Red Bull Alpine Cup launched at Mt Hutt
Friday 3 September 2010, 10:19AM
By Mt Hutt
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Along with medals and world rankings, the skier with the best overall points at next week’s Australia New Zealand Continental Cup (ANC) race series will be awarded the world’s first Red Bull Alpine Cup.
To be staged in the Red Bull International Race Training Arena at Mt Hutt from September 7-11, the ANC races are expected to attract around 125 of the world’s top international ski racers. The Red Bull Alpine Cup will reward the winner with a year’s supply of the famous energy drink.
An opening ceremony planned for Tuesday (September 7) is to include a spectacular hot-air balloon display and fire show from Aoraki Balloon Safaris, an international flag parade, and plenty of opportunity to watch some of the world’s top skier races in action.
Head of Race Paul Marks said the ANC races were important to ski racers from Australia, New Zealand and around the world because they offered the opportunity to improve rankings in the lead up to the World Cup Series which would begin in the Northern Hemisphere later this year. The Red Bull Alpine Cup offered a fun reward and lined up nicely beside Red Bull’s support of other adrenaline fuelled sports.
“There is already the Rookie (motorbiking) Cup, the Red Bull Butter (snowboarding) Cup and the Red Bull Riders (surfing) Cup. It’s thirsty work being a skier and as New Zealand’s Capital of Speed, Mt Hutt is the perfect place to launch and present the Red Bull Alpine Cup,” he said.
Mr Marks said the Red Bull International Race Training Arena was the top destination for speed training in New Zealand and featured some of the best Downhill and Super G training in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Throughout the winter we host many races and attract hundreds of top alpine ski athletes including sponsored Red Bull Ski Racing athletes Askel Lund Svindal (NOR) Eric Guay (CAN) and Freestyler Jon Olsson (SWE).”
The Red Bull International Race Training opened at Mt Hutt in 2008 as Red Bull’s first sponsored race training arena in the world. The Arena features world-class race features including the Red Bull Jump, Camel Bumps and the Platter Splatter and welcomes not only New Zealand’s Alpine Ski Racing teams but also the national teams of the USA, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain, and Japan.