Junior Freeski, Snowboard Nationals To Kick Off At Cardrona (28-Sep-09)

Wanaka, New Zealand, September 28, 2009 - New Zealand's top junior freeskiers and snowboarders

New Zealand’s top junior freeskiers and snowboarders will kick their school holidays off in style, when Cardrona Alpine Resort hosts the Junior Freeski and Snowboarding Nationals next week.

More than 200 competitors have registered to compete over four days, beginning Tuesday, 29 September.

Freeskiers have the opportunity to compete in any or all of the five freeski disciplines including Skiercross, Big Mountain, Slopestyle, Halfpipe, and Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS), while Snowboarders choose from Gravity Cross, Giant Slalom (GS), Slopestyle, Halfpipe and PGS disciplines. 

The competition gets underway on Tuesday with the Big Mountain qualifiers, Skiercross and Snowboard GS Events, and continues on Wednesday with the Freeski Big Mountain competition, Slopestyle qualifications, and the Snowboard Gravity Cross competition.

Thursday opens with the ski Halfpipe followed by ski PGS, While snowboarders face the challenging slopestyle course.

The event concludes Friday with the ski Slopestyle, the snowboard Halfpipe and PGS competitions.

Qualifying rounds for both Slopestyle and Big Mountain disciplines have been introduced to cater for the increasing demand in entries. 30 percent of the registered athletes will become pre-qualified, opening up 85 additional entries.

“We introduced the qualifying round for the slopestyle and big mountain to allow for extra entries, and we’ve already filled those spots,” said Freeski and Snowboard Operations Manager, Tania Pilkinton. “It’s fantastic to see the sport growing so rapidly and we are considering options to allow for even more entry spots for next year.”

Junior Nationals have gained a reputation as a traditional end-of-season event that brings out the country’s top junior riders. Competitors must have been born in 1990 or later to enter.

Online entry is now closed. For more information, visit www.snowsports.co.nz. Media wishing to attend the event, contact kristy@snowsports.co.nz.

Snow Sports New Zealand is the official governing body and National Sports Organisation representing all snow sports in New Zealand. Cross Country Association New Zealand is a member of Snow Sports New Zealand.