Snow Park NZ

In Lake Wanaka, Snow Park New Zealand will be the first and only resort offering night skiing and riding during winter 2008. The resort will give visitors ample time on the mountains and a unique chance to ride on snow under the floodlights.

Various installments have been made along the terrain park; eight floodlights giving skiers and riders complete access to the east-side Box-run. On Tuesday and Friday evenings from 5 pm to 9 pm, the beginner and intermediate boxes, rails and jumps, will be available for everyone all through July and August.

In collaboration with the Mountain Dew Night Sessions, Snow Park will host a six-night amateur snowboard rail jam series. This will eventually lead to a grand finale which will have $6,000 USD and $3,000 USD up for grabs for men and women respectively.

The manager of Snow Park NZ, Sam Lee, recently said, “For skiers and riders who are time short during the day, they can pop up to Snow Park in the evening to get their turns in. Being on snow at night under flood lights is quite thrilling, and with relatively un-crowded slopes and a hot meal available in the Woolshed it will be a great alternative Friday night out.” He seems extremely enthusiastic about being able to offer skiers and riders ample time on the mountain.

In order to add spice to the offer, the Woolshed Restaurant and Bar will serve hot food to all the riders, and local bands and DJ’s will provide heart-pumping music on Tuesday and Friday nights. This will be available throughout the entire season.

Night skiing and riding will be available as an add-on to the day pass to both kids and adults. The passes are priced at $35 for adults and $20 for kids. Night riding and skiing will be included in the all-season pass.

So for all the snow sports enthusiasts out there, keep July and August open for Snow Park New Zealand.

Boost Mobile Sno Sho

The Boost Mobile Sno Sho is all set to kick off this 2008 on Terrain Park in Perisher Blue’s Front Valley on Saturday, August 30^th. The Boost Mobile Sno Sho breaks away from the routine snowboarding events and encourages the world’s best snowboarders, extreme maneuvers, illuminating lights, longest rail slides and some intense audience action. Wildcard entry into the event is open to the public with registration going up on the 15th July on www.boostsnosho.com.au. The Wildcard event will be on Friday 29th August.

This will be the Sno Sho’s fourth year running, and they also currently hold the 3 star TTR badge. The Sno Sho comprises of many of the boost team riders including Max Cookes, Mitch Allan and Jye Kearney. Nineteen Australian and inernational invitees are a part of this massive show as well.

Some of the main events that have been scheduled for the August Sno Sho are the 100 metre World’s Longset Rail ‘Game Sho’ style snowboarding event, Big Air Gap and 27 set Stair Jam Rail. A total of 24 snowboarders will participate in these various events, inclusive of two wild-card entries. The winner will walk away with a handsome prize of $30,000 USD.

The Main Event will begin at 6.00 PM on August 30^th, 2008. The Main Event consists of two plays; the ‘World’s Longest Rail Slide’ and the ‘SNOSHO’. In play one, the rider that slides longest along the 100 metre and 75 metre rails will walk away with a cash prize of $10,000 USD. The current record-holder is Jasper Backer (58.5 metres), and even has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

After plays one and two get over, there will be a ‘Jam Session’. This Jam Session will be 30 minutes long and allows the riders to choose from one of two courses; Big Air or Jam Rail. Within the time given, all 24 riders have to compete and try and fish out as many attempts as possible. The top two combined scores are taken, and the six highest-scoring riders will be taken into the Boost Sno Sho Finale.

The Finale will be filled with lots of entertainment and fun. The six riders will have to successfully complete five tricks, which will be selected from what is known as the ‘Sho Wheel’. If the rider successfully completes the given trick, he/she will receive a ‘thumbs up’ from the judges. Each successful trick will earn the rider a letter from the word ‘BOOST’. And the first rider to spell out B-O-O-S-T, will walk away with the huge $30,000 USD cash prize.

So we just have to wait a few more months until this ‘sho’ hits Perisher Blue.

World Championship Dates

Thursday, May 29^th, 2008 will be the day the host venue of the 2013 World Championships is revealed. The announcement will be made in Cape Town, South Africa by the FIS council.

Alongside the announcement of the 2013 World Championships host, the FIS council will also unveil the venue for the 2012 FIS Ski Flying Championships. There are four places competing to play the position of host – Beaver Creek and Vail in the United States, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, Schladming in Austria and St. Moritz in Switzerland.

All the four above mentioned resorts have hosted World Championships in the past. The Winter Olympics have been hosted by St. Moritz and Cortina, and Schladming has played host to the Special Olympics.

In the United States, Beaver Creek and Vail have been undergoing renovation worth 2.5 million USD. They have also agreed to construct a new downhill course for ladies, if they are selected to be the host.

The 2009 World Championships will be hosted by Val d’Isère, and the Secretary General of FIS, Sarah Lewis, has been immensely happy with the progress the venue has been making. Lewis recently said, “I was very, very impressed by the presentation which was given to us by the World Championship organizers. The progress made these last six months is palpable. The success of the men’s World Cup downhill last February has obviously given confidence to the organizers.”

However, disagreements within the committee have caused skiers such as former ski champion, Jean-Claude Killy, to resign from her position. Val d’Isère has also faced its share of bad publicity, which it has been trying to brush off with promises of free access and travel for spectators, and environmentally-friendly transport.

So let us all hope for a jam-packed 2009 in Val d’Isère, and an equally entertaining 2013.

Errol Kerr

Jamaican skier Errol Kerr has his eyes set on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Jamaica hopes to make an entry into the 2010 Winter Olympics after a gap of almost 18 years; their last appearance being in the Calgary games, where they sent a bobsleigh team. The team was actually the basis of the film ‘Cool Runnings’, which was filmed in 1993.

Kerr is just 22 years of age and was raised near Lake Tahoe. Jamaica’s hopes rest on the shoulders of this one young man, who is also a part of the US ski cross team; the team which has earned him his world ranking of 24. Despite being a part of this team, Kerr wishes to represent his father’s country during the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Kerr has recently made a trip to Jamaica in hopes of raisin $200,000 USD in sponsorship. This is his first trip to Jamaica and he’s hoping to get enough sponsorship to pay for a coach, cover traveling costs and compete as a Jamaican.

The Jamaican Minister for Sport and the head of the Jamaican Ski association have been supporting Kerr towards his dream of taking part in the Vancouver games in 2010. However Kerr has also been told that by June 1^st, he must state his allegiance to Jamaica to the International Ski federation. Unless he does this, he will not be able to ski for Jamaica in the future.

So, all of us can look out for this star cross skier in the Vancouver Winter Olympics of 2010.

Julia & Mark Marino

Julia and Mark Marino, a set of siblings from Winchester, have been establishing themselves nationally in snowboarding and freestyle skiing. The duo combined and won four medals just last month at the USA Snowboard Association national championships held in Copper Mountain, Colorado. Out of the four medals they bagged, two were silver and two were bronze.

Julia Marino, an avid soccer and lacrosse player as well, is a 16-year-old sophomore currently attending Arlington Catholic High School. Out of the four medals the duo won, Julia won three of them- one silver each in slope style and half-pipe, and a bronze in skier cross.

Though Julia has been maintaining consistency in her wins since 2006, she seemed pretty disappointed with her performance during the national championships. She said, “I had won gold in all 14 qualifying events leading up to nationals, so I really expected to sweep. I fell on my chest the day before in a practice round and hurt my sternum. With the altitude change and all, it was really painful. I guess, though, when you take the injury into consideration, my overall finish was satisfying, because after I hurt myself, I really wasn’t even sure if I could compete.” However, after her three-medal win, she was awarded with the title of outstanding performer by the USA Snowboard Association.

Mark Marino is just a year younger than his sister and is a freshman at Arlington Catholic High School. He bagged a bronze in skier cross after earning a berth in the final run by winning two heats against over 80 skiers! Mark said, “I was really nervous because this was my first national, but once I started, I was OK. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of people from all over the country. Winning a medal in my first try was very exciting.” Apart from skiing, Mark enjoys playing football, and like his sister, lacrosse.

The Marino siblings have been skiing ever since the tender age of five, and hope to win many more medals in the future.

Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour

All applications have been filled, and the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour is all set to head downunder with over $2,500,000 USD up for grabs as prize money, during a course of ten months.

Swatch TTR has already started the fun-filled snowboarding events in the mountains of Australia. This year we will see two new events being showcased- the Boost Mobile Sno Sho in Perisher Blue, Australia, and the Billabong Snow Stock in Snowpark, New Zealand, have sent their applications to be a part of the Swatch TTR Tour. If the applications are accepted, they will join the Burton New Zealand Open, Oakley Stylewars and the Burton Australian Open, making the chances of international riders traveling downunder higher.

The Southern Hemisphere Tour will begin with the Burton New Zealand Open in none other than NZ. The BNZO is known for one of the world’s best half-pipes, precise slopestyle set up and huge quarter pipe, making it a must for transition riders to take part. This serves as perfect practice for riders wanting to take part in the Northern Hemisphere Tour.

After the BNZO, the tour will stay put in NZ and get ready for the Billabong Snowstock; one of the new events this year. This event will include the Straight Jump and Quarterpipe competitions. After the Billabong Snowstock, the Oakley Stylewars will follow. This will consist of three slopestyle competition days, one night-rail event, seven judged sessions and four nights of music. All the participants will be competing for the title of Stylewars Grandmaster.

The Stylewars will come to a halt as the Boost Sno Sho starts with a huge one-night showdown. This is the world’s longest rail event. The ending of the Southern Hemipshere Tour will be marked with the Burton Australian Open.

One can expect to see top-notch riders such as Torstein Horgmo, Jonas Karlsson, Sani Alibabic etc. And we can also expect to see ten months of jam-packed entertainment!

World Heli Challenge

It has been announced that New Zealand’s legendary World Heli Challenge will return on August 9^th through August 24^th, 2008, after a gap of six years. This challenge is considered on of the most legendary freeriding and freeskiing events to have ever been started.

The World Heli Challenge will bring New Zealand’s Mt. Cook National Park the best riders and skiers in the world along with seven top-notch snowboard brands and ski brands. Each brand will consist of two elite athletes that will compete against one another through the various events.

Three days of helicopter-accessed events will take place on Mt. Cook National Park’s ‘Big Mountain’. This portion of the mountain designed for snowboarding and skiing consists of 3000 feet of terrain and a 50-degree slope average over cliffs. The Backcountry Freestyle realm will allow riders to showcase their potential and talent. And the rules are simple- first one to reach the end of the 3000-foot terrain wins!

But the high-end athletes that will be taking part in the Challenge will not be spending their entire two weeks in snow; they will be treated to jet boating, bungee jumping, golfing, surfing and various other things New Zealand is famous for!

The World Heli Challenge trophy is considered one of the most prized trophies in the world. But winning the trophy is not easy either; one must be the overall winner in all three combined events. Winners from the past include skiers Chris Davenport, Kent Kreitler, Andrea Binning, Seb Michaud and Guerlain Checerit. Among the snowboarders, Matt Godwill, Karleen Jeffery, Gilles Voirol, Steve Graham and David Pujol have bagged prizes in the past. This year, a new World Heli Challenge title for the best overall ski brand and snowboarding brand will also be awarded.

Created by Tony “Harro” Harrington, let’s see if the World Heli Challenge can restore the fire after six years!

West Coast Invitational

For the seventh year in a row, West Coast Invitational (WCI) returned to Mammoth Mountain on May 2^nd and May 3^rd. WCI is an award winning group consisting of all the former Olympians and promising up-coming snowboarders.

The riders of WCI competed in the Vans Fiesta de la Pipa and the Village Rail Jam for a prize purse of $20,000 USD. There were also special performances by My-G and Talib Kweli, ensuring non-stop entertainment for the crowds. They wanted to make sure the weekend would be similar to a spring party with Mammoth Mountain only ready for the best!

WCI generally has a line-up of high-profile riders. The one’s that took part in the event last week were Danny Kass, Mason Aguirre, JJ Thomas and Chaz Guldemond. 30 other riders tore up the slopes on Mammoth Mountain as well. Last year’s Rail Jam champ, Jonas Michilot, was among them.

Prior to the events on May 2^nd and May 3^rd, Oren Tanzer, Director of Youth Action Sports and originator of pipe-rail-music hybrid WCI, said, “I’m super excited about the all-star lineup both on the hill and off the hill. With well-known riders competing against some of the most talented up-and-comers, this year’s event is going to be amazing.”

During the May 2^nd session, Chaz Guldemond etched out a win over Mason Aguirre in the rider judged pipe session. He walked away with a $5,000 share of the WCI prize purse. The other winners during the May 2^nd events were Luke Wynen for a pipe-side piñata, Luke Matrani who performed the best trick with a switch double Micalchuk and Jamie Anderson for her outstanding performances. They walked away with $500, $1,500 and $2000 respectively.

Mammoth Mountain has been rated one of the four-season mountain resorts in California. With such adulation and frequent visitors, we can expect to see this mountain hosting many more such mammoth events in the future.

Vahur Teppan

Senior Vahur Teppan’s skiing carrier gets yet another breakthrough. The Alaskan skier who has just finished his final race as a member of the Alaska Nanooks team, has been invited to be a part of Estonia’s national B team. This team is just one step away from the international level.

When asked about the invite, Teppan said, “It is nice that Estonia contacted me and to know that they kept an eye on me. They have really good coaches there, and it’s a good opportunity to train with the best Estonia guys. I am going for sprinting, so it’s a lot of man-on-man racing: it’s not like you will be skiing alone in places. So it is really important to be training with the best in head-to-head situations. It’s a lot easier than training on your own.”

Estonia’s national B team will allow Teppan to train with the team and take part in various events, with hopes of catching the attention of coaches who choose the World Cup racers.

Head coach of Estonia’s national B team, Scott Jerome explained how the B team gives an opportunity for skiers to reach the international A team. He felt that Teppan’s career would be going in the right direction if he joined the B team. Jerome also mentioned how most of the B team players fund themselves, but also cruised in the fact that getting sponsors wouldn’t be a problem for Teppan.

Teppan has many achievements to his credit. He took part in the both the freestyle and classic sprint races at the Canmore Nordic Centre, finishing 19^th place overall. He also competed once at the international level, before joining Nanooks. He won the 28^th place in a World Cup event hosted by Estonia in January 2006. He also managed to land two All-American spots at the NCAA Skiing Championships in March 2008.

So sooner or later we can look forward to seeing Senior Vahur Teppan training with Estonia’s national B team.

SOS Outreach

SOS Outreach, an organization devoted to promoting snow events among the underprivileged youth, has already started getting ready for next year’s event, despite Mt. Hood still being caught under 16 feet of snow! SOS Outreach has been establishing itself in Oregon and in the winter of 2007-2008, nearly 100 participants took part in various snowboarding events in Central Oregon.

SOS now plans to start a five-day ‘learn to ride’ program. This program offers professional skiing and snowboarding lessons, snow gear and all other necessary items. The program also wishes to promote values such as integrity, discipline, courage, wisdom etc. Students who complete the program are offered the choice of continuing with SOS for an additional four years. In order to do this, they must complete a ‘University’ program put forward by SOS.

SOS has been able to motivate underprivileged youth and host successful programs due to their carefully-chosen partnerships with local mountain resorts and youth agencies. In the 2007-2008 winter session, Mt. Hood Skibowl became the third resort, after Mr. Hood Meadows and Timberline, to donate lift tickets, equipment rentals, and snowboard instructors to SOS. Counselors and students from Portland Youth Builders, Mt. Scott Learning Centers, Reynolds Learning Academy and Janus Youth Programs, all showed active participation in the program.

Megan Barrett, a Mt. Scout Learning Center’s teacher, highlights the positive aspects of the SOS program- “SOS encourages my students to support one another, and also teaches them self-reliance and discipline. It’s incredible to watch students go from worry and doubt to happiness and pride when they make it down the hill for the first time without falling. Through SOS, these kids learn that they are the type of people who are capable of anything.”

The ski season of 2007-2008 marked the 8^th year for SOS in Oregon. And SOS Outreach wishes to have many more such successful years.