Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Winners Announced

Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – (27 September 2019) – The Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Night were held at the Lake Wanaka Centre this evening. Snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (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 – Will Marcinowski (Ohau)
• Men’s Masters Ski Racing Champion – Jon Wardrop (Auckland)
• Women’s Masters Ski Racing Champion – Bonny Teat (Wanaka)
• Coach of the Year – Tommy Pyatt (Wanaka), Freeski
• Breakthrough Season – Jessica Hotter (Ohakune)
• Cross Country Athlete of the Year – Campbell Wright (Wanaka)
• Alpine Ski Racer Athlete of the Year – Alice Robinson (Queenstown)
• Adaptive Snow Sports Athlete of the Year – Adam Hall (Wanaka)
• Freeride Athlete of the Year – Craig Murray (Wanaka)
• Snowboarder of the Year – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (Wanaka)
• Freeskier of the Year – Nico Porteous (Wanaka)
• Overall Athlete of the Year – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott

This year’s Awards encompassed a 12-month timeframe including the 2018/19 Northern Hemisphere season and the 2019 Southern Hemisphere season. 

It has been another successful year for Snow Sports NZ with world-class results across a wide range of disciplines. Highlights have included Zoi Sadowski-Synnott winning the World Championship title in Snowboard Slopestyle as well as an X Games gold medal. Alice Robinson claiming New Zealand’s first Alpine ski racing World Cup medal in 17 years and becoming the first New Zealander to earn a Junior World title in Alpine ski racing. Freeskier Nico Porteous achieving the best ever ranking for a New Zealand male on the Freeski Halfpipe World Cup Tour, finishing the 2018-2019 season in second place overall. Freeride skier Craig Murray earning a spectacular win on the Freeride World Tour in Canada. While Para alpine skier Adam Hall was recognised as one of the country’s most accomplished athletes, named Para athlete of the Year at the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards.

Attendees of this year’s Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards were entertained by guest speaker Dougal Allan. Dougal is a professional endurance athlete whose career highlights to date include his two professional victories in Challenge Wanaka, a number of team victories in various international adventure races around the world and his recent victory in NZ's premier multisport event: the Kathmandu Coast to Coast Multisport World Championships. 

About Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year –  Zoi Sadowski-Synnott

Following on from her medal-winning success at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Zoi has become one of New Zealand’s most accomplished snow sports athletes. Her 2018-19 northern hemisphere season was nothing short of outstanding. Zoi claimed the triple crown of snowboarding, winning slopestyle gold at the Burton U.S Open Snowboarding Championships, X Games Aspen and the FIS World Championships. Her medal tally also includes X Games silver in Snowboard Big Air. Zoi is now recognised as one of the world’s best snowboarders. Earlier this year she was nominated for the Best Female Action Sports Athlete award at the ESPYs- the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards presented by American broadcaster ABC.