Cardrona Alpine Resort is this week being transformed into a snow sports arena as final preparations take place before the inaugural Coca-Cola Cardrona Games kick off on Thursday.

FMX and snowmobile jumps are being constructed, the scaffolding for the TV towers is going up, sound systems are being installed and athletes are hurrying in to register for the competition, which carries a $45,000 cash prize pool, Cardrona sales and marketing manager Bruce McGechan said.

“Most people think of pipes, berms and rails when they think of freestyle snow sports competitions, but there is so much more to the Coca Cola Cardrona Games. It’s a party or celebration of snow sports that marks this competition from other competitions in New Zealand. The music, FMX, and snowmobile big air all near our iconic archway is what helps make this so exciting for the audience,” McGechan said.

The most-watched head-to-head competition will be X-Games gold medallist Tanner Hall versus New Zealand’s own Jossi Wells in the double halfpipe competition. At the age of 16, Wells is New Zealand’s number one freestyle skier, and this could be the event where he beats the X-Games superstar.

The double halfpipe event on Friday, September 8 is tipped to outshine all other halfpipe competitions in the country, with competitors expecting to boost more than 7m out of the superpipe and perform tricks such as complete 1080s (3 full rotations).

The slopestyle event on Saturday September 9 will have some surprises to really test the competitors, including a 16m-long, 3m-high “rainbow” rail near the top of the course. More aspects of the course will be revealed on the day.

Competitor numbers are rising every day for the Gravity X competition on Thursday September 7, with a number of Winter Olympians entering, including Wanaka’s Juliane Bray, UK’s Lesley McKenna, as well as X-Games gold medallist Nate Holland (USA).

Snowmobiling legend Chris Brown arrives in Queenstown from Colorado today to start practicing for his snowmobile big air demonstrations, which take place at the end of each day’s competition, along with the Moto FMX demonstrations. Salmonella Dub DJ Sound System will be playing live each day of the competition.

See www.cardronagames.co.nz for more details.