That is the format behind The Obsidian, the replacement event for the 2020 Winter Games NZ.
Winter Games chief executive Marty Toomey said
that unlike other major events that just cancelled soon after Covid-19 arrived in New Zealand, his team decided to think on its feet.
"We’d done a bit of a strategic review at the end of last year which looked at some of the events we had on the programme, and [we] said, ‘actually, let’s just shift ourselves a little bit’."
Three co-ed teams would be led by captains Janina Kuzma, Sam Smoothy and Jossi Wells across the four events: a Freeride competition accessed by helicopter, Park Jam and Aerial Attack events at Cardrona Alpine Resort, and a back-country "Shred Session".
Each team would have its own film crew that would capture and edit footage throughout the event for broadcast by Sky TV.
A videography competition would run alongside, each team creating a five-to-eight-minute compilation of its journey.
The films will be premiered in Queenstown and Wanaka at the end of August.
Mr Toomey said The Obsidian would be held during a 10-day "weather window", between August 10 and 20, which would allow the events to be held in the best possible conditions.
Wells said the event would showcase the country’s "diverse talent pool" in snowsport, including X-Games, World Cup, Olympic and Freeride World tour competitors as well as back-country specialists.
"To have the opportunity to bring all these athletes together for a 10-day event is what I see as a celebration of all that has been accomplished across the board."
— Mountain Scene
