Matador Goods Photo Contest Finalists

05/15/09  Print This Post Print This Post    10 Comments   Popular   Written by Hal Amen
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The Matador team recently gave away a copy of The Andes, a trekking and climbing guide to South America’s best mountains, in a contest over at Matador Goods.

To enter, Matadorians submitted photos from their trekking and climbing experiences. We here at Trips selected our 6 favorites, including one standout shot that earned its photographer the grand prize.

Without further ado, here they are:

Frozen prayer flags atop Gokyo Ri in the Himalaya

1. Atop Gokyo Ri (17,575ft/5357m), a trekking peak in the Khumbu Himalaya. On the summit, we were rewarded with stellar views of Cho Oyu, the eighth highest mountain in the world, as well as these frozen prayer flags. Deciding to do an unconventional Nepal trek was one of the most rewarding choices I made during my academic semester there back in 2006. Photographer: Alan

Sitting alone on Mt. Rishiri

2. Zazen on Mt. Rishiri, Hokkaido. Photographer: Matador’s own Tim Patterson!

Lone hiker on Mount Kenya

3. A man walks alone along a ridge beneath Batian, Mount Kenya’s highest peak (17057 ft). Photographer: Jonny

Trekking in Pisac

4. Trekking in Pisac, Peru. Photographer: Lola Akinmade (No, of course she wasn’t eligible to win, but we had to include this great shot anyway!)

Annapurna base camp, Nepal

5. Six days walking to Annapurna base camp in Nepal only to have the view covered by low level clouds. Once they started clearing though the views were unforgetable. And well woth a picture of course. Photographer: Matt Scott

And the winner…

Khopara ridge, Annapurna circuit, Nepal

6. Forget favorite mountain, this has to be one of my favorite spots on the planet: period. Khopara ridge is within a day or two’s trek of the popular Annapurna circuit in Nepal, but only sees 10s of visitors a year. A single rocky trekker’s hut graces the top of the ridge, and lets you sit and contemplate life high above the clouds. Photographer: Andris Bjornson

Congratulations to Andris, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Community Connection:

Feel like you missed your chance? Fear not — there’s another contest on at Goods right now!


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About the Author

Matador ID: halamen

Freelance writer and Trips co-editor Hal Amen is currently in the midst of a volunteer year in South America. Find tales of this and other adventures on his personal travel blog, WayWorded.

10 Comments... join the discussion!

  • Julie replied on May 15, 2009

    Wow– absolutely beautiful shots!

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  • Ricky Marks replied on May 15, 2009

    Cracker shots indeed….got itchy feet again now, ka kite!

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  • ian replied on May 15, 2009

    Excellent photos! Love the huge layout too… congrats to the winner.

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  • Abbie replied on May 15, 2009

    Awesome pics!

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  • Alan replied on May 15, 2009

    Hal – thanks for this! Enjoyed looking at all the other pics.

    alan

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  • Carlo Alcos replied on May 16, 2009

    #2 and 3 are great – I love the scale, how it really puts nature into perspective, just how small we really are. Very humbling. They’re all superb! It was a tough choice.

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  • Shreya replied on May 17, 2009

    Gorgeous, stunning photographs. Congratulations all the finalists and especially Andris — the picture is amazing. I could stare at those clouds forever.

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  • Christine replied on May 17, 2009

    Wow, these photos really do inspire a person to want to get back out there!

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