Freestyle World Cup Events at Cardrona
The recent announcement that Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand will be hosting both the World Cup freestyle ski halfpipe and snowboard halfpipe in August this year has been greeted with much enthusiasm by the New Zealand snow sport community.
The recent announcement that Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand will be hosting both the World Cup freestyle ski halfpipe and snowboard halfpipe in August this year has been greeted with much enthusiasm by the New Zealand snow sport community. Marty Toomey, CEO of Snow Sports New Zealand, was quoted as saying that the events will provide Kiwi athletes with a unique opportunity to compete against the world’s top snow sport athletes. The two events will also offer the first opportunities for athletes to qualify for the 2014 winter Olympics set to take place in Sochi, Japan.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) sanctioned freestyle ski halfpipe is scheduled for 22 August, with the freestyle snowboard halfpipe taking place on 25-26 August 2012. CEO of Winter Games New Zealand, Arthur Klap, noted that he expected up to 90 percent of the world’s best snow sport athletes to compete in the events as they lead up to the 2013 Winter Games to be held in New Zealand, as well as being qualifiers for the Sochi winter Olympics. Toomey noted that overseas competition was difficult to get into because of its limited available entries, and having the two World Cup events at Cardrona will present an opportunity for local athletes to break into overseas competition. He added that, due to its Olympic qualification status, the events will attract some of the world’s top riders, giving New Zealand “athletes a chance to benchmark themselves against the best on home turf.”
Located around midway between Queenstown and Wanaka on New Zealand’s north island, Cardrona Alpine Resort is set in spectacular surroundings with views of Lake Wanaka and the Southern New Zealand Alps. As a family-style resort, Cardrona offers beginners’ courses and tuition programs, while at the same time offering a host of exciting terrain options to challenge the most experienced of skiers and snowboarders. Spread over an area of more than 790 acres, the resort boasts state-of-the-art lifts to get skiers to the slopes with the minimum of delay. The terrain parks at Cardrona feature jibs, jumps, first-class pipes and a gravity cross course guaranteed to get the adrenaline pumping.
The upcoming World Cup events at Cardrona fall right in the middle of the winter season, and competitors and spectators alike are assured of plenty of snow and plenty of world-class snow sport action.