Tignes, France (17 March 2024) – Snow Sports NZ athletes Ruby Star Andrews (Queenstown, 19) and Luca Harrington (Wānaka, 20) have both secured top 10 finishes at the Freeski World Cup held in Tignes, France over the weekend.
It has been a huge weekend of Freeski and Snowboard Park and Pipe World Cup action in the French resort town, with Kiwi athletes competing in Freeski Big Air and Slopestyle and Snowboard Slopestyle.
Andrews took on some of the best in the world last night in the women’s Freeski Slopestyle World Cup finals. She put down an impressive first run, which included three different direction corked 900 spins on the three jumps as well as executing solid tricks on the technical rails.
Earlier on Saturday (NZT) Harrington finished in ninth place in the men’s Freeski Big Air World Cup finals. Harrington put down a heater of a first run, stomping a switch right double corked 1800 with a Japan grab. He was unable to pair this trick with another of equal calibre, and settled for ninth place in the hotly contested competition.
Harrington had also qualified through to the finals in the men’s Freeski Slopestyle in fourth place, but after his crash in the Big Air event, he decided to rest up before the upcoming Slopestyle World Cup in Switzerland.
On the Snowboard side, Lyon Farrell (Arrowtown, 25) and Tiarn Collins (Queenstown, 24) both qualified through to the heavy hitting men’s Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup which were held in the early hours of Saturday morning (NZT).
Unfortunately the weather on the finals day was less than ideal, with flat light and snow flurries resulting in low visibility, which made it very challenging for the riders. Collins finished in thirteenth position, with Farrell finishing in sixteenth.
The Kiwi Park and Pipe Team will now head back to Switzerland ahead of the final Freeski and Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup set to be held next weekend.
