NISS Ski Championships 2016 - Ski Report
Prior to the Ski Championships the 2 teams had been training hard with RSS, under the watchful eye of Ben the ski coach. With each racer improving with every training session all 10 of the racers were looking strong and ready for North Islands, with a top 20 placing for the A team looking likely.
On the 11th of September, the two ski teams headed off to Turoa Ski Field on Mt Ruapehu for the 2016 North Island Secondary Schools Ski Champs, a two day competition . There were just under 130 teams competing, so the competition was looking to be stiff. With 10 strong skiers the teams were looking good to improve on their placings from last year.
Monday 12th September:
Day 1 of the competition brought clear skies and good snow conditions for the Giant Slalom event. The 2 teams had a mixed bag of results. The A team suffered 2 DNF's and a minor crash, and the B team suffered 2 crashes. Highlights of the day go to Nick Slegers and Jack Harvey, who scored very well. Nick Achieved 8th in the Junior mens, and Jack 13th in the senior mens. The next days Dual Slalom would be vital for the teams to improve on these results
Tuesday 13th September:
Day 2 was both teams chance to claw their way up a few places with the dual slalom.The dual slaom is an event which matches 2 racers with the closest times and sends them down 2 side-by-side courses. First one down their course wins. Tuesday brought challenging conditions for all skiers, with clouds limiting visibility to around 30-50m. This proved difficult for the racers to ski to their potential, although the teams still performed magnificently, as all but 4 won their dual slalom, progressing both teams on the overall placings.
Overall, the 2 teams did well at North Islands even though they dropped a few places from last year. Everyone skied well and did the best they could. Next year, the teams are looking to make up the few places they dropped this year, and look fit to do it with the strong skiers coming through.
- By Jack Harvey
NISS Ski Championships 2016 - Snowboard Report
The first Sunday after mocks, the Palmerston North Boys' High School Snowboarding Team left for the North Island Secondary Schools Competition hosted by Ruapehu College, on Turoa Ski Field. This was without our team Captain Ollie Brind who unfortunately broke his collarbone two weeks previous while training for this event. We also lost Joel Walton to a broken ankle also sustained up the mountain. The team travelling was as follows;
Daniel ‘Frosty’ Alvey, Sam Brooks Bowen, Finn Checkley, Bryn Earle, Henry Gong, Jake Hobbs, Josh Love, Jack Peden, Toby Proude and Luke Vautier. As a group, we have bonded over the season and have a sense of ‘brotherhood’ in the camp, so we knew the three days would be a laugh as much as it would be competitive.
The competition was held over two days, with the first day playing host to the Slopestyle and Giant Slalom events. This saw Luke Vautier in action in the slopestyle, who had a clean run that unfortunately was not enough to see him into the second round in a competitive field. Bryn, Finn, Frosty, Jake, Luke and Toby all competed in the slalom. The runs were difficult and even the better boarders at the competition took falls. The team left this competition wondering what could have been if there were some clean runs. Luke had one run without a bail and then became our fastest, Bryn had good pace and was shafted when he had a moment on one of the quickest runs of the day. Everyone had a rough time of it and unfortunately it wasn’t our day in this event, such is life in this sport. Josh Love’s efforts were worthy of a strong 104th, while fan favourite Alvey got a nice 106th. Day 2 saw ugly weather close in around the mountain and gave the team nightmares for the intense boardercross track. The course was being labelled as ‘dangerous’ by ski instructors - to the point where competitors would be briefed beforehand about carrying too much speed. Despite this, Luke Vautier and Jake Hobbs put in a quality show finishing 59th and 60th respectively. Both Finn and Bryn struggled with the visibility and crashed out in their heats.
Prizegiving was on the second night, where the team managed to have two members win prizes, with Bryn Earle acquiring a snowboard, and Josh Love a fresh pair of sunglasses.
Ultimately the team had a stronger showing than expected, earning a respectable 22nd place. The 4 days we spent there were shared with Napier Boys' High School, and despite the two schools rivalry, both teams bonded and have made good friends within the teams and are looking forward to Round 2 next year. The boys would like to thank Mr Waters, Mrs Mann and Mr. Jochem for their efforts and early starts during the season. Snowsports is extremely hard to organise and the effort the teachers go through to organise and run the 3 teams the school has is exceptional. Well done to all involved, sharing the season as a team was an absolute pleasure.
- Written by Bryn Earle.
