Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Ten years ago Kiwi skier and snowboarder Dion Newport decided New Zealand needed a Junior Freeride Tour and so he started one. What he probably never realised at the time was that he was creating a community that would evolve to take on the world.
With backing by The North Face and Volkl, Dion created an event that took Under 18 skiers and snowboarders, right down to microgroms, and put them in the very tops of the mountains. With beautiful locations like Treble Cone for this first round the events are truly picturesque and blend backcountry skiing/boarding with basic mountaineering skills. To stoke the groms out even more, Dion is supported these days by a cast of ski and snowboard super heroes – many of whom have come through this same pathway. We had recent Red Bull signing Finn Bilous helping us out this week alongside the ever effervescent freeride guru Andrew Pollard. He's from Utah, but brings a buzz (it's a hum actually) to the event that adds to Dion's energy. That core of magnetism attracts a hugely positive team around it and that elevates these events to something else.
The events run very much like a surf contest. Everyone gets one run to impress the judges. Like surfing comps, they are looking for style, flow, power, but add in line choice, creativity and consistency into the mix. Athletes start with 50 points and add points when they tick the criteria ... or take a huge line. Conversely, if they stumble, butt check, or crash then they lose points.
It's a risk vs reward game. The rewards are omnipresent – the heroes of the sport guide the groms, and perhaps that is why the standard, particularly in men's and women's skiing is so high. Some of the spins off large cliff drops are jaw-dropping. It's such a spectacle.
The snowboard side of the sport attracts a lot of surfers from the South Island with Marlee and Ada Silva, Layla Duke (who won the Under 14 Women's), Kobe Coleman (who won the Under 14 Men's division), and my daughter Rewa Morrison, who finished second to reigning champ Brooke Hansen in the Under 18s. Most of the athletes train every week and have professional coaches. Marlee's dad Eman has dubbed us as Team Cool Runnings ... we're kind of fish out of water up there and coached by a couple of dads whose heyday was snowboarding in the late 1990s ... but we have enough experience to get by. It's pretty cool to see the kids learning the sport and weaving their way into the community. A bit like surf comps – the events are a good excuse to travel to new places and ride some different peaks. They are a real challenge – both physically and mentally.
Thanks to Treble Cone, and Dion, A-Poll and their team, and all the athletes and families for making this opening round of the season such a great one.
See you at the end of the bootpack ... Derek
PS Surfboard shaper, Homa Mattingly, of Seer Surfboards fame, is actually a very skilled snowboarder as well. He's put himself out to pasture when it comes to snowboarding (but still rips). Our NZ Surf Journal intern Taira Blakely recently sat down with Homa to find out why he thinks most people are riding the wrong board. You can read Homa's full story right here. Are you riding the right board?
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: