Skiing: Daredevils set to defy laws of gravity

New Zealand skier Travis Donaldson gets some practice in on Whakapapa before the Export 33Xtreme Ski and snowboard challenge. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The Whakapapa ski field will become a happy valley for the sport's boundary pushers next week as Mt Ruapehu strives to become a major player in the world of extreme skiing.

The Pinnacles back country will host the $80,000 Export 33 Xtreme Ski and Mother Snowboard challenge featuring the best New Zealanders and a few high class overseas entrants.

Daredevil skiers have been breaking boundaries for years, but structured competitions are fairly new. The Mt Ruapehu event is just six years old.

Competitors pick their own lines in tough, steep terrain, and are judged by a panel on their skill, finesse and tricks including spins.

One skier will be particularly happy at the end of next week - the open men's division carries a first prize of $14,000, around the highest on offer in the extreme skiing world and said to be the biggest single ski prize in the Southern Hemisphere.

The winner received $5000 last year and the prizemoney jump is part of a push to turn the Mt Ruapehu competition into a world class contest.

It already ranks as a qualifier for the elite Freeride World Tour, which involves four events. A publicity drive and word about the prizemoney should draw more Northern Hemisphere skiers next year when Mt Ruapehu will take up its right - which it opted not to exercise this year - to rank as a four star qualifier, the highest rating. The major aim is to get Mt Ruapehu included on the world tour within two or three years.

The snowboard competition should be completed on Wednesday when ski qualification will also be held at one of two locations, depending on conditions. The main ski event will then be staged on a 300m vertical run known as The Door, which combines tricky technical areas and spectacular cliffs. While many extreme skiing events are not spectator friendly, there are excellent views of the Pinnacles course including from the cafe which has been rebuilt after a devastating arson attack on the mountain last year.

Saturday is scheduled as the final day, with about 6000 people expected to be on the mountain at the time, with perhaps 2000 watching the action.

The full field will only be known when registration is completed on Tuesday. It should include top Kiwis Geoff Small (Wanaka), who won the title in the first four years, the 2009 champion Sam Smoothy (Wanaka), Mt Ruapehu identity Lyall Crump, his half-brother Alex Lynden of Auckland, Austrian and 2009 winner Lorraine Huber, and twins Janina and Maria Kuzma who are the only Kiwis on the world tour.

Janina, from Wanaka, is rated almost unbeatable in the skiing. She missed last year's competition at Mt Ruapehu. Maria, who has moved to Auckland for architecture studies, competes in the snowboard. The twins are both ranked at five in the world.

The Herald caught up with three skiers chasing the big prize in the men's division.

Lyall Crump
Crump, who works at Mt Ruapehu, was absent last year because he was busy improving his ski instructor qualifications. His wife Sarah persuaded Crump to compete this year as he dallied over whether the family could afford the loss of about a week's wages.

"He's about to turn 40 and I thought it might be something to do with that but he feels strongly about his commitment to his family," said Sarah, who is also a skier.

"I told him to get out there with all those people with a like-minded spirit."

This is a world of "ski bums" according to Sarah, her way of explaining the precarious financial life of ski fanatics, including those whose summers are spent desperately trying to pay for their winter ways.

"I'll do whatever comes along - I haven't got a job lined up for this summer. It can be quite stressful," he says.

Originally a big wave surfer, he began extreme skiing 25 years ago having been introduced to its delights by someone he describes as a "Raglan skydiver named Soul".

"It's not all about jumping the cliffs - you have to show how well you can go in a tight chute, draw a nice line, turn the skis," says Crump. "Competitions are more aggressive ... it's more soulful when you go out on your own."

Crump, a son of the late Kiwi icon Barry Crump, is past thrilling at the dangers. "Everyone's motivation is different and I've conquered the fear. I'm more interested in the technical side."

A nemesis looms large next week. In half a dozen or so meetings, he has never beaten Wanaka ace Geoff Small, a four time winner of the Mt Ruapehu event. Crump would love to do that, and the first prize would be very handy.

Bernie Rosow
The 29-year-old American came to New Zealand for the World Heli Challenge but when he found conditions unfavourable, switched focus to Mt Ruapehu.

"A lot more world class skiers would turn up for this had they known about it," said the Vermont native who skis by day and operates course grooming machines through the night.

"It hasn't really been advertised ... the information is out there but you have to dig a lot. The US$10,000 prize would get a lot of people coming here."

The most he has ever won is about $2000. Rosow scrapes by, partly by filming for production companies who put out ski videos.

"You can earn enough to get to the next place but not quite enough to pay for the drinks when you get there," he says of his lifestyle, which is backed by sponsors including a ski apparel company which sends him advance issues of their latest gear.

His Holy Grail is to ski in Alaska, an extremely expensive exercise including a few thousand dollars an hour for a helicopter from which to shoot video.

"Alaska has the biggest mountains and the best snow. It is the final frontier for big mountain skiers," says Rosow, who doesn't enter many competitions.

So Mt Ruapehu might not be his intended pinnacle but he speaks with awe about the Pinnacles.

Rosow says: "The competitions have been around for 10 years and they've become a bit refined so you know what it takes to win.

"The conditions here are icy which means the consequences can be much higher. This can scare the crap out of a lot of people.

"Extreme skiing has always been like that. You feel compelled to go further and further to get scared."

The Mt Ruapehu organisers won't get much help from Rosow as they embark on raising their event's profile.

"I'll tell a few mates but more people will make it harder to win. I want the money," he says, rubbing a finger and thumb together.

Travis DonaldsonThe 20-year-old finished sixth last year and is part of a new ski wave which has revived the sport.

Advances in the shape and construction of skis has helped attract new fans and also slowed the trend towards snowboarding.

Donaldson found skiing through his family. Brought up in Dairy Flat north of Auckland, he is a young bloke with a wandering spirit who is at home on any ski field but struggles to nominate his home address.

He works in a ski patrol at Mt Ruapehu to make ends meet, while dreaming of a life of continuous skiing.

Push him, and he will mention - with a pained expression - working in a Hamilton supermarket.

His immediate ambition is to follow winter around the world. He's been to Canada, and is lining up Japan.

"Summer is not really me," he says.

"And if you take a few weeks off from skiing you can go a bit crazy."

Donaldson says extreme skiing is advancing as competitors push the limits.

"I still love normal skiing but this is a lot bigger buzz and adrenalin rush," he says.

"To win this would be one of my ultimate goals but I don't think I'm at a point where I can think about that yet."