2025 Cardrona NZ Freestyle Nationals - That's a Wrap!

The 2025 Cardrona NZ Freestyle Nationals marked the end of a fantastic NZ competition season. With a huge programme boasting four days of age division competition and six international Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) events, there was plenty of awesome snow sports action going down at Cardrona last week.

The age division competition sees the New Zealand National Champions crowned in both Ski and Snowboard in Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Skier / Boarder Cross with results counting towards a combined overall national title. The age division athletes also competed in a Rail Jam, which was all about having fun and getting creative!

With age divisions from under eight years old through to under 16 years old, it’s a great event both for our youngest athletes who are just getting a taste of competition and our older athletes who are competing in their final years of age division competition before potentially moving onto FIS level competitions both in NZ and in the Northern Hemisphere.

The FIS ANC events sees both Freeski and Snowboard athletes competing across Halfpipe, Big Air and Slopestyle, with valuable FIS points up for grabs for the international field hoping to get a few points under their belts before the Northern Hemisphere season kicks off.

For the Kiwi and Australian athletes, these three FIS ANC events marked the final stop of the 2025 FIS ANC series, which has had two stops in Thredbo, Australia and another at The Remarkables, Queenstown earlier this season. The overall winner of the 2025 FIS ANC series for each gender and each discipline will be awarded a personal World Cup spot for the upcoming 2025/26 Northern Hemisphere season.

The 2025 Cardrona Freestyle Nationals kicked off on Saturday 27 of September with the Age Division snowboard slopestyle and skier-cross. The U8 and U10 snowboarders took on the Lil Bucks slopestyle course, with the older divisions (U12, U14 and U16) competing in Stag Lane and Antlers Alley.

Meanwhile the skiers had their time trials on the cross course before being seeded into heats to race four-by-four down the skier-cross course, jostling for position as they made their way down, making for exciting spectating.

A spring storm blew in a little earlier than the event team had hoped, resulting in the older age divisions slopestyle being postponed until Tuesday. Sunday saw a reversal of the schedule, with the skiers competing in slopestyle and the snowboarders taking on the boarder-cross course.

After a fantastic weekend, on Monday the entire programme moved over to the halfpipe, where we had an awesome day with all the age division athletes and the international FIS athletes competing side by side in both the Olympic Pipe and the People’s Pipe.

With plenty of smiles and high-fives, the chilly weather certainly didn’t dampen the athletes’ spirits. The level of skiing and snowboarding across all the competitions was impressive, with the competitors oozing style and technicality.

After a couple of well-deserved days off the hill for the age division athletes, Thursday dawned clear, sunny and warm for the Rail Jam. The Rail Jam format lends itself towards progression and creativity, with athletes taking an unlimited number of runs in McPark in the allocated window of time.

With hiking the side of the park the fastest mode of transport back to the top for another lap, both the athletes and their parents (who were spotted carrying skis and boards, and even children!) were working hard.

Meanwhile the FIS ANC Slopestyle Finals were going down on the Big Bucks slopestyle course, with some heavy hitting athletes dropping in. The level of riding was epic, with plenty of Kiwi athletes landing themselves on the podium.

On Friday 3 October the final event of the 2025 Cardrona NZ Freestyle Nationals, the FIS ANC Big Air, was held on Cardrona’s mammoth Big Air jump. Spectators were treated to an absolute treat, with numerous Kiwi athletes landing their new tricks in competition for the first time.

It was a hugely successful way to wrap up the 2025 ANC Slopestyle and Big Air series, with Kiwi athletes taking out three of the four titles and in the process earning themselves a personal World Cup start for the upcoming 2025/26 World Cup season. Cool Wakushima and Tiarn Collins took out both the female and male snowboard series and Fergus McArthur has walked away with the men's freeski title.

Friday wrapped up with the Overall Age Division National Titles presented to the winners and an After Party at Apres to celebrate a fantastic week for our age division competitors and their families!

Snow Sports NZ would like to thank the incredible team at Cardrona Alpine Resort for putting on such an awesome event and also a huge thank you to Otago Community Trust and Pub Charity who continue to support the NZ Freestyle Nationals year after year.