Day 8 of the 100% Pure NZ Winter Games 2011 had the freeskiers flying high for the Air New Zealand Big Air. Under a canvas of blue skies 20 guys competed in the 2 qualifying heats for the top 8 spots so you can imagine there was some disappointment! The women’s field of 7 was heavily stacked so that went straigh to a four run final.

Noteable riding in the first heat of the men’s comp was from Gus Kenworthy who threw a double 14 to take the lead and to win his third event of the week. In heat 2 Joss Christensen came out as one to watch with a a switch double cork tail to shift that chalked up an incredible 95 points!

To take a look at the field for men’s finals would be to look at the Queen’s honours list! There were so many big names in there that you’d choke on your coffee whilst reading the list. Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy, David Wise, Nicholas Goepper, Chris Laker, Jossi Wells, PC Fosse and Kai Mahler. Even at 15 years old, Kai Mahler still represents a big name in the ski world amongst people like David Wise and Jossi Wells.

To take the gold was Joss Christensen with the first ever double misty 12 in competition! But if it wasn’t for Christensen landing his tricks consistently then the podium would have a much younger winner. Unfortunately Kai Mahler had to settle for second place after he failed to land his tricks in the final round. He did manage to land the best trick of the day with a switch double misty 14. Keep an eye on this kid. He’ll be a huge star in the future. Ending the trio on the podium was local boy Jossi Wells to add to his silver medals from the slopestyle and the halfpipe.

In the women’s event, overall World Champ, Devin Logan, scored the hat-trick by winning all three freeski events. She took the women’s field by 20 points and never looked back. In the big air comp she was followed by Jen Hudak in second place and Rose Battersby in third. This Rose’s first podium at an international evemt and she’s got a huge future ahead of her.

“I’m so stoked to end in third place, and to have landed my 7’s and 3’s” said Battersby. “I wasn’t aiming to win it’s just great to be here. It’s awesome to have a competition of this level here in New Zealand and to get to compete against all the top level girls.”

Full results available here wintergamesnz.com/results