New Zealanders Alastair Eason and Janina Kuzma made good on their home turf, taking out the men’s and women’s Big Mountain titles of the Volkl NZ Freeski Open by the Royal NZ Air Force today at Treble Cone.

Eason, who breezed through qualifying round in first place at The Remarkables yesterday, secured his victory today by edging out freestyle skier Dane Tudor (USA/Aust) and third-place finisher Luke Potts (UK).

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Eason’s gutsy line choice brought a roar of applause from the crowd as he put down the smoothest run of the day, highlighted by a series of stomped landings off 15-metre cliffs inTreble Cone’s Mototapu Chutes.

“I’m really happy to have finally nailed it,” said Eason. “I’ve placed second once, and third twice over the past few years, so I’m stoked!’

Kuzma’s run, in which she scored 80 out of a possible100 points, featured spectacular cliff drops that most of the other women weren’t attempting. Fifteen year-old Mikayla Austin skied beyond her years into second place, and Lorraine Huber (Aust) took out third.

“So stoked to win again," Kuzma said. "In the morning the snow was super firm, but the sun was shining and the weather was fantastic.”

The Big Mountain competition brought together some of the world’s top competitors, including Canadian IFSA World Tour Champion Brett Crabtree and former world champion and Wanaka local Geoff Small, who bowed out during qualifying after falling during his run in difficult conditions at The Remarkables on Tuesday.

Head competition judge and current president of the International Freeski Association, Jim Jack, made the trip to the South Island of New Zealand to be a part of one of the sport’s leading events.

“I have a huge amount of respect for the competitors,” said Jack. “They shied away from nothing, kept their composure and showed fantastic technical skiing. I’d sure hate to be one of the girls on the tour right now, competing against the female athletes you have coming out of NZ.”

The Volkl NZ Freeski Open was organised and hosted by Snow Sports New Zealand and the Freeski Association New Zealand, with support from the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Event footage from the Halfpipe, Slopestyle and Big Mountain competitions will be screened at the final event party on Friday, 29 August at Mint Bar in Wanaka.

To visit the event promotion and full results, go to www.freeskiopennz.com.