8 November 2004
New Zealand National Free Ski Teams Announced
For the first time in its skiing history, two teams of the country’s top free skiers will represent New Zealand on the
international competition circuit with the support of the Free Ski Association of New Zealand (FSANZ).
Big Mountain Team members, Geoff Small (Queenstown), Hamish Acland (Mt Somers) and Todd Windle (Bay of Islands) will
compete on the International Free Ski Association (IFSA) World Tour. All three have already achieved high international
placings while competing individually. Small is one of New Zealand’s most successful skiers with 10 podium finishes,
including winning the North American Tour twice.
“While we’ve all achieved good results, none of us have been able to launch a successful campaign on the IFSA World
Tour, simply due to lack of support and funding,” said Hamish Acland. “With the support of the FSANZ behind us, we hope
this can change, giving New Zealand the opportunity to not only win World Tour events but maybe even produce a world
champion.”
All three members of the team have pre-qualified for the IFSA World Tour that is made up of big mountain events across
North American and Europe with the overall champion decided at the end of the tour. Big mountain involves competitors
accessing extreme terrain, often by helicopter, with the judges looking for smooth, fluid and creative runs down some of
the world’s most challenging terrain.
The Freestyle Team represents a new wave in skiing. The sport has developed in the last six years with skiers taking on
the terrain parks and halfpipes. This rapid growth worldwide has resulted in the inclusion of the skiing halfpipe on the
FIS World Cup Ciricuit and in the 2006 Winter Olympics as a demonstration sport.
The New Zealand Freestyle Team has been developed to enhance New Zealand’s Olympic chances. It includes the current
National Halfpipe and Slopestyle Champion, fourteen-year-old Jossi Wells from Wanaka, Lyndon Sheehan (Wanaka), Sam
Smoothy (Cromwell), Tom Dunbar (Hanmer Springs), Pip Simmonds (Wellington) and Cat Smiley (Hamilton).
The team will first head to Vail, Colorado to compete in the US Free Skiing Open and then to Europe for the World Cup in
Switzerland and the Ruka Freestyle World Championships in Finland. While the New Zealand Team may not be on an equal
footing in terms of funding to other countries, it has the benefit of world-class halfpipes and terrain parks to train
on in New Zealand. With youthful talent to rival the world’s, New Zealand’s Olympic Free Skiing campaign is ready to go
and could well prove that winning, not just being there, is realistic.
Skiing Championships
ENDS