NATIONWIDE INITIATIVE

YOUNG upandcoming freeriders will have the opportunity to compete regularly on a national level, thanks to an initiative started by Snow Sports park, pipe and freeride manager Luke Hetzel.

Snow Sports will be sanctioning events around the nation to be part of a slopestyle series in which athletes can earn points and see how they rank on a national scale.

‘‘I believe we need to further our influence at the younger levels by giving young athletes a high quality competitive platform, and facilitating training overseas for athletes who are ready to take the steps into the international competition scene,’’ Hetzel said.

There would be about 15 events across under14 and open age divisions. The events in 2018 would be at Cardrona, The

Remarkables, Mt Hutt, Turoa, and Snowplanet.

‘‘The goal is to encourage participation in slopestyle, and educate our riders on how a series works. To become an olympian, athletes need to earn points in FISsanctioned events, so by creating our own points list in a series, we will familiarise athletes with earning points before they take the jump into the international scene.

‘‘It means that talented athletes won’t slip through the cracks because we didn’t travel to Turoa on the same weekend . . . We can let results speak for themselves.’’

He believed the series would ‘‘absolutely help’’ those in the North Island by encouraging competition.