Once again Cardrona Alpine Resort will host the World Cup competitions as a part of the Audi quattro Winter Games New Zealand. With the starting lists chock-full of World’s best athletes, the bar is going to be set high right from the beginning of the 2015/2016 Freestyle World Cup season. 

Audi quattro Winter Games NZ CEO, Arthur Klap said the FIS World Cups would be a real highlight of the ten-day Games, the biggest recurring sport event in New Zealand. 

"The big events attract the biggest names and we expect record numbers to watch the two finals on the mountain, on TV or online wherever they might be. 

Entries for the freeski events – the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup Halfpipe and Slopestyle and the grand finale Winter Games NZ Big Air are already shaping up as a who’s who of international freeskiing. 

Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen of Norway who claimed gold in the women’s slopestyle at Audi quattro Winter Games 2013 and also won 2014 World Cup stop in Silvaplana will be looking to repeat her last New Zealand performance. 

The French freeski halfpipe team also brings a wealth of talent to the Games. The line-up includes Thomas Krief, Joffrey Pollet-Villard, Kevin Rolland and Benoit Valentin. Rolland is a multiple X Games medalist and finished second in halfpipe on the 2014 AFP World Tour, also taking out a bronze medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics. 

Pollet-Villard’s claim to fame is setting a new world record for the highest amplitude achieved in superpipe on skis earlier this year. He also won halfpipe silver at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2015 in Kreischberg, Austria. 

With Audi quattro Winter Games NZ 2015 only few days away, we caught up with CEO, Arthur Klap for an update on preparations and entries: 

"This is an incredibly busy and exciting time. Athletes, coaches and officials are arriving in town every day and our own team is working hard to ensure this year’s Games gets the season off to the best possible start. 

"New Zealand is the first major country to see the sunrise so it’s a nice coincidence that we also host the first FIS World Cups of the season every other year! Since 2009, the Games has also positioned New Zealand at the forefront of competitive winter sports development. In particular, this country has a very strong connection with freestyle skiing, playing an instrumental role in the decision to include the sport at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. 

"This year, the freestyle skiing events up at Cardrona have once again attracted some exceptional athletes. We’re delighted to welcome back two slopestyle medalists from 2013 - Lisa Zimmermann and especially our reigning champion, Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen after her return from injury. Devin Logan is another returning athlete who’s always done well here in both park and pipe. She’ll be up against the world’s top two halfpipe skiers from last season, Ayana Onozuka and our own Janina Kuzma. 

"Amongst the men, we’re obviously stoked to see New Zealand brothers Jossi, Beau-James and Jackson Wells all entered in slopestyle with Jackson set to make his FIS World Cup debut after turning 16. But there are almost 50 more skiers in the men’s field including Woodsy from Team GB, Russ Henshaw from Australia, Elias Ambuhl from Switzerland and an incredibly strong US team led by Bobby Brown, McRae Williams and Olympic gold medalist, Joss Christensen. 

"The Americans will be strong in halfpipe too of course, but look out for the four French musketeers Thomas Krief, Joffrey Pollet-Villard, Kevin Rolland and Benoit Valentin. 

"Everything is in place for some awesome freeskiing action at this fourth edition of Winter Games NZ. Get ready - we’ll be dropping soon!” 

Cardrona World Cup Schedule: 

Halfpipe: 

Qualifications  - 21.08 (Friday) | 9.00am – 1.00pm Local time 

Finals – 23.08 (Sunday) | 10.00am – 12.00pm Local time 

  

Slopestyle:  

Qualifications – 27.08 (Thursday) | 9.00am – 1.00pm Local time 

Finals – 29.08 (Saturday) | 10.00am – 12.00pm Local time 

  

Full Audi quattro Winter Games New Zealand schedule: 

http://www.wintergamesnz.kiwi/category/events/ 

Winter Games NZ CEO Arthur Klap said the Games’ partnership with leading international sports marketing company, Infront Sports & Media, had led to a marked upsurge in interest from key international broadcasters.

“The take-up is way ahead of previous years particularly from broadcasters who have the rights already to show FIS World Cups. They include Eurosport, BBC, USA’s Universal Sports, China’s CCTV, TV Tokyo, Germany’s public broadcasting company ARD, ESPN Sur representing Latin and South America and South Korea’s SBS.”

Other countries who have signed up for the New Zealand filmed footage, which will be shown ‘as live’, include Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

 Some of the international rights holders, along with others from the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Poland, Slovenia and Taiwan will also show a magazine programme of all the World Cups put together by the International Ski Federation (FIS).

 In New Zealand there will be free to air domestic coverage of Winter Games NZ on TV3 with two-hour ‘as live’ broadcasts of FIS World Cup slopestyle and halfpipe finals for both snowboard and freeski from 12.30-2.30pm and 10.30pm-12.30am on the key weekend dates of August 22, 23, 29 and 30. A highlights programme will screen from 1.00-2.00pm on September 6.

Source: fis-ski.com