Revamped Snow Sports NZ National Park and Pipe Series gets underway next month

A revamped Snow Sports NZ Park and Pipe Series is kicking off this winter.

Compete in events across NZ including the return of the slopestyle video competition

▪ Accumulate points towards the title of NZ National Champion for U14 and U16’s

▪ National titles awarded to U12, U10 and U8 based on results from The Cardrona Nationals

▪ No need for a freestyle series license; all eligible SSNZ members can compete

▪ First competition kicks off at Snow Planet next month!

The series offers a fresh take on previous competitions and will result in a new national competitive pathway for freeski and snowboard athletes. Co-designed with event organisers, athletes and coaches, the series brings together under one umbrella sanctioned Park and Pipe events from across the country. The series will provide a way for budding athletes to progress from grassroots participation through to higherlevel competition, with the opportunity to earn a national ranking and an overall national age division title.Sanctioned events will take place at multiple mountains and regions across New Zealand and feature Slopestyle, Big Air, Halfpipe, Rail and Cyber.

Here’s how the series will work

Competitors will earn points at every sanctioned event they enter, based on their finishing position and the tier of the event. Points will accumulate across the season with the athlete’s top 3 results used to create the national leaderboard for u14 and u16. The three event tiers are: Grassroots, Regional, National. The event tier will determine the points available – a national level event will award 1000 points for a win, regional level events award 800 points for a win, and grassroots events award 700 points for a win. The series is open to freeski and snowboard athletes from all regions in New Zealand. There is no need to qualify. Some events will also feature additional age groups including U8, U10, U12 and Open, though they will not contribute to the national leaderboard. National titles for these age groups will continue to be awarded at the Cardrona Nationals which is part of the overall series.

2026 series events (dates subject to change)

The list of events that fall under the series this year are as follows. View our Park and Pipe calendar online for exact dates (some are still being finalised):

• Snow Planet 365 Slopestyle -16th May

• Mt Hutt Big Air - 18th – 19th July

• Mt Hutt Rail - 18th – 19th July

• Cardrona Slopestyle - TBC

• The Remarkables Slopestyle - 8th –9th Aug

• Cardrona Halfpipe - TBC

• Cyber Slopestyle - TBC

• The Cardrona Nationals - 28th Sep – 2nd October

More information can be found on our web site and a calendar of events can be found here.