Winter Games NZ Brings Dates Forward

Winter Games NZ Brings Dates Forward

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (October 8, 2008) – Winter Games NZ today announced a change of dates for next year’s inaugural event that is destined to be the largest winter sports event outside of the Winter Olympics. Winter Games NZ, which is expected to attract over 800 of the world’s elite snow sports athletes, will now take place a week earlier from August 22 to 30, 2009.

The rescheduling is as a result of extensive research and trialing of systems and venues during the 2008 winter season that has also seen some adjustment to where events will now be held. The earlier dates will also make travel arrangements for international teams easier as many tend to head back to the Northern Hemisphere in the first week of September, plus the snow conditions are better for the cross-country skiers in mid-August.

Arthur Klap, Winter Games NZ CEO, said the work put in at events, such as the LG FIS Snowboard World Cup and Volkswagen Ski Racing Nationals, was extremely valuable in terms of fine-tuning the format for the Games.

“We’ve had feed back from international teams and FIS officials, and this, together with what we’ve learned, has allowed us to improve our delivery of this world-class event. For example, Cardrona will now be the focus for the skier-x, boardercross and halfpipe with exciting made for TV events that will ensure a global audience. The big air has moved to Coronet Peak as part of the grand finale, replacing the slalom which has moved to earlier in the final day to take advantage of the optimum snow conditions.”

Winter Games NZ will take place at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Snow Farm, Naseby and Dunedin from August 22 to 30 next year and will feature disciplines of alpine skiing, free skiing, x-country skiing, snowboarding, curling, ice skating and adaptive snow sports.

ENDS

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