Promising young Kiwi snowboarders Keani Wilson (17) and Brooke Hansen (17), and downhill mountain bikers Quinn Ravenwood (13) and Indy Deavoll (16), all based in Queenstown, are the first teenagers to be selected for the RISER programme, a unique sponsorship partnership with tourism pioneers AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand
The new programme aims to help young athletes competing at the highest level by opening the door to access important resources, such as performance development, social media training and financial support – skills needed to springboard the athletes’ existing talents towards a full-time elite career and prepare them for international sponsorship opportunities.
AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand co-founder and managing director Henry van Asch says RISER hopes to provide aspiring Kiwi athletes with a supportive pathway to really hone their talents further.
The elite athletes first attracted the attention of the tourism pioneer last year, when they became the first individuals selected for the unique development programme. Since the start of 2025, the four RISER athletes have received excellent results in their respective disciplines in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand CEO David Mitchell says it’s awesome to see the athletes doing so well.
“It’s the first season we have sponsored Brooke, Keani, Indy and Quinn, since we launched the RISER programme in November 2024,” he says. “High-performing athletes need a strong support network around them, and we’re stoked to provide this sort of assistance. They naturally embrace a ‘live more, fear less’ mentality when undertaking these action sports and our aspiration with RISER is to provide the athletes with valuable resources, such as performance development, social media training, mental resilience and financial support.
“We are thrilled for each athlete with their recent successes. We’re stoked to see them take the podium spots and are excited to cheer them on from the sidelines as they take on the last few competitions for this season,” Mitchell adds.
Recently, Brooke became second in the world for junior freeride after carving out her podium space – and coming second – at the 2025 YETI Freeride Junior World Championships held in Kappl, Austria. The competition took place at the Quellspitze Face – a challenging slope renowned for its steep 60° gradients, a 350-metre vertical drop and variable terrain.
“It (Quellspitze) is one of the coolest faces I have ever ridden, as it is steeper and more exposed than most of the terrain I ride in New Zealand and North America,” Brooke says. “It is bigger, with lots of different types of features and line options to ride.”
More than 64 elite junior freeriders from 16 countries took part in the event, including fellow Kiwi athlete Keani Wilson, who placed seventh in the male snowboard category.
“It was my goal to improve from last year and come in the top 10,” Keani says. “Although I crashed and came seventh, I’m still grateful for the opportunity to compete and I loved the overall experience. It was amazing to ride such an epic world-class face.”
Seventeen-year-old Keani is lined up to compete in the Slopestyle and Big Air events at Mammoth Mountain, California as part of the REV (Revolution) Tour, from March 16-20.
Brooke will also round out her northern hemisphere season in America, competing in her final IFSA Junior 3* Qualifier event later this month before heading to Kirkwood, California for her last 2024/25 Northern Hemisphere winter event, where she hopes to defend her 2023/24 title.
Queenstown mountain bikers Indy and Quinn have received excellent local and national results this summer.
Sixteen-year-old Indy has claimed multiple podium spots, coming second in the under-19 Redemption Downhill at the Crankworx Summer Series Christchurch. The promising mountain biker travelled to Rotorua recently for the MTB National DH Championships and came third in the under-19 category, before visiting Canberra to compete in the UCI Continental Series Downhill, placing first. And at Crankworx Rotorua earlier this month, Indy came away with four medal in the U19 category: Gold in the dual slalom, silver in downhill and pump track and bronze in the air downhill.
Thirteen-year-old Quinn cycled into first place recently at the Otago Southland Secondary School Downhill Champs. The achievement comes weeks after he claimed second place in the under-16 male division at the inaugural Coronet Cup competition at Coronet Peak. Quinn is set to compete in the Oceania MTB Champs at Coronet Peak this weekend and the 2025 South Island School MTB Championships held in Methven later this month.
