Alpine ski racers have been sharpening their edges this week as the annual New Zealand inter-club series of races begins.
The Wanaka Ski Club is the first to host such an event and is holding its annual FIS Tech Racing Series at Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone.
Cardrona completed its leg of racing yesterday and the action will transfer across the Lake Wanaka basin to Treble Cone for the next two days.
Some of the biggest exponents of extreme back-country free-riding skiing and snowboarding will take off from Lake Hawea during the next week as the World Heli Challenge launches contestants into the mountains of Mount Aspiring National Park.
The WHC hopes to build on its success of last year, when promoter Tony Harrington bought his event back to Wanaka afteran eight-year hiatus.
Movie star snowboarder Travis Rice is competing in this year's event, and those wanting to catch some of the extreme action are advised to monitor websites and television streaming on the internet.
Skiers and snowboarders will contest the free-ride session and an extreme day competition across two fine weather days.
The group has activities such as jet-boating, bungy jumping, and fishing trips booked for its downtime.
The WHC closes on August 7 and its Big Air ExstreamTV snow show and Afterburner Party at the Lake Hawea Hotel are timed to provide some Saturday night entertainment for everyone.
The Volkl New Zealand Freeski Open is next, taking place from August 5.
Park rats are first up, with world champion freeskier, Wanaka's own Jossi Wells, sure to shine on his home slopes of Cardrona Alpine Resort.
Two days of slopestyle competition will be followed by the NZ Open half-pipe at Cardrona on Saturday, August 6, where Wells will attempt to successfully defend his maiden title, won last year.
Big Mountain freeskiing is back on the schedule in the final competition of the NZ Freeski Open, as Queenstown's the Remarkables hosts qualifiers, before finalists take on the tricky Motatapu Chutes at Treble Cone on August 21.
Snowboarders get a chance to stomp their stuff when the Burton New Zealand Open rolls into town on August 14.
New Zealand hopes will rest on the shoulders of local riders Stef Zeestraten and Shelly Gottleib in the slopestyle, while Wanaka crew will be barracking for snowboarding brother and sister act Mitchell and Kendall Brown in the half-pipe.
Snowboarding veteran Juliane Bray will also be hoping to add to her impressive Burton trophy cabinet as the most successful homegrown female snowboarder to compete in the New Zealand Open.
As August winds down, the world's rising snowsports stars will be in Wanaka for the FIS Junior World Ski and Snowboarding Championships, before Coronet Peak hosts the New Zealand Ski Racing National Championships on August 31 and September 1.
