New Zealand team prepare for busy winter season

With the New Zealand summer fast approaching, winter sports and cold weather will quickly become a distant memory for many but not for New Zealand’s top para-snow sports athletes.

New Zealand Winter Paralympians Adam Hall, Carl Murphy and Corey Peters are fully focused on a busy season of on snow training and competition in the northern hemisphere.

Skiers Hall and Peters and snowboarder Murphy were all members of the New Zealand team at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. Peters won New Zealand’s only medal with a silver in the men’s giant slalom sitting.

Ski racer Hall, who competes in the men’s standing category and sit-skier Peters will leave New Zealand at the end of November and will once again be based in the United States at Colorado’s Winter Park resort.

Competition will get underway with North America Cup (NorAm) races in Aspen, USA, in early December.

During the 2013-2014 northern hemisphere winter Hall won one gold and two silver World Cup medals and four gold, one silver and a bronze at NorAm races. With a strong build up to the Games, Hall had been hopeful of defending the gold medal he won in slalom at Vancouver 2010. It wasn’t to be, with his best result a fourth in super-combined and a seventh in the slalom.

“I’m looking for redemption,” said Hall. “I feel that I’m in a strong position leading into this season and am happy with the progress I’ve made this season in New Zealand. I’m ready to put everything in to the races and am looking forward to some strong results.”