Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Winners Announced

Lake Wanaka, NZ – (5 October 2013) – The Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Night presented by SnowHQ.com were held last night (Friday 4 October 2013) at the Lake Wanaka Centre. Adaptive Snowboarder Carl Murphy (Wanaka) was awarded the title of Overall Athlete of the Year.

Snow Sports NZ is pleased to announce the following winners.

  • Instructor of the Year – Nicole Ellis
  • Men’s Masters Winner - Walter Underberger
  • Women’s Masters Winner - Sue Unger
  • Coach of the Year Award – Bruce Wells
  • Breakthrough Season Award – Corey Peters
  • Cross Country Athlete of the Year – Nils Koons
  • Alpine Ski Racer Athlete of the Year - Adam Barwood
  • Snow Sports NZ Adaptive Athlete of the Year – Carl Murphy
  • Snowboarding Athlete of the Year Award - Christy Prior
  • Freeskier Athlete of the Year award - Jossi Wells
  • Overall Athlete of the Year - Carl Murphy

 

In a new format, this year’s Awards encompass an 18 month timeframe including the 2012 Southern Hemisphere Season, the 2012/2013 Northern Hemisphere season and the 2013 Southern Hemisphere season. 

About Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year – Carl Murphy

Adaptive snowboard cross athlete Carl Murphy continues to dominate on the international stage. He is currently ranked number one in the world by the International Paralympic Committee for men’s Snowboard Cross.

Carl is a below the knee amputee and was born with only one and a half legs. However, this hasn't stopped him from getting up on a snowboard and competing at an international level.

With the help of a custom designed carbon fibre prosthetic leg Carl rides his board in the same setup as a ‘two-legger’.

He is the first adaptive snowboarder to be named to the NZ Snowboard National Team and has been a member of the team since 2009.

Recent career highlights include two gold medals in men’s Snowboard Cross at the two-day International Paralympic Committee Alpine Ski (IPCAS) race in the Netherlands in November 2012; first place in men’s Snowboard Cross at the IPC Para-Snowboard World Cup in Canada in March 2013 and a bronze medal at the Paralympic Winter Games Test event in Sochi, Russia in March.

It’s an exciting time for Carl as Snowboarder Cross will be included in the Winter Paralympic Games programme for the first time in 2014.

-Ends-

Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Winners Announced

10 years ago
  Annual Awards, Carl Murphy