22nd May 2008

By. Rhonda Albom

Last year was our first trip down south and we loved it! We chose to train and play at Cardrona and stayed in Wanaka. One of our girls joined Cardrona's Snowboard Team, the other Cardrona's Ski Team. The training was fantastic and the girls had enormous amounts of fun.

Prior to our decision, we sifted through lots of information. To the best that we know, here is a summary of the on mountain snowboard training options for 2008 available for youth in New Zealand. For complete details and pricing, please use the web links. I also compiled a list of grom / youth competitions which are currently published.

Special thanks to all of those who assisted in creation of this list: Jo Forbes, Bridget Legnavsky, Michel Marchand, Michelle Wilson, Robett Hollis, Donna Fordyce, Frank Riha, Jeremy Coombes, Sam Lee and Annah at Turoa Customer service.

Cardrona www.cardrona.com

HPC is for more experienced snowboarders wanting to achieve more advanced skills and technique. It has some of the best athletes, coaches and instructors in NZ and takes a coaching approach to developing your snowboarding rather than a traditional lesson.

Skiwees
Weekly 4 day camps, every Monday Thursday
Suitable for all levels
Same instructor, same group each day

Hobbits
Suitable for all levels
Same instructor every Sunday for 7 weeks

HPC full season programs: www.cardronahpc.com
Full time Elite program: 12+ weeks, 5 days per week
Performance - 12 weeks, 3 days per week and 5 days a week during the school holidays
Development Program - 12 weeks, 2 weekend days per week and 5 days a week during the school holidays
Introduction program - 12 weeks, 1 weekend day per week and 3 days per week during the school holidays
HPC Camps
School Holiday Camp - 5 days during the school holidays with the teams and HPC coaches

Snow Park : Switch Academy - www.snowparknz.com

Developed in 2006, SWITCH ACADEMY is a unique youth development freestyle program utilizing the world-class facilities of both Snow Park NZ and Treble Cone. The goal of SWITCH ACADEMY is to develop and nurture a competitive pathway in a fun and productive environment. (2007 program listed here, details for 2008 not yet available)

Two Full season options are available:
Full Time Program -Training five days per week (from Tuesday to Saturday)
Part Time Program -Training two weekend days per week plus first NZ school holidays include 5 days of training
Camps
School Holidays or 2 Week Only Sessions - 5 days per week over July and September NZ school holidays

All Star Adventures www.allstartrips.com
Offers snowboard and ski camps at Snow Park with coaching by top professional riders from North America and New Zealand
Camps are open to all ages and abilities, and an 'elite' program is offered for competitive riders

All Star camps are all inclusive providing stylish accommodation, meals, activities, daily transport, and daily lift passes. Camp sessions available from July thru September each season

FTB www.ftb.co.nz

The Real Deal Snowboard Camps
Offers snowboard camps at Snow Park or Mt. Ruapehu with coaching by some of NZs best pro boarders.

Camps include accommodation, riding with some of NZs best professional snowboarders; video analysis- filming of on snow riding; mountain transport; off snow/bad weather activities and much more
Current camp dates: July 7-11 (Mt. Ruapehu); July 14-18 (Snow Park and Treble Cone); August 16-17 (Mt. Ruapehu); September 29-October 3 (Snow Park) and October 6-10 (Mt. Ruapehu) most camps for ages 12-17.
Will build custom camps for 8 or more riders

Treble Cone - www.treblecone.com

Treble Cones legendary natural terrain makes it the perfect setting for a true Big Mountain training environment
Riders and Sliders
Suitable for: All abilities, aged 6 12
Groups of similar age and ability
Same instructor every Sunday for 6 weeks

Kids TC Full Season Freeride Program
For teenagers 13-17 years
For advanced intermediate comfortable on black runs
4 hours per session, over 10 sessions throughout the season

Kids TC School holiday Freeride Program
For teenagers 13-17 years
For advanced intermediate comfortable on black runs
1 week (with a 2 week option) during the 2008 July School holidays with five days on mountain training and one day off mountain dry land training

The Remarkables - www.nzski.com

TNT is the Queenstown based freeski and snowboard team supported by Alta and Outside Sports.

TNT Freestyle - ages 12+
Competitive weekend team
One day a weekend team
Academy program run through Wakatipu High School

Two week July school holidays program
Burton Freestyle Sessions ages 10+
Daily sessions involve 2 hours of freestyle coaching and include Burton freestyle board and boots use during the session for the complete Burton experience

Remarks Camp 2008
4 hours per day instruction over 3 or 5 days ski-snowboard camp held during the New Zealand school holidays
Upper level groups may also include an introduction to freestyle

Coronet Peak - www.nzski.com

A top instructor gives advanced individual attention and feedback while focusing on improvement and fun.

Kruiser Squad
For ages 6-16
4 hours per day, over 5 days during the New Zealand school holidays
Includes a freestyle group

Mt Hutt - www.nzski.com

"Our commitment is to offer a development program that encourages the kids and gets them out there doing it. Its not a race program and the emphasis is on fun rather than competition although plenty do go on to compete.

Youth Snowboard Academy - 12 weeks, 1 weekend day per week, for ages 10 - 16

Mt. Ruapeu - www.mtruapehu.com

The programs are led by our top kids' instructors and allow them to have lots of fun, meet new friends and improve their skiing/boarding.

Flyers and Warriors
Alternate 5 weekend program
For ages 6-16 years
Runs for five hours a day over five alternate weekends and one week of school holidays.
At Turoa and Whakapapa

Mountain Madness
10 weekend program
An advancement from Flyers and Warriors
Runs for five hours a day over 10 consecutive weekend and one week of school holidays.
At Turoa and Whakapapa

Kids' Holiday program
Runs for either 2 or 4 hours a day Monday to Friday throughout the school holidays.
At Turoa and Whakapapa

SnowPlanet - www.vwsnowacademy.co.nz/racetraining

Snowplanet's NEW Freestyle Snowboarding program provides an exciting opportunity to people who are serious about snow sports.

Freestyle Snowboarding
Weekly 2 hour sessions based on school terms
Minimum ability level 4
Same coach each week