Young Hawea freestyle skier Luke Harrold has returned from his first development camp in the United States with a gold and silver medal to his name.

At 11-years-old, Luke is the youngest member of the Snowsports New Zealand development team, which is made up of about ten young skiers and snowboarders, all under 16-years-old.

Snowsports NZ usually takes the team on two development camps a year. This year the first camp lasted five weeks and was split between fields in Colorado and Utah. 

Luke won his gold medal for slopestyle and his silver for halfpipe at back-to-back competitions in Aspen, Colorado. These results mean he has been selected for the season’s second development camp in the US which includes more time in Colorado and ten days in Park City, Utah. 

Luke’s success in Aspen also means he has qualified for the United States of America Snowsports Association (USASA) Nationals for halfpipe. The USASA Nationals, held at Copper Mountain, Colorado from March 27 to April 8 this year, are by invitation only, and only 60 young people are selected for each event.     

Luke Hetzel, park, pipe and freeride manager for Snowsports NZ, who travelled with the team, said that at 11-years-old, Luke was young enough to treat the various competitions as nothing more than useful experience. “From my point of view, if he’s just there with the team skiing and having fun, it’s a win. The success he’s had is just a bonus.”

The development team plan to head back to the US for the second camp and the USASA Nationals later this month, depending on travel restrictions.

PHOTO: Supplied