Back to Winter for New Zealand’s Olympic Hopefuls

Wanaka, New Zealand. 19 October 2012 - With the ski fields now closed to the public for the season, the majority of New Zealand’s snow sports enthusiasts will be packing away their gear and turning their thoughts to summer sports. Not so the country’s elite snow sports athletes.

With the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia now less than 16 months away New Zealand’s top snowboarders and freeskiers are following a focussed schedule which will now take them to the northern hemisphere for five months’ of training and competition.

Before leaving, however, our athletes have made the most of a two-week long spring training camp at Cardrona Alpine Resort. The camp is offered exclusively to elite athletes and attracts freeskiers and snowboarders not only from New Zealand but around the world. Teams from the USA, Canada, France, Japan and Finland are amongst those making the most of our world-class training facilities, with big-hitters such as Olympic gold medallist Kelly Clark (USA) and X-Games gold medallists Roz Greenwood (Canada) and Xavier Bertoni (France) amongst their ranks.

The New Zealand team showcases some equally exciting talent with familiar names such as freeskiers Jossi, Byron and Beau-James Wells, Lyndon Sheehan and Janina Kuzma and snowboarders Rebecca ‘Bex’ Sinclair, Shelly Gotlieb and Stef Zeestraten all enjoying the spring camp as an opportunity to progress their skills towards the ultimate goal of Olympic qualification.

“The Park and Pipe programme has been utilising the softer spring conditions in both New Zealand and in Canada as part of the athletes’ trick development programme since 2009,” explains Ashley Light, Director of the Winter Performance Programme.  “New Zealand’s spring camp at Cardrona allows us to access not only world class features and facilities such as the 20m bag jump and Olympic super pipe, but allows the athletes to spend time at home before heading away for the pre-Olympic qualifying season.

“With so many world class international athletes, the camps are progressive and often see the development of new tricks. The sports are continually advancing and having the camp in our own backyard is a genuine performance benefit.”

Slopestyle and halfpipe skiing and slopestyle snowboarding will feature on the Winter Olympic schedule for the first time in Sochi in 2014. These sports are under constant progression as athletes aim to perfect the next big thing; the latest trick with the greatest amplitude, highest number of twists, spins and all-important wow factor. Quite what we will see earning podium spots in Sochi in 2014 nobody yet knows; the tricks may not have been invented yet.

New Zealand freeskiers and snowboarders are proven performers on the world stage and their chances of medalling at the 2014 Winter Olympics are good. Jossi Wells already has a host of world titles under his belt and is focussed now on adding an Olympic medal to the collection. Following very closely in his footsteps though are younger brothers Byron and Beau-James.

At 16 Beau-James is one of the younger athletes at Spring Camp. “The opportunity to train alongside some of the world’s best is amazing,” he enthuses. How does he view his chance of gaining Olympic selection? “It’s sometimes at the back of my mind but right now I’m just concentrating on progressing my skills and doing the best I can.”

As much as Beau-James enjoys training alongside his older brothers there’s a healthy dose of sibling rivalry in the mix: “I can’t wait to beat my brothers,” he assures us.

Snow Sports NZ CEO Marty Toomey is also excited about our athletes’ prospects as they begin their journey towards qualifying for Sochi.
“The fact we don’t own facilities or have priority access to the ski areas’ facilities throughout the year brings extra spice to Spring Camp. Instead of competing for facility access with the paying public our athletes get to rub shoulders with the world’s best. Not only do our athletes get to progress their skills but they also get to see what tricks are in their competitors’ repertoire. From what we’ve seen over the past few years and again throughout Spring Camp our athletes have the potential to step on the podium. Our job as a sport is to create the environment and give them the support they need to deliver to their potential.”