Top snowsports athletes will be able to train at Cardrona Alpine Resort year-round now that a dry slope airbag training facility has been approved for the base of the ski area. 

Snowsports NZ CEO Nic Cavanagh told the Wānaka App last month a year-round training facility would improve both the wellbeing of New Zealand's winter sport athletes and their chances of future gold medal success.

With design plans for run-ins, quarter-pipe bags, a big air jump and half-pipe training, it would cover “all our gold medal campaigns,” Nic said. 

The application was approved by independent commissioner Jan Caunter a little over a week ago, following a hearing in May and a resubmission of the application with minor changes.

The facility will be located in a gully to the north of the Cardrona Alpine Resort skifield access road, Jan said, and it will be used by elite and development athletes as part of Snowsports NZ’s athlete development pathway programme, not the general public. 

It will operate year-round, she said.

Local Olympians Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott both advocated for the facility.

Nico said dry slope facilities are crucial to snowsports athletes developing, practising and perfecting runs that are capable of winning competitions at the highest international level. 

From the age of 10 Nico had to travel overseas for training and he was usually gone for eight to 10 weeks at a time in those early years.

He said 30-40 percent of young New Zealand snowsport athletes leave the sport because of the international travel requirements.

Zoi, who has also travelled extensively to train, said the approval of the facility would provide Snowsports NZ’s athletes with much longer training periods.

She said she believed it was critical to helping them achieve success on the world stage.

Snowsports NZ was approached for comment on the approval of the application.

PHOTO: Supplied