Utah Geologic Survey announces winner of Utah Arch Challenge

The big winner of the 2021 Arch Challenge, Double Arch, in Moab, Utah. Photo: courtesy of Diego Gutierrez

MOAB, Utah. — This March, the madness of college basketball prompted the creatives at the Utah Geologic Survey (UGS) to launch a virtual competition among rock formation enthusiasts known as the Arch Challenge.

Participants voted on a bracket-style on arches and natural bridges that are abundant in Utah. The Double Arch surprisingly bracketed above Delicate Arch for the win with an online vote of 65%. 

USG’s marketing strategy intended to keep outdoor adventurers safely at home yet entirely engaged and purposely poised for future exploration.

Coinciding with the national college basketball tournament and culminating simultaneously with the finals, online participation was high for USG. Lesser-known arches went head-to-head against famous finds around Southern Utah, like the internationally visited and recognized Delicate Arch. The USG supports socially distanced visitation of the region’s natural attractions as they interacted technologically with past, present, and future visitors.

Starting as one thing and evolving into another, USG said in a press release regarding a contest name update, “We recently learned that ‘Arch Madness’ is a registered trademark of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for its Men’s Basketball Tournament and may be protected. To respect the MVC’s claim, we rebranded its online challenge to “Utah Arch Challenge” to highlight that it has no affiliation with the MVC.”