Drew Petersen, sent us this blog post from the World Heli Challenge, telling us how he has been having an amazing time down in NZ, you can check out the original post on his blog HERE.

When I was in the third grade, I did a country report on New Zealand. To be honest, all I remember is that they play rugby and there are a lot of sheep. Two weeks ago I arrived in this beautiful country to compete in the World Heli Challenge. It has been the experience of a lifetime, and the greatest ski competition I could have hoped for.

Sunrise at Treble Cone Ski Area.

Right before the event started we were hit with some decent snowfall. Early in the event the weather broke and we were graced with two amazing fly days, back to back. The First Day was the Freestyle Day. We were given thirty minutes to shape jumps and inspect the venue before having two competition runs.

I travelled down here with one of my friends, Ian Borgeson. Long story short it took a long time to get here but the travel time was well worthwhile.

Before the event started, we skied at Treble Cone for a few days. It was nice to get our feet back under us. We also had a photoshoot with Camilla Stoddart for Faction Skis.

The Freestyle Venue on Mt. Albert
Heli Ready to fly for the Freestyle day.
Me and Ian in the Heli.

Due to the fact that I never ski park and rarely do tricks, I was very nervous to compete on the Freestyle Day. On my first run, I was the first person to hit a large cliff at the top of the venue. I followed it up with a couple of backflips, and landed my whole run. It was great to lay down a good run. On my second run I fell, but I can promise you, I still had fun! Check out the video of my freestyle run.

Please vote for me in the People’s Choice voting for the Freestyle day. You can vote in the polls located on the 2011 World Heli Challenge Peoples Choice Voting Open Now Facebook page.

The next day, we had another fly day for the Extreme Day. We staged the helicopters from a barge in the middle of Lake Wanaka, and headed up to Mt. Albert once again. The location of the Extreme Day was just around the corner from the venue of the day before.

The Venue for the Extreme Day

Please vote for me in the People’s Choice voting for the Extreme day. You can vote in the polls located on the 2011 World Heli Challenge Peoples Choice Voting Open Now Facebook page.

There are always things that I want to change about my skiing, but I am happy with my performance in the competition. These two heli-skiing days were two of the greatest days of my life.

Now that the two competition days are over, I am skiing at Cardrona, Snow Park, and Treble Cone as well as participating in World Heli Challenge trips. Results from the event will be released August 11th at the Gala Awards.

Please vote for me in the People’s Choice voting for both the Freestyle and Extreme days. You can vote in the polls located on the 2011 World Heli Challenge Peoples Choice Voting Open Now Facebook page.