Heavy snowfall welcome start for athletes with Winter Olympics on horizon

Otago Daily Times

a day ago

Heavy snowfall has marked the start of an exciting ski season in Wanaka as New Zealand athletes work to get into peak condition with only eight months left until the Winter Olympics.
Ten centimetres of snow covered the Cardrona and Treble Cone skifields yesterday morning and more snow is forecast for today.
This year the skifields will play host not only to tourists but also snowsport athletes, who will be working hard to prepare for the Milan Winter Olympics being held in February next year.
Snow Sports New Zealand head coach park and pipe Tom Willmott said the organisation had 20 athletes in its park and pipe pathway and the goal for this season was to fine-tune their performance in preparation for the Olympics.
"It's all about being in peak performance by the games. So we're not making mega shifts and improvements, but we're probably fine-tuning people's performances," he said.
Although there will be no elite winter games or events this year, athletes can look forward to the Continental Cup series at Remarkables and Cardrona in August this year.
Willmott said most New Zealand athletes, including medallists Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Luca Harrington, were in Europe or North America at present, either taking time off or engaging in summer training until July.
Once they returned, their training would include some gym time, field practice and even workshops to mentally prepare them for the Olympics, he said.
"We've got some workshops delivered by the New Zealand Olympic Committee, which is all about getting the team together, building the team and connecting to our unique Kiwi roots."
To prepare for a busy season of training Snow Sports NZ had planned to open a dry slopes facility in Wanaka on Monday but the opening had been postponed due to the weather, he said.
This did bring up the usual concern around snowfall for the season as it would impact the training facilities, Willmott said.
"There's always a concern about what Mother Nature is going to deliver ... The quality of our facilities can be impacted by the volume of snow that we get but there's some good signs out there right now."
Cardrona and Treble Cone skifields general manager Laura Hedley said the snowguns would be working hard over the next few days.
"We know how important a pre-Olympic season is, and for us making sure we have the best training facilities possible is a real source of pride for our team," she said.
The Cardrona and Treble Cone fields are set to open on June 14 with a new lift and terrain at the Soho Basin.
The summer was a busy time for the team as they worked towards opening two new lifts, a redesigned base area and 150ha of new terrain to ski and ride.
"We've undertaken a massive development project over the last few months, and there are still a few pieces to complete in the next week or so — but we have a fantastic team," she said.
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