The 26th New Zealand Skiing Masters are scheduled to take place at Coronet Peak tomorrow and Saturday.
Kerry Trevella Hall (52) is a first-time competitor who has been skiing as long as she can remember and she says she will still be skiing the masters when she is 70 - "provided I survive Saturday".
Her 78-year-old father still skis, and she hopes to continue the family trend.
"I've skied all over the world. I love it, it's my passion."
Having avoided the typical 9-5 working life, even while based in Auckland, she has shifted her family to Queenstown for the season - enrolling her two sons at Arrowtown School.
"We'll leave at the end of October, at the end of the term. My eldest is starting high school next year so this is the perfect year to do it so it's not so disruptive. It's a great life for them."
Arrowtown School, like other schools in Queenstown, incorporates a ski and snowboarding module in its physical education curriculum and Mrs Trevella Hall is a parent helper.
The physiotherapist, who has recreationally skied internationally but not competed for 20 years, plans to race in the giant slalom on Saturday.
Fellow competitor Jeremy Young (46) works in financial services in Hong Kong, where there is no snow, but plans his family's annual holiday at the same time as the masters races.
The former ski instructor, masters coach and course installer who learnt to ski at Roundhill said there were two parts to coming back every year.
"Part of coming back is to compete and part of it is to see old friends, and Queenstown has sort of become home base for us because it's like coming back home," Mr Young said.
"There's some guys I've been racing for over 20 years."
Having already competed in the Mt Hutt masters last weekend, he is looking forward to more racing.
Racer and company sponsor Geoff McKeown said through the years the event had attracted international champions mixed with recreational skiers, sometimes with surprising results.
"Some of the international champions have been beaten by the so-called recreation racers."
His Canterbury-based but Queenstown-bound ski distribution company Volkl has sponsored the races for the past 15 years, and because of "having to walk the walk" as well as the talk, he has been a competitor for 18 years.
"Eighteen years ago, I was invited by Derek Brown, of Brown's skis, who said not only would it be a lot of fun, but also good for business.
"As a sponsor, I just enjoy seeing all these guys come back year after year to again take on their foes and punish their bodies through the terrain and through the conditions, and at the end of it they all leave with a funny story and a big smile on their face."
Although competitor numbers were dropping because of racers "dropping off at the top aged end and there's not enough new ones coming through", new competitors often brought others with them.
The giant slalom is the main event which attracts 80-100 racers, and the most competitive age group is the 40-55 group.
Competitors will also race a downhill.
