Visit by snow sports stars delights pupils

Pupils from Queenstown’s Remarkables Primary School were entranced by tales of Olympic adventure during a visit from New Zealand’s snow sports stars yesterday.

The school was visited by Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Adam Hall, Corey Peters, Alice Robinson, and Tiarn Collins, and marked the final stop of Snow Sports NZ Celebration Tour, which kicked off with a parade in Wanaka last Sunday, before heading around the nation.

Donning ski helmets for signing and armed with an avalanche of questions, the pupils were introduced to each athlete before the floor was opened for pupils’ questions.

Pupils asked how it felt to drop in to an Olympic run, what travel opportunities there were, how hard training was and which trick was each athlete’s favourite.

Assistant principal Kate Tonks said some of the next generation of snow sport athletes will have been inspired by the visit.

"We’ve got a lot of our children within the community, and particularly within Remarkables [Primary School], that we know that this is the journey that they’re on, and this is where they want to go ... and sitting in front of them are five really amazing Olympic athletes that are showing them that it’s possible ... "

Alpine ski racer and Queenstown local Alice Robinson shared with the captive audience her experience of competing at the highest level, and said it was a special visit, given she grew up in the area.

"It’s super special to be able to come here and see how excited they all are and how enthused they all are after watching the Winter Olympics and seeing snow sports athletes on the global stage, and hopefully it’s growing the sport, especially in this area."

Snow Sports NZ freeski pathways coach Tommy Pyatt said,

"The best part of it was we went to so many schools ... the excitement on the kids’ faces [getting] autographs was ... awesome."

lucy.wormald@odt.co.nz