Rebecca Sinclair overcomes injury

New Zealand (August 25, 2010) – New Zealand Olympic snowboarder Rebecca Sinclair overcame injury and doubt to land in second place today in the women’s halfpipe competition in the FIS Freestyle and Snowboard Junior World Championships at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

Competing in a 22-foot halfpipe when healthy is challenging enough, so for Wanaka’s Sinclair, who’s nursing an injured ankle, the outcome was anything but a foregone conclusion.

New Zealand’s Rebecca Sinclair is the first kiwi on podium at 2010 Junior World Championships Credit: Bel Jones

“I wasn’t even expecting to be able to compete with my injured ankle,” said Sinclair. “But it’s all strapped up – I’ve been struggling with landing the crippler all week and I’m stoked I pulled it off in my second run. It’s a real privilege to have the Junior World Championships here in New Zealand and great preparation for my next goal which is the World Championships in Spain in January 2011.”

Meanwhile, Cilka Sadar (18) of Slovenia and Taku Hiraoka (14) of Japan were crowned Junior Snowboard Halfpipe World Champions in an exciting day of competition at Cardrona that saw New Zealand earn its first medal of the Championships.

The day started with an all-star line up with the forerunners, which included Olympic gold medallist, Kelly Clark (USA) and New Zealand Olympian Juliane Bray.
The women’s semi finals saw Sinclair (18) score the highest qualifying run in the first run. However, by the second run, she dropped to third but still secured a place in the finals along with highest qualifier Haruna Matsuoto (17) and Palmer Taylor (17).

In the finals it was Cilka Sadar who dominated with a solid backside 5, frontside 5, backside air, frontside 7, cab 3 finishing with an alleyoop scoring 37.8. Sinclair’s second run put her into the silver position with 31.7, landing a crippler 7 (inverted 720 spin), a result she was stoked with given her recent injury woes.
Haruna Matsumoto (17) of Japan rounded out the podium with a score of 31.4.

The men’s semi finals saw Australia’s Nathan Johnstone (20) take the top finals qualifying spot with a spectacularly solid run with huge amplitude, despite the windy conditions. He was closely followed by Manuel Pietropoli (20) of Italy and New Zealand’s Ben Stewart (18).

New Zealand’s Ben Stewart secures a top ten finish Credit: Bel Jones

In the finals Hiraoka once again stole the day, scoring a massive 44.2 with a frontside air, backside 5, frontside 7, cab 10 and frontside 5, all with huge amplitude, over 12 feet above the pipe edge. “It’s amazing to be world champion,” he said. “It’s really important for my future in halfpipe – I’m so happy.”

Taku Hiraoka (Japan) scores a massive 44.2 and becomes 2010 halfpipe junior world champion Credit: Bel Jones

Johnstone continued his consistently high level of riding with second place with a score of 42.2 while Manuel Pietropoli took bronze.. Stewart, of Whangamata, finished in ninth place.

Head judge, Ola Sundequist, said the level of riding was extremely high. “We were quite worried about the wind earlier on in the morning and that we wouldn’t see the riders get much height out of the pipe. However, they ended up going very big and while some were affected by gusts, most landed fine, resulting in some good scores. Taku’s run was incredible; everything was so smooth.”

The snowboard action moves to Snow Park tomorrow for the Parallel Giant Slalom with qualification starting at 9.00am and finals scheduled for 12.00pm.

Great day out for Burton Snowbroads at The Remarkables

All the girls with big smiles at the Burton Snowboards Camp

New Zealand champion and Burton Team rider, Shelley Gotlieb, joined 38 girls at The Remarkables last Sunday (22 August) enjoying an Arcadia champagne breakfast together before heading out for the day on the Burton Snowbroads Girls’ camp.

The Remarkables Ski Area Manager Ross Lawrence said he was thrilled with the response to the ‘girls only’ camp and bookings were already coming in for the second which is all set for Sunday 12 September. The camp is designed for freestyle riders and skiers intermediate and above.

‘It was great to see the girls have such a great day out. They enjoyed four hours of freestyle lessons and tubing, then a bbq on the deck,’ said Mr Lawrence, ‘they also had the option to demo some new Burton boards for the day.’

A brand new Burton Blender snowboard was won by local woman Rebecca Vehik at the after party held at Revolver later that night.

‘It was good fun to be able to wrap up the day at the after party and give out some prizes to the best girls in each group. We handed out a Burton helmet, Anon goggles, Burton gloves and of course the new Burton blender as well as other sponsor products which were all well received.’

The cost of $120 includes transport from the Snow Centre to The Remarkables, champagne breakfast, coaching, tubing, lunch and prizes. Afterwards it’s time to reflect on the day viewing video footage and pictures at the after-party at Revolver.

Some of the girls hanging out at The Remarkables

Snowboard halfpipe qualifiers set scene for world-class finals

Taku Hiroaka

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 24, 2010) – Over 80 young snowboarders today took on the massive 22ft halfpipe at Cardrona in a bid to earn a prized spot in tomorrow’s semi finals and an opportunity to ride for the 2010 Junior World Championship title.

Of the 84 athletes, 18 men and nine women, made it through the qualifiers to the semi finals and finals in a very tough competition that featured a high level of riding.

It was a young Japanese rider in the men’s heat three who stole the day with the highest scoring run ever seen in a New Zealand halfpipe, second only to Shaun White at last year’s 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games. Taku Hiraoka (14) scored a 43.8 run which mixed massive amplitude with a perfectly executed frontside air, backside 5, frontside 7, cab 7 finishing with a frontside 9.

Staale Sandbech (17) of Norway with 41.7 was the second highest scoring qualifier with two consistent runs, following on from his success at Saturday’s slopestyle where he took out the world champion title. Another young Japanese rider 15-year-old Masakaze Yoshida, had the third highest qualifying score with 41.3. All three go straight through to tomorrow’s finals, joined by Seppe Smits (19) of Belgium, Derek Livingston (19) of Canada and Jan Scherrer (16) of Switzerland.

In the women’s Cilka Sada (18) who is 28 in the world rankings took the clear lead in 41.7. She too skips the semi finals and goes straight to tomorrow’s finals, joined by Japan’s Rana Okada (19) and Kelly Marren (USA).

FIS head judge, Ola Sundequist, said tomorrow’s finals promised a very exciting event. “The best of each heat today were of a very high standard and they will be saving their best tricks for tomorrow’s finals,” he said.

Tomorrow’s semi finals will see the remaining qualified athletes battling it out for the last six finals spots:

Men
Nathan Johnstone (AUS), Ben Stewart (NZE), Manuel Pietropoli (ITA), Ethan Morgan (GER), Dimi de Jong (NED), Benjamin Farrow (USA), Ayumu Nedefuji (JPN), Roope Tonteri (FIN), Ikumi Imai (JPN), Scott James (USA), Ho-un Kim (KOR), Paul Brichta (USA).

Women
Haruna Matsumoto (JPN), Rika Hatta (JPN), Madeline Schaffrick (USA), Rebecca Sinclair (NZE), Ryo Nakakita (JPN), Palmer Taylor (CAN)

The snowboard halfpipe semi finals kick off at 9.35am in the Cardrona with finals scheduled to take place at 11.00am. For further information and full results, go to www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.

Rana Okada

The Remarkable Slopestyle rescheduled

Competitors at top of Dirty Dog Terrain Park waiting to drop in at the July Slopestyle event

Queenstown’s high-flying Slopestyle action has been rescheduled to take place this Saturday (28 August) at The Remarkables.
Following unseasonable weather conditions at the mountain last Saturday (21 August) the decision was made to postpone until this weekend.

More than fifty freestyle skiers and riders are expected to head to the mountain for the second of the annual Tararua Real Iced Coffee (TRIC) Slopestyle Series which takes place in the Dirty Dog Terrain Park.

Open to male and female skiers and boarders, strong competition from international and local participants is expected to get underway in both the Open and Junior categories for the top podium spots (1st, 2nd and 3rd) in Male Ski, Male Board, Female Ski or Female Board.

Ski Area Manager Ross Lawrence said the event created a great atmosphere on the mountain for competitors and spectators alike.

“With an MC on site keeping all spectators informed of the tricks being attempted and music to help the riders get in the groove the scene is set for some great action. All the riders are stepping up their own ability at each event of the series so personal growth and competition keeps evolving – it’s awesome to see.”
Following this Saturday’s event, the last two in the series are scheduled for Saturday 4 September and Saturday 18 September. At the final event Series winners will be awarded in each category of the Open section.

Registration for the Slopestyle series is from 8.30am to 10am at Guest Services at The Remarkables with competition starting at 11am. Entry fee is $25 with a $20 bib deposit required. Helmets are mandatory.

Second place wins Griffin a place in Kiwi history

Ben Griffin (NZL) who won second place in the Air New Zealand Japanese FIS Southern Cup at Coronet Peak . Photo Michael Thomas

New Zealand ski racer Ben Griffin stormed into second place, and the country’s best world ranking position for twenty years, in day one of the Giant Slalom Air New Zealand Japanese FIS Southern Cup race at Coronet Peak today (23 August)

In an outstanding performance, Griffin fended off competition from top international ski racers Warner Nickerson (USA) and David Chodounsky (USA) – who came third and fourth respectively – to bring home the second placing. Will Gregorak (USA) won first place. The second Kiwi home was Queenstown’s Tim Cafe who finished in 19th place.

The podium spot is a record success for Griffin, vastly improving his FIS world ranking and propelling him into the top 125 alpine ski racers in the world.

“I’m very stoked with today’s result,” said Griffin. “I made a few mistakes up the top of the run but I carried a lot of speed into the bottom.

“I’ve been skiing really well; I always get a huge boost when we’re working alongside US and other top racers, we always up our game”.

Snowsports New Zealand Alpine Manager James Lazor said Griffin skied fantastically today.

“This result plus his Canadian Giant Slalom earlier in the season will bring down his FIS Giant Slalom points into the teens. This lowering of points is a testament to his focus on his goals and his determination with training,” he said.

Head of Race Richard Murphy said Griffin’s coup marked a new best in Kiwi world-ranking history since Simon Wi Rutene (NZL) achieved a similar result in 1990.

“From Coronet Peak’s point of view we’re delighted to see a Kiwi achieve such a great result – we’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he said. “The training that’s going on here is really paying off for New Zealand’s alpine ski racers.”

“Race conditions were awesome today. We’ve had a hard track underneath and it’s been a spectacular bluebird day.”

He said conditions were looking fantastic for tomorrow’s (Tuesday) final event in the series.

“It all steps up to another level tomorrow with the final Giant Slalom races bringing the five-day event to a huge climax. We’ve got the top US Men’s technical and speed teams as well as the Russian and German Women’s technical teams.”

In the Women’s Giant Slalom race, also today at Coronet Peak, Christina Geiger (GER) won first place, while Fanny Chmelar (GER) came second and Elena Prosteva (RUS) took third. First New Zealander home was Sarah Jarvis with a creditable 6th placing.

Hiromu Kobayahi (JPN) waits at the top of the course at Coronet

Freeski slopestyle joins the ranks of FIS

Freeski slopestyle joins the ranks of FIS with two new junior world champions

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 23, 2010) – The USA dominated today as Bobby Brown (19) and Jamie Crane-Mauzy (17) made history as the first freeski slopestyle world champions at the 2010 Junior Snowboard & Freestyle World Championships.

Bobby Brown led the day from the start, qualifying with a solid first run which featured a massive double cork 10 off the giant 70ft kicker. In the finals an almost flawless first run of a switch with 270 out into a cork 9 tail into a switch 900 mute grab, double cork 1080 finishing with a misty 450 out put him nine points in the lead. However, that lead was closed on the second run by Gus Kenworthy (USA) but he held onto the title with an impressive 45.1 score. Jonas Hunziker (16) of Switzerland skied up into third place, taking the final spot on the podium.

“It was a super fun day and it’s awesome to be standing on the podium next to one of my best mates, Gus Kenworthy,” said Brown. “The introduction of freeskiing into FIS is going to be interesting. It’s great to have freeskiing at this event and it’s a good way to excel our sport.”

In the women’s Jamie Crane-Mauzy qualified over 11 points ahead of her nearest rival, Blake Peterson (17), also of the States. In the finals a fall in her first run put her to the bottom of the table but her second run which featured a straight slide to back cross to 3 mute followed by a front flip truck finishing with a straight slide enabled her to just pip Keltie Hansen (18) to the post by 0.4 and take the world title. Fellow American, Devin Logan, rounded out the podium.

“My goal was to land my run – I knew if I could do that I would do OK,” said Crane Mauzy. “It feels so good to be world champion!”

All three New Zealanders finished in the top 10 – Byron Wells (18) in fifth, Hamish McDougall (20) in seventh and Matt Johnson (19) in ninth.

Dean Gosper of FIS said it was a great compliment to the event that there was such a high calibre of field and a broad cross section of athletes with the wider selection of events has attracted a very exciting field.

“NZ should feel complimented by the level of excitement within FIS about this event, he said. “FIS is very excited by New Zealand’s initiative to not only to host the first world championships in the Southern Hemisphere but also the first combined discipline world championships. The integration of the two sports provides a wonderful opportunity in competitive snow sports. They can sit comfortably side by side with a high cultural overlap and there is also a good level of respect between the disciplines. We see the Junior World Championships as the beginning of a closer working relationship between the disciplines at all levels of FIS.”

With regards to the possibility of snowboard and freeski slopestyle and freeski halfpipe entering the Olympics, Gosper commented, “There is a high level of interest from spectators and media so there’s a strong pull from the outside for these events to come to the Olympics rather than an internal push from the sports. The fact that the terrain is complimentary to these disciplines is also a very attractive feature – they’re exciting, contemporary and commercially attractive and can be delivered efficiently- these are very persuasive arguments to an organisation like the IOC.”

The on-snow action continues with the snowboard halfpipe qualifiers at Cardrona Alpine Resort. For further information and full results, go to the live scoring section of www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz

WINNERS OF THE NORTH FACE BIG MOUNTAIN REWARDED

WINNERS OF THE NORTH FACE BIG MOUNTAIN REWARDED WITH AN EPIC DAY OF HELI SKIING

Janina_Kuzma_Credit Camilla Stoddart
Lake Wanaka, NZ (23 August 2010) – Winners of The North Face Big Mountain at the 2010 Volk NZ Freeski Open were rewarded with an epic day of heli-skiing on Friday at The North Face Heli Sessions.

The skiers were treated to skiing on several of the peaks surrounding Black Peak, sampling the variety of terrain on offer with Southern Lakes Heli Ski.

Riders included the top three placing men and the top two women: Alex Lynden (NZ), B Devine (USA), Fraser McDougall (NZ Development Team member and North Face Rider), Janina Kuzma (NZ National Team member and North Face Rider) Mitchey Greig (Skier Cross Olympian, NZ National Team member and North Face Rider). Charlie Timmins (North Face Rider from Australia) also landed a seat on the helicopter.

According to Stephen Winnacott, marketing manager for The North Face, the conditions couldn’t have been better.

“There’s nothing like flying up and punching through the inversion to a bluebird day without a breath of wind,” said Winnacott.

TNF Heli Sessions 1 Credit Camilla Stoddart

“The quality of the snow was phenomenal with a stable snowpack which meant steeps weren’t an issue and we could ski wherever we wanted, nothing was off limits. “

The conditions were in stark contrast to last year where the snow pack was extremely unstable and the riders had to make due with a man made kicker and lower angled slopes.

After a warm up run the skiers travelled from peak to peak logging eight runs throughout the day.

“Alex scrambled to the top of rocky crags with virtually no snow and stepped off them getting about 8 metres of air before landing clean and progressing straight into his line,” said Winnacott.

“Mitchey and Janina took a line from the top of the peak cutting across into a line straight down the open untracked face. This was the most aesthetic line on the face. The two girls just ripped it up.”

McDougall chose a technical and steep line, hitting a natural feature towards the bottom where he combined his big mountain skiing with some park riding executing a massive back flip and sticking the landing.

B Devine carved out an untracked powder slope finding a natural hit where he pulled off a 180 switch into fresh snow.

The heli sessions are an ongoing collaboration between The North Face and Southern Lakes Heliski and will continue to be offered as an added bonus to winners of The North Face Big Mountain at the Volkl Open.

“The partnership between The North Face and this event is a perfect fit,” says Winnacott.

The North Face is the premiere supplier of technically advanced, innovative apparel, and gear that inspires athletes to Never Stop Exploring.

‘The North Face Heli Sessions enables athletes to ski outside the constraints of a competitive big mountain arena giving them the freedom to explore their limits in the beautiful heli-accessed terrain of New Zealand. “

To see The North Face Heli Sessions highlights, log on to www.nzfreeskiopen.com

TNF Heli Sessions group shot

TNF Heli Sessions 3 Credit Camilla Stoddart

TNF Heli Sessions 4 Credit Camilla Stoddart

TNF Heli Sessions 2 Credit Camilla Stoddart

Big air and stunning views for the Racers Edge-Volkl Big Air

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 23, 2010) – A high-calibre field of skiers and snowboarders turned out for the Racers Edge-Volkl Big Air on Saturday, to take on the 40ft big air jump in the Saddle Basin of Treble Cone.

Hundreds of spectators were treated to a multitude of fancy tricks, flips and big air as competitors gave it their all during the two hour jam session. The judges were impressed with the Rodeo 5s, 1080s and corked spins performed by the talented skiers and snowboarders.

The men’s ski competition was dominated by Wanaka locals with Hamish McDougall topping the podium, brother Fraser McDougall in second and Finn Bilous third.

In the men’s snowboard section Jim Dabbadrie (France) claimed the men’s title with Linus Kron (Sweden) and Hadley Boyle (Wanaka) second and third respectively.

Daniela Darilova from Slovakia gained first place in the women’s snowboard competition.

Stand-out performances by three Wanaka grommets Manu Bernard (9), Hank Bilous (12) and Finn Bilous (10) were commended by the panel of judges, with ten year old Finn achieving third and Hank fourth overall in the men’s ski competition.

Spectators and quad chairlift passengers also had a fun day with plenty of giveaways for the crowd, music by Wanaka Beats, entertaining MCs and a free sausage sizzle.

The second Racers Edge-Volkl Big Air is set for Saturday 4th September. This will be run as a separate competition as well as a linked series event with a grand prize from Icebreaker up for grabs.

The prize pool included goodies from Racers Edge, Volkl, Icebreaker, Mother, Sessions and Smith.

For further information visit www.treblecone.com.

Junior World Championships snowboard cross

Success for Russia and Czech Republic

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 22, 2010) – A technical snowboard cross course of significant magnitude greeted 66 of the world’s elite junior riders today in day two of the FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships.

The course’s two large hips and long fly-over table were particularly challenging for the young riders, as was the whoops section which caused many competitors to loose their rhythm while others used the feature to gain speed and propel them towards the finish line.

One such rider was Maximillian Stark (19) of Germany who recorded the fastest qualifying time in 1:07:26. However, it was Nikolay Olyunin (19) of Russia who took the world championship title having qualified with second fastest time. The final was a close run race and he narrowly missed being taken out by Joachim Havikhagen (18) of Norway on the second hip. However, he picked up speed through the lower berms and whoops to comfortably take the title ahead of Roger Carver (20) and Alex Tuttle (19), both of the USA.

“It’s fantastic being world champion,” said Olyunin. “I was very nervous and the visibility was bad but it’s an amazing feeling. I just wish I wasn’t so far from home so I could celebrate with my parents.”

Eva Samkova (17) from Czech Republic led the women’s field into the elimination heats in 1:14:04 and it was sheer tenacity that saw her take victory and the world championship title. For most of the final run she was racing in second to the USA’s Faye Gulini (18). However on the last bank Gulini made a mistake and Samkova saw her chance, overtaking and taking the win.

“This is fantastic!” said Samkova. “I really didn’t expect this, that I would be world champion. It was a very close race and I’m just so happy!”

The Junior World Championship action continues tomorrow at Snow Park NZ with the first freestyle ski slopestyle in a FIS World Championship. Qualification starts at 9.30am with finals scheduled for 1.00pm. For further information, visit www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.

FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships

A technical snowboard cross course of significant magnitude greeted 66 of the world’s elite junior riders today in day two of the FIS Snowboard & Freestyle Junior World Championships.

The course’s two large hips and long fly-over table were particularly challenging for the young riders, as was the whoops section which caused many competitors to loose their rhythm while others used the feature to gain speed and propel them towards the finish line.

One such rider was Maximillian Stark (19) of Germany who recorded the fastest qualifying time in 1:07:26. However, it was Nikolay Olyunin (19) of Russia who took the world championship title having qualified with second fastest time. The final was a close run race and he narrowly missed being taken out by Joachim Havikhagen (18) of Norway on the second hip. However, he picked up speed through the lower berms and whoops to comfortably take the title ahead of Roger Carver (20) and Alex Tuttle (19), both of the USA.

Nikolay narrowly misses disaster ahead of Alex Tuttle
Photo: Bel Jones

“It’s fantastic being world champion,” said Olyunin. “I was very nervous and the visibility was bad but it’s an amazing feeling. I just wish I wasn’t so far from home so I could celebrate with my parents.”

Eva Samkova (17) from Czech Republic led the women’s field into the elimination heats in 1:14:04 and it was sheer tenacity that saw her take victory and the world championship title. For most of the final run she was racing in second to the USA’s Faye Gulini (18). However on the last bank Gulini made a mistake and Samkova saw her chance, overtaking and taking the win.

Eva Samkova (second from right) on way to victory in heats of snowboard cross Photo: Bel Jones

“This is fantastic!” said Samkova. “I really didn’t expect this, that I would be world champion. It was a very close race and I’m just so happy!”

The Junior World Championship action continues tomorrow at Snow Park NZ with the first freestyle ski slopestyle in a FIS World Championship. Qualification starts at 9.30am with finals scheduled for 1.00pm. For further information, visit www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.

Next Page »