New Zealand’s high performance snow sports athletes would normally be training and competing in the northern hemisphere this time of year but with the global pandemic most returned home.

Rather than dwell on missed opportunities, the Wanaka based Snows Sport NZ team moved into overdrive and not only optimised their internal training resources but also expanded their dry land training facilities.

Snow Sports NZ’s Anderson Road facility has been transformed, creating a new performance health centre operating alongside the well equipped indoor gym, plus a new “dry” slope, mini ramp and rails for snowboard athletes, Snow Sports NZ communication manager Alex Kerr said.

“While we have a fantastic team of support staff - including a strength and conditioner, physio, sports physician, athlete life advisor, performance psychologist, performance technique analyst and nutritionist - our facilities did not provide an adequate or optimal working space. 

The new “dry slope” and rails get a work out from national development snowboard team members Oscar Georgalli (left) and Campbell Melville-Ives. PHOTO: Supplied

“This allows our team to operate more effectively with our athletes and encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to performance,” she said.

The renovation plans, designed by former paralympian and local architect Carl Murphy, were due to be completed in May and local construction company Dunlop Builders has worked hard to make up for time lost during the lockdown and finish the renovations in time for a celebratory event this evening (Thursday June 18) evening.

Funding for the gym and consult room renovations was provided by Sport NZ but, when lockdown provided an opportunity to also upgrade the dryland training facilities alongside the existing covered trampoline facility, the Wanaka team decided to reallocate funds from cancelled events “to build facilities that allow our park and pipe athletes to keep training without having to be on snow”, Alex said.

Unsure if the local ski resorts would be able to open this winter and concerned the loss of northern hemisphere events would negatively impact the athletes’ progression and performance, “we planned for the worst case scenario,” she said.

“Even with the great news that the mountains will be open and we will be training on snow, the bonus is that we can now train even on closed or bad weather days, as well as in the off season,” she said. 

Snow Sports NZ is the national sporting organisation representing the interests of adaptive snow sports, alpine ski racing, cross country skiing, freeskiing and snowboarding. Its purpose is to lead the growth and success of competitive snow sports in New Zealand. 

In 2012 High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), Sport NZ and Snow Sports NZ began working together on the development of the new high performance centre in Wanaka to provide winter sport athletes with a base to train off the mountain, and medical and rehab consulting rooms for illness and injury diagnosis and management for athletes. 

The Wanaka facility was opened in April 2013 and now employs 19 Snow Sports NZ staff and eight HPSNZ staff. This team supports 11 carded snow sports athletes (carded’ means they receive support from HPSNZ) and other non-carded athletes, such as those at a development level, and those from disciplines which sit outside HPSNZ carding criteria, like Sport Otago’s 2020 Sportsman of the year freeride champion Craig Murray.

“Carded athletes from other sports are also able to use the gym – [it’s] not unusual to see the odd All Black training here over the Christmas break,” Alex said.

Snow Sports NZ’s high performance programme has enjoyed significant success over the past decade with outstanding athletes such as medal winning paralympians Adam Hall and Corey Peters and Olympians Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.

The success it has enjoyed on a world stage has, however, led to increasing performance expectations and greater service delivery requirements and the upgraded Wanaka facilities are designed to meet those expectations, Alex said.

She anticipated around 100 staff athletes, family members and stakeholders would come together this evening to celebrate the renovated facilities and “to recognise the work and investment that has gone on behind the scenes to ensure world-class facilities for our elite and up and coming snow sport athletes”.