Snowsports athletes to defend titles

American Paul Thacker jumps a shed on his snowmobile at last year's big air competition at the...
American Paul Thacker jumps a shed on his snowmobile at last year's big air competition at the Cardrona Games. Photo by Matthew Haggart.
Wanaka snowsports athletes Jossi Wells and Mitchell Brown will return to defend their respective half-pipe titles in free-skiing and snowboarding at the Cardrona Games next week.

The pair will test Cardrona Alpine Resort's new 22ft Olympic-standard halfpipe - the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere - which will be used for a competition for the first time.

The Relentless Cardrona Games are back for the third year running and would take place under floodlights for the first time, the skifield's sales and marketing manager Bruce McGeechan said.

The games will feature freestyle skiing, snowboarding, stunt riders on motorbikes (FMX) and snowmobiles against a background soundtrack of live music and top athletes.

McGeechan said the Cardrona Games "are New Zealand's largest snow sports party."

Also returning to appear alongside Wells and Brown are Paul Thacker, a Winter X Games back-flipping snowmobile rider from Colorado, and Luke Smith, a Crusty Demons FMX star, who performed a back-flip on his motorbike - a trick which had never been done before, McGeechan said.

The invitation-only events will have competitors lining up for a slice of the $40,000 prize money pool.

The games take place at Cardrona Alpine Resort between 6pm and 8pm on July 17 and 18.

 

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