Ski Weekend at Ruapehu Saturday came so quickly we didn’t know what to expect but once we stepped outside and saw the mountain, we knew we were in for a treat. The air was crisp and cold as we hopped off the bus at the mountain car park. We set up base camp in Happy Valley, hired our gear, and then we were off, speeding at 1 km per hour up the mountain on the chairlift, admiring the amazing view. The snow was amazing, for skiers and snowboarders. We had fantastic snow school instructors who helped all of us, at any level. We spent the whole day on the mountain and when we were fully tired and couldn’t move at all, we finally went home to Kristin Lodge, had dinner and went to sleep, excited for what would come tomorrow. Sunday was just as good as Saturday, except we only had half the day and the other half was spent travelling back to Kristin in the van. Overall, I’d have to say this trip had been my favourite out of four and as usual, I’m hoping I can go on the next one. Marco Tyler-Rodrigue
Auckland Secondary Schools’ Snow Champs Kristin was exceptionally well represented at the Auckland Secondary Schools’ Snowboarding Championships at Snowplanet in August. We had fantastic results in the Giant Slalom with Sebastian Judge taking 1st place, Liam Whiley 2nd and Thomas Christie 3rd. In the Slopestyle event, Andrew Taylor secured 4th place and Seb Judge followed in 5th. Solid performances were contributed also by Sam Hassall, Stewart Campbell and Cairan Lee. The Northern Snowsports Ski Racing Interfield event brought home some great results too. Harrison Messenger came 1st in the E1 Boys’ event and Rhys Davies came 2nd in the K1 Boys’. This season Rhys was awarded an Emerging Talent scholarship from Snowplanet and Alex Jefferson was awarded a Black on White scholarship. These scholarships are awarded to young skiers in New Zealand who show promise and they cover some of the cost of their training fees. Overall, it was a fantastic way to kick off the season. Yvonne Walker Sport Manager, Snowsports
54
SPRING/SUMMER 2012
North Island Primary Schools
Snow Champs
E
den McKay produced the performance of the competition for Kristin at the North Island Primary School Ski Champs to take the Senior Girls’ Giant Slalom title for the fourth consecutive year, making her the first-ever girl to do so. All of Kristin’s representatives produced some fantastic results, with their hard work evident on the final scoreboard. Kristin Team 1 and Team 2 both finished on the podium in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The Kristin teams were: Kristin Team 1: Fraser Brownsey, Rhys Davies, Finlay Jackson, Eden McKay, Harrison Messenger Kristin Team 2: Caleb Brooke, Dylan Brooke, Sam Gentry, Anna-Lise Hinton, Grace Johnstone Our Snowboard team cleaned up, with Samuel Christie 1st, Joshua Arnold 3rd in the Senior Boys’, and Mitchell Davern placing 2nd in the Junior Boys’. Thank you to all the parents who supported us over the week - you were amazing, especially Ken who was Chief of Course for the Junior Boys’ event. Yvonne Walker Sport Manager, Snowsports
Secondary Ski Champions An astounding team performance has secured the North Island Secondary School Ski Championship for Kristin for the 5th consecutive year. Everyone in the team was exceptional, especially Laura and Sam who skied in number four and five spot; they had a hard job and made excellent points for the team. The winning team was made up of Conrad Barry, Sophie Corser, Laura Jackson, Alex Jefferson and Sam Tweedie. Our team produced some fantastic results also in the individual events: Name
Result
Event
Name
Result
Event
Sophie Corser
1st
Senior Girls’ Giant Slalom
Sam Tweedie
10th
Junior Boys’ Giant Slalom
Conrad Barry
2nd
Junior Boys’ Giant Slalom
Alex Jefferson
14th
Junior Girls’ Giant Slalom
Albert Todd
2nd
Junior Boys’ Slopestyle
Laura Jackson
23rd
Junior Girls’ Giant Slalom
Congratulations to all the students in the NISS Ski team. We are all very proud of you and to be NISS champions is an amazing achievement. We have now held the ski trophy since 2008 and our aim is to keep it for a few more years yet. We have some great talent coming through the ranks and just being selected into the Kristin Ski team is becoming quite a feat! Thanks to all the parents for their support, especially to John who was our Course Official on the first day and to Ken who did this job on the second day. Yvonne Walker Sport Manager, Snowsports