Snow Park NZ Opens New 22ft Halfpipe Today

Snow Park NZ officially announced their highly anticipated new 22ft Olympic sized halfpipe is now open today.

Today also marks the first 22ft halfpipe to open in the Southern Hemisphere this year. Snow Park NZ team riders were given the first ride of the pipe and all agreed it was well worth the wait.

The team drew straws for the first hit to the pipe with Wanaka snowboarder Abby Lockhart drawing the shortest straw and the first ride.

“I wanted to keep it fun so I invited the team to drop in together in a train,” said Lockhart. “It’s awesome to have the pipe open and great to have more options at Snow Park this early in the season.”

Abby Lockhart. Credit Tommy Pyatt

A dedicated park crew have been working day and night to ensure the pipe is perfect. Ideal snowmaking conditions provided the icing on the cake.

Team Rider Joram Makuru. Credit Pablo Azocar

This year sees a technically advanced superpipe created in association with Development Snow Parks, the local Wanaka company contracted to create this years 2010 Vancouver Olympic Halfpipe.

An increase in size from last year’s 18ft pipe, Sam Lee, Snow Park NZ’s Operations Manager said larger pipes are now the standard.

Abby Lockhart. Credit Tommy Pyatt

“They are so much safer and everyone is able to get a better experience.” said Lee.

Snow Park NZ halfpipe enthusiasts and newcomers alike are also free to enjoy the newly opened Hatchet Slopestyle run.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Homepage Features, Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.