FEATURE

Double World Champion Corey Peters Named Snow Sports NZ Athlete of the Year

By Snow Sports NZ

The Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards Night were held last night (Saturday 10 October 2015) at the Lake Wanaka Centre. Double World Champion adaptive ski racer Corey Peters (New Plymouth) was awarded the title of Overall Athlete of the Year.
 
Snow Sports NZ is pleased to announce the following winners.
 

• Instructor of the Year – Campbell Mason (Cardrona Alpine Resort)
• Men’s Masters Ski Racing Champion – Perry Coulter (Queenstown)
• Women’s Masters Ski Racing Champion – Alison Duder (Queenstown)
• Coach of the Year – Tom Willmott (Wanaka)
• Breakthrough Season – Jamie Prebble (Christchurch)
• Cross Country Athlete of the Year –  Andy Pohl (Wanaka)
• Alpine Ski Racer Athlete of the Year – Willis Feasey (Twizel)
• Adaptive Snow Sports Athlete of the Year – Corey Peters (New Plymouth)
• Freeride Athlete of the Year – Sam Smoothy (Cromwell)
• Snowboarder of the Year - Christy Prior (Kaukapakapa)
• Freeskier of the Year – Janina Kuzma (Wanaka)
• Overall Athlete of the Year – Corey Peters (New Plymouth)

This year’s Awards encompassed a 12 month timeframe including the 2014/15 Northern Hemisphere season and the 2015 Southern Hemisphere season. 

It’s been a big year for Snow Sports NZ with lots of successes for NZ’s snow sports athletes of all levels from development through to the elite athletes on the international stage.  New Zealand athletes performed well at pinnacle events including World Cups, World Championships, The Freeride World Tour and X Games.

Attendees of this year’s Snow Sports NZ Annual Awards were entertained by a guest panel who gave the audience an insight into their ‘Life in Snow Sports’. The panel was interviewed by Snow Sports NZ Head Park and Pipe Coach Tom Willmott and included professional snowboarder Will Jackways (Wanaka), Winter Olympic team physio Ginny Rutledge (Wanaka), Paralympic gold medallist Adam Hall (Dunedin_, Olympian and Chef de Mission to the 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games Jesse Teat (Wanaka), and freeski pioneer and founder of clothing company Mons Royale, Hamish Acland (Wanaka).


Corey Peters. Photo © Ben Read Photography

NZ Paralympic ski racer Corey Peter’s sporting career continues to go from strength to strength. In March 2015 he won world titles in Downhill and Super-G as well as a silver medal in Giant Slalom at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada.

The World Champs were the culmination of a highly successful Northern Hemisphere season for Corey which saw him win a world cup silver medal and finish third overall on IPC World Cup rankings in February 2015. Other results included bronze in Slalom, Silver in Giant Slalom at IPC races in Aspen, USA (December 2014);  bronze in Slalom, silver in Giant Slalom at IPC North America Cup races (December 2014); bronze and gold in Downhill and gold in Super-G at the US National Champs (February 2014).

During the 2015 NZ season Corey won the Giant Slalom at the IPC Snow Sports NZ National Champs (August) and placed second in the Slalom at the IPCAS Southern Hemisphere Cup held as part of the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ (August).

Corey’s results are made all the more impressive given the fact that he only took up sit-skiing in 2011. The former Taranaki age group and development squad rugby representative’s life was turned upside down in September 2009 when he sustained a crushed spinal cord at a motocross event, leaving him paralysed.

In 2014 Corey won a silver medal in Giant Slalom at the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi. He was also named Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year for 2014.