Top Winter Athletes Give Free Skill Sessions at Snow Planet

Top Winter Athletes Give Free Skill Sessions at Snow Planet

Some of New Zealand’s best winter athletes are heading to Snow Planet on Saturday May 18th to give free skills sessions at celebration of the beginning of winter.

International skiers Byron Wells, Anna Wilcox and Tom McGaw will attend a special ‘Welcome to Winter’ day at Snow Planet hosted by Go Snow, the national snow industry body.

Byron Wells, landed the best run of his life to claim second place in the Men’s Freeski Superpipe event at the prestigious Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, USA in December 2012. When he's not competing overseas, Byron is based in Wanaka and when he's not on skis he's off flying helicopters.

Beau Wells has shown a steady rise in his performance during 2011 resulting in his selection to the Snow Sports NZ Winter Performance Programme in 2011 and becoming a carded athlete. Notable achievements for Beau are placing 4th Youth Olympic Games 2012, 16th AFP World Championships, 2012 and 7th NZ Open Slopestyle 2012.

Freeskier Anna Wilcox-Silfverberg has achieved a career best result, placing third in the women’s ski slopestyle finals at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Freestyle Ski World Cup in Sierra Nevada, Spain. The 20-year-old Aucklander - who has only been competing in the slopestyle discipline for one year - is extremely excited by this result, which will move her another step closer to the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Tom McGaw is an up and comer through the NZ slopestyle ranks. He hails from Auckland but is based in the Southern Lakes Training at Snow Park and Cardrona.

Snowboarder Nick Hyne travels between Niseko Japan and New Zealand to chase the eternal winter. He has placed 1st in the 2005 NZ Open Slopestyle, 4th at the 2010 FIS World Champs, 3rd in the 2010 'The Slope' Slopestyle and is a highly regarded snowboarder in New Zealand and internationally. Other attendees will be Winter Games, Mt Cheeseman, 360queenstownwanaka.com, NZsnowboard.com, SnowIQ.com and Snow Sports New Zealand with the Fundamentals programme.

Jo Lynch, Go Snow marketing coordinator who is organising the event, said "Budding skiers and snowboarders should show up from 12pm to ride with the pros and learn new tricks on Snow Planet’s awesome terrain park. It’s not very often that anyone can come and learn from the best in the business. The athletes are taking time out from their training schedules to answer questions, pass on some tips and share tales of performing at the highest level around the world.

"Welcome to Winter is all about giving skiers and riders the chance to try this season’s gear, have fun and meet their heroes. Whether you’re a young grom or a seasoned weekend warrior, drop by our tents and enjoy an extra special day at Snow Planet. A Welcome to Winter special pre-sold half price ticket will be available from May 1st on the Snow Planet website," she said.

Welcome to Winter runs all day from 9am on May 18th. In addition to the ‘ride with a pro sessions’ the event also feature demos of the latest ski and snowboard equipment, give-aways and music.

About Go Snow
Go Snow promotes skiing and snowboarding across New Zealand with the aim of increasing interest and participation in one of the country’s fastest growing sports.

Equipment at Welcome to Winter: Head, Dynastar, Lange, Atomic, Nordica, Blizzard, Technica, 4FRNT, Klint, Artec, Elan, Salomon, K2 skis, K2 snowboards, Line skis, Ride snowboards, Armada, Fischer skis and Fischer Vacuum boots, Lib Tech snowboards, Gnu snowboards, Roxy snowboards and DC snowboards, Rossignol snowboards, Capita snowboards and Union bindings.

Go Snow is the public face of the New Zealand Snow Industries Federation (NZSIF), the national body that represents the country’s snow industry to the NZ Government, members of the public and other stakeholders. Formed in 1979, NZSIF members include retailers, equipment rental outlets, wholesalers, importers and manufacturers.

For more information go to www.gosnow.co.nz.

ENDS

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