The Winter Games NZ Obsidian event, the highest profile snow sports event this winter, kicks off today (Monday August 10). 

The finest homegrown talent is competing over the Obsidian’s five challenges from August 10-20. 

The Obsidian features 21 of our best New Zealand athletes, from Olympic medallists through to Freeride World Tour winners, skiers versus snowboarders, women versus men and freeride versus freestyle, showcasing those at the top of their game.

Over the ten-day weather window, the three teams will be battling it out to win the Obsidian. In addition to the seven elite athletes, there are two world class videographers embedded in each team to catch all of the action. 

The Obsidian is made up of five challenges; Big Air, Park Jam, Freeride, Mountain Shred and the overall video edits which are being seen for the first time at an outdoor film event.  

Winter Games NZ and Lake Wānaka Tourism have also announced the date for the outdoor film event. On August 28, the Winter Games NZ Obsidian will be celebrated alongside Wanaka’s unique mountain culture.

Archive footage, such as this image of heliskiing at Cardrona in the 1980s, was used to create a history of snowsports in Wanaka. PHOTO: Supplied

The event, which will be held in the Dunmore Street carpark transformed into an arena, will kick off at 6:30pm with the premiere of mini documentary ‘In Search of Kōura Mā (White Gold)’, that showcases the history and development of skiing and snowboarding in the Wanaka region. 

Following that will be the world premiere of Winter Games NZ Obsidian’s creative videography edits produced by local videographers Two Bearded Men, Jase Hancox Film and Diaries Downunder.  

The evening will conclude with the Obsidian overall prizegiving, announcing which team is the winner of the Edgar Challenge Trophy, and interviews with the three team captains, Jossi Wells, Janina Kuzma and Sam Smoothy.      

Lake Wānaka Tourism worked with Wanaka local Hugh Barnard onboard as writer and director, sourcing hundreds of hours of archive footage, filming interviews, as well as creating new snow segments which have been spliced and woven together with animation, to create a snapshot from the very beginnings through to now.

“It really reflects what this town and our ski and snowboard community are about, right down to the fact that there were four generations working alongside each other to create this mini documentary,” Hugh said.

Organisers say there will be lots of familiar faces at the event, as well as giveaways and some of the best skiing and snowboarding action caught on camera on show.