The Community Colleges NZ & Forsyth Barr
2005 Disabled Snowsports Festival
and National Championships
20th - 26th August 2005, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Wanaka
This year's Festival & National Championships was a huge success with over seventy people taking part in the week's events. Skiers and boarders converged on Cardrona with family, friends and helpers from Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Otago, Wellington and Australia along with athletes from the UK, USA and Korea.
The week was made possible though generous financial support from Community Colleges NZ, Forsyth Barr and the Bendigo Valley Trust as well as support from local adaptive instructors and volunteers and Cardrona Alpine Resort. Spot prizes for participants were provided by: Adventure Outfitters, Base, Cheapskates, Dirty Dog, Leedon Helmets, Mainland, Mainly Tramping, Mitre 10, New World, Oakridge, Ritual Cafe, RnR Sports, Ruby's, Puzzling World, Tangos Cafe, Video Ezy and Orbis.
The on-snow Festival events centred around improving the riding techniques of those present. Adaptive coaches worked with aspiring racers and adaptive instructors provided one-on-one lessons and ran group clinics for skiers, snowboarders and sit-skiers. The clinics encouraging participants to explore off piste were a great hit. The week culminated in the Friday Fancy Dress Day and Equaliser Race, a fun 'obstacle' race open to everyone involved in the week and was the cause of great hilarity for both the participant and those watching from the lifts. Highlights included the annual outing of the 'Mad Cow' Pyjamas, a volunteer sporting only his Superman undies while Cardrona's Pengi was to bee seen both helping and hindering competitors!
The National Championships for elite skiers provided good training for those seeking selection for the Torino Paralympic Games in March 2006. The three classes of disabled ski racer are Blind, Sitting and Standing and they raced a Slalom, a G-S and an S-G. The elite races gave New Zealand's best disabled skiers the chance to compete against each other along with Paralympic hopefuls from USA, UK and Korea.
The social races are always popular and although they still offer fierce competition, they give participants a chance to try racing, some of them starting in gates for the first time. The Social races included Slalom, Giant Slalom and Snowboarding.
Most evenings saw participants taking part in the local Après Ski, pitting their wits against the locals at the pub quiz and seeking their 15 minutes of fame at the Karaoke. The week finished on a high at the Awards Ceremony Dinner & Dance held at The Stables in Wanaka.
Annual Awards
| Award | Criteria | Recipient | Branch |
| Branch Attendance Trophy | Awarded to the Branch with the largest percentage of its total membership attending Nationals as either active participants or as supporters. | Wellington Branch | Wellington |
| Army Trophy for the Most Enthusiastic B Grader | Awarded to the person who has shown enthusiasm, personality and commitment, and improvement, in their skiing or snowboarding. | Cameron Balle | Auckland |
| Boyd Orr Trophy for Service Above and Below the Call of Duty | Awarded to the person whose most embarrassing moment of the week became less than private, to the enjoyment of other ski week participants. | Hamish Chand | Canterbury |
| The Hall Trophy for Branch Service | Awarded to a volunteer who has shown longstanding commitment to the successful administration of their branch or one area of our program. | David Joll (posthumously) |
Manawatu |
| Grant Campbell Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Achievement | Awarded to a highly ranked competitor who has not become either male or female champion, and who has shown considerable improvement in their national ranking during the past season. | Derek Stewart | Otago |
| The Viv Martin Trophy for the Most Outstanding Female Skier | Awarded to the Women’s National Champion at the current year's National Championships. | Storm Blacklock | Canterbury |
| The Elliott Cup |
Awarded to the Men’s National Champion at the current year’s National Championships. | Ant Field | Otago |
| The Ace Bdr Award | Awarded to the National Men’s Snowboard Champion at the current year’s National Championships. | Daniel Sharp | Auckland |
| The Hall Trophy for National Service | Awarded to the person who has shown longstanding commitment to the successful operation of DSNZ at a National or International level. | Roy Frampton | Whakapapa |
| Disabled Snowsports New Zealand Skier of the Year | Awarded to the athlete demonstrating the top overall performance, both nationally and internationally, during the preceding Southern and Northern winter seasons. | Adam Hall | Otago |