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 Robinson was leading both the NZ and the overall women’s field. 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 2025 NZ Overall Alpine National Champion titles (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.
This wraps up the 2025 NZ Alpine National Championships, however there is plenty of ski racing action to come throughout the remainder of this week and early next week with the FIS ANC series continuing at New Zealand’s home of ski racing Coronet Peak.
