PIera Hudson
Piera Hudson is back doing what she does best - stamping her supremacy on the powdery slopes of the southern hemisphere.
The Hawke's Bay alpine skier has clinched all the national titles this year and collected all three yellow bibs for a welcome pass to the bigger buzz in the winter code.
"It just makes my life much easier for the northern hemisphere and I had to beat the Europeans to get the overall bib," says the 19-year-old from Havelock North who has been based in Wanaka since June.
"I couldn't have asked for a better season with all the three bibs and New Zealand titles," says Hudson after the Australia/New Zealand Cup, which is part of the Continental Cup Series, and the 2015 Winter Games.
The season lured 70 athletes from 15 nations for eight races, including elite Austrian, Norwegian and Polish competitors.
She won the giant slalom, slalom and overall NZ women's senior and junior champion crowns.
That saw her register a personal-best Federation International Skiing (FIS) in slalom to improve her world ranking in that discipline as well as secure the top-seed position in the national alpine team.
"It's awesome for me and the coach [Johnny Rice] how with a jump I got up there with the top-tier nations."
Hudson got on nine FIS race podiums at the Coronet Peak, Treble Cone, Cardrona and at the Perisher Valley in Australia.
On November 1 Hudson will leave for Colorado in the United States where she'll compete before crossing the border to Canada for more challenges.
In January next year she will return to her base in Austria to compete in central Europe.
In February the World Junior Championship, which she qualified for this season, will beckon in Sochi, Russia.
The overall yellow bib is Hudson's licence to enter World Cup races. It also means she will start no lower than No31 in the Europa Cup and Nor Am Cup races that can boast fields of up to 100.
FIS has 3700 women registered and the average age of a competitor is 28.
Consequently the Bay teenager, who is ranked 217 in the world in super G, has time on her side to fulfil her Winter Olympic dream, pencilling in the Pyeongchang 2018 Games in South Korea.
However, securing funding remains a major hurdle for Hudson, who doesn't receive any financial support.
On top of their normal jobs, parents Fiona and John, with aunty Caroline Rittson-Thomas, of Havelock North, have established a business, Coastal Cowhides, to sell products at fairs throughout the country to raise funds solely for Hudson.
"I still have to fund my skiing at pop-up shows and the website [coastal cowhides.co.nz] so people want to support they can check out my parents who make stylish items."
Hudson will be training in Wanaka until the middle of next month and then she will return to the Bay for a fortnight before embarking on her overseas' trips.