Sponsored Athletes

Alpine Health & Fitness and Lakes Leisure Limited are very proud to sponsor local athletes, supporting them in their efforts to attain their international sporting goals. We are currently sponsoring the following people by providing them with memberships to Alpine Health & Fitness. If you would like to apply for athlete sponsorship, please click here for further details and an application form.

ADAM BARWOOD – SKI RACING

Adam Barwood was born in Queenstown in 1992. He is a member of the New Zealand National Ski Team and is proud to represent New Zealand at the highest level of alpine skiing. Adam’s career in ski racing began at Coronet Peak in 2001 while on a school holiday program learning to ski. He is now a full time athlete who spends NZ Winters training at Cardrona and Treble Cone and NZ summers training and racing in Europe, Canada and, for the past two years, at Sugar Bowl Academy in California, USA. He is currently National Champion for both Slalom and Giant Slalom in the under 20 years division is and ranked third for Super G.

Adam’s Blog: http://adambarwood.wordpress.com/

ANDREW WYLIE – SKI RACING

Andrew Wylie was born in 1989 in Southland. He has been ski racing since 1996 and swimming since 1999 at a National level. In 2005 he was awarded a Highly Commended at the SPARC Future Champion awards. In 2007 he was awarded the Wakatipu High School Sports Person of the Year. He has represented New Zealand at the FIS World Junior Championships going to Austria in 2007, Spain in 2008, and Germany in 2009. In 2009 he tore his right MCL and fractured his tibial plateau during Queenstown’s Peak to Peak event so didn’t go away to the northern hemisphere, concentrating instead on a good recovery.

At the beginning of the 2010 season Andrew was named on the NZ National Men’s Ski Team and had some great early season results finishing ninth in the Coronet Peak Slalom and being the first New Zealander across the line. He also finished third in the National Championships Open Men’s Giant Slalom before again injuring his knee – this time the left – putting him out of the running for the FIS World Championships. He is currently focusing on building fitness and strength and intends to be really competitive on the NZ National Men’s Ski Team.

HARRISON STEEDMAN – SKI RACING

Harrison_Steedman_NZE__GS_Japanese_FIS_19_Aug_09_1___1_.jpg Harrison Steedman was born in Invercargill in 1994. Harrison’s parents have been in the ski industry for many years and Harrison started skiing, aged two, at the Remarkables. When he was seven he joined the Queenstown Alpine Ski Team who he raced with for eight years. Harrison joined the NZ Development team in 2009 and is currently a National Team member on the New Zealand Men's team aged just 17 years.

LUKE PICKERING – ICE HOCKEY

Luke Pickering was born in Queenstown, NZ, in 1994. Luke started playing Ice Hockey at age 6 and was first selected for the Southern representative team at age 9. He has made the Southern rep team each year since then gaining five gold and two silver medals during that time. Luke has also been playing in the NZ National Mens League for his local Southern Stampede team since 2009. Luke has big expectations and aspirations and isn’t afraid of training hard.

Luke was first selected to represent New Zealand in the U16 team in 2008 in a tournament in Australia. Since then he has competed in the World Championships Division 3 on the New Zealand U18 team in Chinese Taipei in 2009 and Mexico in 2010; where he was awarded player of the match in the final despite being one of the youngest players. More recently he has been selected for both the NZ U18 Team for Division 2 in Romania and the NZ U20 Team for Division 3 in Mexico, but decided that the U18 team would be his priority.

TAYLOR RAPLEY – SKI RACING

Taylor put her first pair of skis on at age 3 and started making tracks on the race course at age 8. She is a member of the New Zealand Women’s Ski Team and holds the National Junior titles in Slalom, GS and Super G. She is also ranked second in Junior New Zealand Big Mountain skiing and was once ranked 12th as a Junior Triathlete but chose to pursue her love of the mountains and of snow.

Taylor spend NZ Summers in North America and Europe where she’s racing against 7000 others competing to be the best in countries where the national ski team members are looked upon like All Blacks. Taylor aspires to be very competitive in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, representing New Zealand positively in order to change the nation’s view on ski racing for both herself and our future athletes.

Taylor’s Blog - http://taylorrapley.wordpress.com/

TIM CAFE – SKI RACING

Tim Cafe is a 23 year old Alpine Ski Racer from Queenstown who has been racing competitively for 13 years, and has been a member of the New Zealand Ski Team in Slalom since 2005. Tim competed in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where he finished 38th, and in two World Championships in France 2009, where he placed 36th, and Germany 2011 where he placed 31st.

His ultimate goal is to finish in the top 10 at the 2014 Olympics which will be held in Sochi, Russia. I love the mountains, and I am lucky enough to be in a sport which means I get to enjoy the outdoors on a regular basis. Our sport requires us to be fit and strong, so working out at Alpine H&F is a must!