'Natural Playground' Photo Exhibit Opening Reception

by: Justin Gural

The opening reception for "Natural Playground" has come and gone, where a few dozen of Vermont's finest adventure photographers and adventure fans gathered to celebrate outdoor pursuits and talk shop.

"Natural Playground" is presented by Darkroom Gallery, Cortex Marketing and VentureThere.com.

Evolving from pixels to prints, this gallery features a handful of the finalists represented in the juried contest --which now hang on the walls at Darkroom Gallery. Photographs were submit from all corners of the globe.

GALLERY: 'Natural Playground' Photo Exhibit Opening Reception

The exhibit will be showcased until November 4, and votes for 'Viewers Choice' will be tallied throughout the exhibit both in the gallery and online HERE.

We announced the grand prize winners of the juried exhibit, Brian Mohr and Emily Johnson, for their image titled "Ski to Sea" which captured a thrilling moment of adventure during a skiing and sailing trip to Iceland. Read their account of the trip, below.

"We captured this image a few years ago during a month-long, self-guided backcountry skiing adventure through the wilds of western Iceland. We were immersed in Iceland's Westfjords region, skiing from the heights of the remote Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, and en route to our floating basecamp, Aurora, on the ocean waters below. The skier is our friend, Ken Lucas, from Hood River, Oregon. The Aurora is a 60' sloop that is owned and operated by our friends Siggi and Runar of Iceland's Borea Adventures. We spent several days sailing and skiing with them before continuing on to explore Iceland's abundance of unskied mountains - on assignment for several outdoor and skiing publications and working in partnership with Iceland's Westfjords Tourism office. It was our fourth trip to the region."

Thanks again to our sponsors for the support and gear:

Grand Prize Package:

(Overall winner, selected by the jury: Corey Rich and Justin Gural)

-- Polartec NeoShell Jacket by The North Face

-- Sierra Designs Zolo Tent

-- Pacsafe CamSafe 200

-- Climb High JOBY Gorillapod

-- Bamboo Bottle Co. Bottle

Peoples' Choice Prize Package:
(Selected by attendees during month-long exhibit.)

-- Brunton Restore Solar Charger

-- Pacsafe VentureSafe 50

-- Pacsafe DigiSafe 100

-- Climb High JOBY Gorillapod

-- Bamboo Bottle Co. Bottle

-- Skiershop DVD 4-Pack

VentureThere.com is a member of USA TODAY's Travel Alliance, covering adventure sports, active travel and the outdoor lifestyle.