Wānaka Snowsports Club (WSC) athletes have been awarded $31,900 in Northern Hemisphere Grants assistance.

The funding will go towards their travel, accommodation, equipment, training and competitions.

Thirty eight club athletes including freeskiers and boarders, freeriders (ski and board), para alpine and alpine racers will benefit from the grants, the club said in a recent newsletter. 

The recipients include Olympic athletes as well as other younger athletes who are striving to emulate them.

“Our athletes will be competing alongside the world’s best at events including World Cups, World Champs, Europa and Nor Am cups, on the Freeride World Tour and Qualifiers plus at Junior, U16 and Youth events,” the club said.

“All WSC athletes are extremely proud to represent our club and will present themselves as fantastic ambassadors for both Wānaka and New Zealand.”

The club was first formed in 1978 by a group of Treble Cone enthusiasts, and was known as the Wānaka Ski Club. In 1992, the Cardrona Ski Club and the Wānaka Ski Club amalgamated.

The club’s original aims were to promote good fellowship among members; promote and encourage amateur ski running in all its forms (including ski racing and ski jumping, touring on skis and ski -mountaineering, pioneer work and exploration); and develop and improve technical skill on skis and a knowledge of snow craft.

The club has since changed its name to the Wānaka Snowsports Club to reflect the evolution of snow sports in Wānaka and the wider range of snow sports activities its members were participating in.

It has helped produce Olympians, World Cup competitors, New Zealand champions and athletes who compete at all levels around the world, as well as helping budding young skiers and snowsports athletes improve their skills.