsor of the contest, which owns Champion). You’ll be judged on authenticity, having a clear plan for achieving your goal, creativity, having a positive outlook and how it fits with the Champion brand.
Get your Kleenex ready and submit your story (and go vote on other stories or videos).
Living the Good Life
Upload a photo of you enjoying the good life. Get friends, family and random strangers to give your photo a “thumbs up.” Get more “thumbs up” than the hundreds of other entrants. Win gear.
That’s pretty much the only thing you have to do for Gregory packs’ monthly photo contest.
- Gregory Living the Good Life contest Web site
Unlike many contests throughout your life, you won’t have to sign up for a mailing list or make an account to vote on someone’s photos – I did it in about 2 minutes after looking through all of the entries. And you can vote for more than one photo.
The person whose photo gets the most “thumbs up” during the month will win either a Gregory Z25 or women’s Jade 25 backpack. Plus, you’ll get your photo plastered all over Gregory’s Web site and anywhere else the company wants to put it.
The contest, which starts over every month, is slated to run for “the foreseeable future.”
Snow At First Sight Contest
Colorado’s trying to spread the flakey love with its new Snow at First Sight video contest.
The new contest, which runs through Nov. 9 (yes, that’s soon), is meant to make someone fall in love with snow – and Colorado – for the first time.
That means the international competition is limited to people who haven’t spent a “significant” amount of time around snow.
The three winners then spend all-expenses paid 3 months in Colorado doing everything from skiing and snowboarding to sledding, snowshoeing and partying.
To enter just shoot a video that’s less than a minute long about why you deserve to win. You then upload your video to the Snow at First Sight Web site to be judged by your peers and a panel of judges.
For more information on how to spend a full 3 months in Colorado this winter enjoying the snow, visit the contest Web site.
Petzl’s Tikka2 Contest
When it comes down to it, the bigger you are the more gear you could win. With Petzl’s Tikka2 contest, you have the chance to win your weight in Petzl gear.
Headlamps, carabiners, belay devices, ice axes, crampons, helmets, and pretty much any other Petzl gear could be yours. And that’s just the first-place winners of the photo and video contest. If you finish in 2nd through 50th place you still walk away with at least a Tikka Plus2 headlamp.
- Petzl Tikka2 contest Web site
To enter, create a photo or 2-minute video that shows “The Power of Light” or “what do you do with your headlamp.” Do what you must to spice it up because you’ll be judged by a handful of professional photographers or videographers.
But there’s a catch. If you’re one of the two grand prize winners, your schwag can’t exceed 10,000 euros (about $15,000). Regardless, wipe the drool from your chin and go shoot some spectacular video footage or photos.
More easy-to-enter contests
SmartWool Rocky Mountain Rendezvous – All you have to do is enter all your contact info (and a little more) by Nov. 30 for a chance to win transportation for two to Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge or Keystone. You’ll also get two days and two nights lodging at the resort you choose, two days worth of lift tickets for both of you and a stash of SmartWool gear. And if you don’t win in this round, you can enter again between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31.
K2 Sweepstakes – Just by signing up for the Broadway Books and First Ascent e-newsletters, you get a chance to win “K2: Life and Death of the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain” by Ed Viesturs, and a host of First Ascent gear. First Ascent is a brand launched by Eddie Bauer this year designed for mountaineers – no matter your experience level. The contest runs through Nov. 30.
