Sixty of the world’s top skiers and snowboarders, including a mixture of World Champions, Olympians, legends and a smattering of “under dogs”, will converge on Wanaka, New Zealand this week to participate in one of the most prestigious freeride events on the planet, the World Heli-Challenge.
Plenty of New Features This year the event has risen to a new level adding a media ‘Shootout’, a new judging system, a fundraiser for SOS at Snow Park, and a red carpet ‘Gala Awards’ night.
The ‘Shootout’ brings 15 of the world’s leading photographers and cinematographers to Wanaka to shoot for a variety of award categories, incorporating action, drama, lifestyle, landscape and story telling.
“The World Heli Challenge has always been about developing cutting edge concepts and setting benchmarks within the snowsports industry,” said Harrington, the event’s founder. “This will be even more relevant with the new judging system.”
An esteemed international panel will judge each athlete’s run. Athlete’s and their friends, fans, families and supporters can also vote for their preferred winners and see all the action in detail online.
“Up until now, judges have been required to make what can sometimes be hasty and inconsistent scoring decisions whilst on the mountain during the staging of the event,” said Harrington. “We believe the online judging format is the best and fairest way to award athletes their points and embraces the technologies available to make our sport better.”
The event will culminate on Thursday, 11 August at a red carpet ‘Gala Awards’ at the Lake Wanaka Centre, where the winners will be announced.
“The Gala Awards night promises to be an exciting evening for the athletes, photographers, cinematographers, VIP’s, media, and general public,” said Harrington. “In addition to announcement of the World Heli Challenge champions, winners of the photography and filming “Shootout” awards will also be announced. “
The audio-visual show is set to be jaw- dropping as the photographers present their award category images, followed by a five-minute mini documentary by each of the seven cinematographers, capturing the two weeks through their own creative minds.
The Gala Awards evening is open to the public with a limited number of tickets at $35, which includes a cocktail and nibbles.
