Wānaka’s snowboarding phenomenon Zoi Zadowski-Synnott has been named the Snow Sports NZ overall athlete of the year at the 2023 Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards held at Coronet Peak last night (October 7).

Over the past 12 months Zoi continued her dominance of women’s snowboarding, finishing on the podium at every event she dropped into. A notable achievement is her LAAX Open slopestyle win, a career first for Zoi and a dream of hers since she started competing.  

Freeski Athlete of the Year winner Luca Harrington (Wānaka) had a strong season, claiming his best ever World Cup and World Championships result, with a fourth place at the Silvaplana Slopestyle World Cup and a fifth place at the 2023 World Championships Big Air.  

The crowd at the awards at Coronet Peak.

Ruby Star Andrews (Queenstown) was crowned Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, with her third-place finish at the Mammoth Slopestyle World Cup (during her first World Cup season) securing the award. 

PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Freeski Olympian Finn Bilous (Wānaka) transitioned to Freeride this year, with the Freeride World Tour offering him a place. Finn was named Freeride Athlete of the Year having achieved a fourth and fifth-place finish at the Kicking Horse and Ordino Arcalís stops respectively.  

Alpine Ski Racer of the Year Alice Robinson (Queenstown) proved she is back on top form, with a string of top 10 finishes at World Cup and World Championship events. 

Adaptive Athlete of the Year Adam Hall (Dunedin) carried his momentum from 2021/22 into this awards period, claiming World Cup and European Cup podiums throughout the season. 

This year’s Coach of the Year award went to Snow Sports NZ’s freeski coach Hamish McDougall (Wānaka). McDougall is the lead coach for award winners Ruby Star Andrews and Luca Harrington, along with Ben Barclay (Olympic Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air).  

Snow Sports NZ said the awards (presented by Racers Edge Wānaka) were a ‘fantastic event to celebrate the year that has been and a great way to send off Kiwi athletes as they head away to the Northern Hemisphere’. 

The list of winners is:

• Instructor of the Year sponsored by NZSIA – Rebecca Matthew 
• Coach of the Year sponsored by Blackwells Mazda – Hamish McDougall for Freeski (Wānaka) 
• Breakthrough Season sponsored by Winter Games NZ – Ruby Star Andrews (Queenstown) 
• Freeride Athlete of the Year sponsored by The Remarkables – Finn Bilous (Wānaka) 
• Alpine Ski Racer of the Year sponsored by Coronet Peak – Alice Robinson (Queenstown) 
• Snowboarder of the Year sponsored by Dick Schulze – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (Wānaka) 
• Freeskier of the Year sponsored by Mons Royale – Luca Harrington (Wānaka) 
• Adaptive Athlete of the Year sponsored by Cardrona / Treble Cone – Adam Hall (Dunedin)
• Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (Wānaka)  

 PHOTOS: Federico Pagola / Snow Sports NZ