Wanaka will be the base for another major snow sports event
this year, when Treble Cone, Cardrona and Snow Park host the
world junior snowboarding and freestyle championships on
August 19-31.
Top New Zealand freeskier Jossi Wells, of Wanaka, won the
halfpipe competition at the second stop on the Winter Dew
Tour at Snowbasin Resort in Utah, on Sunday.
Wanaka skeleton racer Katharine Eustace came third in a
Europe Cup race on December 19 and followed up with a fourth
place the next day, on the second day of races at the Igls
track, in Austria.
The New Zealand Cross Country Skiing Association has issued a
race licence to United States-based cross-country skier Nils
Koons (19), the younger brother of Winter Olympic team
nominee Ben Koons (23).
Despite growing numbers of promising young skiers rising
through the ranks of freeskiing, no new athletes have managed
to break their way into New Zealand's top echelon of the
sport.
International snowboarders have been pushing the boundaries
of their sport during a recent private pre-Olympic training
camp held at Cardrona Alpine Resort.
Wanaka and Queenstown athletes dominated competition on the
first day of the national junior freeski and snowboarding
championships at Cardrona Alpine Resort yesterday.
A dream to raise the levels reached by New Zealand skiers in
international competitions has been given a boost, thanks to
some generous support from the United States and Canada.
