A strong cohort of youth alpine ski racers points to an exciting future for the sport in New Zealand according to the New Zealand Alpine Sports Committee chair and Snow Sports New Zealand head of alpine Jono Howson.

Among them are Wānaka sisters Mathilda (15) and Isabel Watterson (13) who have been recruited to European based Kiwi ski coach Chris Knight’s international women’s racing team.  

“There is some exciting talent coming through the system who have over the past few years started to transition to skiing in both hemispheres,” Jono said.

“And that kind of transition back and forth is really good on the development pathway for those athletes.”

Mathilda and Isabel have impressed while racing in Switzerland during New Zealand’s summer, winning the 2023 championships of Central Switzerland in their respective age groups.

Isabel finished the season ranked as the number one female U14 racer in Switzerland and she won (for the second year running) the Grand Prix Migros Finale, the biggest youth race in the world with around 7,000 athletes competing through qualifiers.

Isabel Watterson during competition. PHOTO: Supplied

Jono said Isabel’s win is “an amazing achievement” and “everybody's got their eyes on her for sure”.

Chris, who has coached athletes (including Queenstown’s Alice Robinson) to Olympic and World Cup success, says he is excited to start another chapter in his ski coaching career, especially with more rising talent from New Zealand.

“We have a great history of producing talent … in snow sports and Mathilda and Isabel are already showing this in international racing."

Mathilda and Isabel will train in Italy next year when they join Chris’s team and Jono said that then the real journey begins as they transition to FIS athletes.

Jono also highlighted the performance of Wānaka Snowsports Club athlete Mikayla Smyth (18) who is ranked 185th in the world in slalom and winning FIS races in Europe. 

Mikayla Smyth PHOTO: Ross Mackay Snow Sports New Zealand

Mikayla claimed two alpine ski racing gold medals at Coronet Peak last week winning the New Zealand National Slalom and the overall FIS category at the same race.

“For a small nation with limited resources, our athletes have shown the potential to punch above their weight,” Jono said.