Alice Robinson NZ GS Champion for Third Year Running, Toby Jackson Men’s NZ GS Champion. Alec Jackson Retains NZ SL Title
New Zealand ski racing superstar Alice Robinson (Queenstown, 23) has been crowned the 2025 New Zealand Giant Slalom National Champion on home snow at Coronet Peak for the third year in a row. Toby Jackson (Tutukaka, 18) took home the men’s NZ Giant Slalom National Championship title.
Robinson said; “I love racing Nationals, it’s a special title to have. This is my first race in a wee while (since World Cup Finals in Sun Valley) so it was great to dust off the cobwebs. I was pretty conservative on the first run but then I tried to bring up the intensity a little bit for the second run. The conditions were tough but it was really fun to be back at home racing and get back in the start gate.”
Today’s NZ Giant Slalom Championships was held on the formidable Hurdle, widely regarded as one of the steepest Giant Slalom courses in the Southern Hemisphere, making for exciting racing. The race doubled as both the NZ Giant Slalom National Championships and a FIS Giant Slalom race, with both overall FIS and NZ podiums awarded.
Robinson, in bib 7, made quick work of run one on a course that was set by her coach Tim Cafe. After run one she was leading both the NZ and the overall women’s field by over a second. Alaska Speedy (Queenstown, 16) skied a great first run and was sitting in second position in the NZ race and third in the overall race, a very respectable +2.15 seconds behind Robinson.
In true form, Robinson put the pedal all the way down for run two to take the NZ Giant Slalom Championship title by over five seconds, and the overall FIS race podium by over four seconds, a huge margin in alpine ski racing. Speedy finished in second place on the NZ podium and in an impressive third place on the overall FIS podium. Ruby Fullerton (Nelson, 19) rounded out the NZ podium in third.
The men’s NZ race was tightly contended and the top four Kiwi men were all within one second of each other after the first run, meaning it was all on the line for run two. Jackson took the win by over half a second after delivering a quick second run, followed by Jessie Mutton (Rotorua, 19) in second and Calder Bain (Wānaka, 22) just +0.05 seconds behind Mutton in third.
The NZ Overall Alpine National Champion (Slalom and Giant Slalom results combined) were also awarded today with the women’s trophy going to Isabel Watterson (Wānaka, 16) and the men’s overall trophy awarded to Jesse Mutton.
Alec Jackson (Tutukaka, 20) has retained his NZ National Slalom title and Isabel Watterson (Wānaka, 16) has claimed her career first FIS level national title at the New Zealand Slalom Alpine National Championships held at Coronet Peak.
The National Championships marked the first FIS race of the season at Coronet Peak, New Zealand’s home of alpine ski racing. The Slalom was held on Pro Am, a slope with multiple fall lines that makes for exciting racing. Heavy snow was falling throughout the first run, adding to the challenge for the athletes.
After the first run, Charlotte Wiggins (Auckland, 18) was the fastest Kiwi woman, but with Ruby Fullerton (Nelson, 19) just +0.13 seconds behind her and Isabel Watterson (Wānaka, 16) sitting in third it was going to be a tightly fought second run for the championship trophy.
In the men’s field Jesse Mutton (Rotorua, 19) had the lead run one, with 2024 NZ Slalom National Champion Alec Jackson just +0.33 second behind him.
The storm clouds parted and sunny skies greeted the athletes for run two. Watterson put down a blistering second run to take the lead and claim the first national title of her career as the 2025 NZ Slalom National Champion for the women. Wiggins finished in second place +0.92 behind Watterson with Zoe Parr (New Plymouth, 18) rounding out the podium in third.
Watterson was really happy with her result today, saying how it makes for a great start to her 2025/26 FIS season. Going into her second run, she explained “I just went for it and tried to ski my best, the level of the Kiwi women is really high at the moment so it’s great to take the win.”
In the men’s race Jackson took the win by over a second, with a lightning fast second run that put him well into the lead for the Kiwi men taking the win by over one second. Mutton finished up in second place with Calder Bain (Wānaka, 22) rounding out the NZ men’s podium in third.
Jackson said; “I really wanted to win the title again, in the first run I was holding back a little as I thought if I finished then I could probably win again but the other guys pushed me hard and I had to put one down on my second run. I am pretty stoked to have hung onto it! [the national title].”
With today’s race doubling as both an international FIS race and the New Zealand National Championships race, the start lists were stacked with almost 90 athletes from 22 nations representing. This meant the New Zealand athletes racing also had a valuable opportunity to score good points ahead of the upcoming Northern Hemisphere season.
The FIS race overall podiums today were an international affair. In the women’s race Romy Ertl of Germany took the win, with Victoria Palla of Great Britain in second and Sophia Waldauf of Austria in third. In the men’s race Eirik Hystad of Norway took the win, USA’s Jevin Palmquist in second and Yohei Koyama of Japan rounded out the podium in third.
