Germany national team member Ethan Morgan trains above a
huge air bag brought in to help international snowboarding
teams practise their stunts at Cardrona Alpine Resort in
preparation for February's Winter Olympics. Photo by
Georgina Cleave.
International snowboarders have been pushing the
boundaries of their sport during a recent private pre-Olympic
training camp held at Cardrona Alpine Resort.
A massive 15m x 15m inflatable airbag was brought in by the
Japanese national snowboarding team to help their riders try
to perfect a new range of outrageous stunts, which they can
then use for their Winter Olympic halfpipe routines come
February.
It is the first time such an innovation has been seen at a
New Zealand skifield, although such airbags have been used in
training by some of the world's best snowboarders, such as
United States defending gold medallist Shaun White.
White had his own private halfpipe built for him by sponsors
Red Bull, while his American snowboarding team-mate Kevin
Pearce was one of the first to use an airbag, courtesy of
Nike.
Despite spring being well-established in the Southern Lakes
area, with skifields closed for more than three weeks,
several international teams have based themselves at Cardrona
to train for the Olympics.
Cardrona Alpine Resort snowsports manager Bridget Legnavsky
said the multi-chambered airbag was being used by German,
Canadian, American and New Zealand riders to practise new
freestyle moves during a two-week training camp.
New Zealand national snowboarding team coach Tom Willmott
said the level of progress being achieved by riders using the
bag was phenomenal.
The bag provided a level of confidence to push for harder
tricks, allowing the riders to gain confidence before trying
out their new moves on Cardrona's Olympic-sized halfpipe.
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