Catching a little night air

Night riding came to the Snow Park on Thursday night, with local and international skiers and snowboarders pitting themselves against each other and the challenge of a stair feature recently installed at the specialist free-style terrain park.

Snow Park is the first Wanaka skifield to host night-riding sessions, each Tuesday and Friday over winter.

Riders got in on the act early this week with a field of 32 competing to be named the inaugural winner of the Mountain Dew night-riding session snow jam event.

Snow Park manager Sam Lee said he wanted to stage an evening competition to complement the new night-riding activities at the mountain.

Jordan Reher (24) won the male event and will take his winning points into the next three preliminary events, with Tom Grooten and Andy Kennerly second and third.

Queenstown-based snowboarder Callie Callaghan won the female section. Wanaka snowboarders Shelly Gotleib and Charlotte Trundle were runners-up. Reher and Callaghan also won respective best trick awards.

Callaghan, formerly of the Gold Coast, has recently started writing a column for Otago Daily Times publication the Queenstown Times.

The next night session events will be held on July 17, August 7 and 28, and the invitational on September 5.