An assorted collection of brave souls young and old, dressed as fairies, as a 'Flying Grape', a nurse with a patient in a wheelchair, as 'Spanky Spangler', in Hawaiian outfits or wearing very little at all, skied or snowboarded into a freezing cold pool, all in the name of fun.

"The annual Remarkables water jump a no holds barred excuse for full nudity on the mountain.. Brings the crowds flocking back year after year!."

Andrew 'Flying Grape' Surtees won the open event with the highest points for originality and creativity and the length and height of his backflip into the water. Equal second were Josh Golden from The Remarkables patrol department and Mark 'Spanky Spangler' Forsyth with an impressive forward dive with a snowboard on each foot.

Eleven youngsters entered the junior division with the judges again finding it hard to pick winners. With an impressive 'spread', skier Dylan Menzies was first, Brendon Reeves second and Hamish Russell third. Earlier in the day the Air New Zealand Spring Gelandesprung attracted a good field of juniors and men in a traditional distance jump event. With combined points for distance and technique over two jumps, Pierre Tapper was first, Simon Rothenbuhler second and Phil Carter third in the mens event and Philip Smith was first junior with Jason McCroother second. In the Small Planet Snow Shoe Shuffle the winning partnership was Blair McGrouther and Gordon Menzies.

Following a combined snow and skate competition on Friday and Saturday, the overall winner was Aaron Jamieson with Glen Howe second and Hayden Roberts third. The winner of the $5500 ETA Your Way To Canada ski trip, courtesy of discoverholidays.com, was an elated Craig Perry of Queenstown. On Saturday the Queenstown Rafting Whitewater Challenge saw ten teams battle it out on a fast course down the appropriately named Water Race trail in Sugar Bowl, with split-second timing deciding the placings. Although one team member managed to get run over by his own raft, most stayed in the rafts as they hurtled down the course at breakneck speed. The Skiwiland team was first, with the Purse Strings second and nzski.com F&B team third.

Ski school instructor Olivier Sebbar of France posted two outstanding runs to comfortably win the Dynastar Mogul Assault in style after one judge commented he really stood out from the field with good control and air. Nathan Renfree was "inspirational" on a pair of Telemark skis to come second, and Dave Smith was third. Ray Wenham won the Montana Deutz Family Treasure Hunt after spending the morning searching all over the mountain for clues, and there was a good turnout for the So Fresh Express multisport event. Christchurch multisport guru Steve Gurney and Queenstown athlete Baz Smith again went head to head after Gurney won the Peak to Peak in the Air New Zealand Queenstown Winter Festival. This time it was Smith's turn to beat Gurney meaning the pair will go into the overall series decider, the nzski.com Peak to Pub on Sept 30 in Methven, with one win each.

Queenstown third former Scarlett Hagan, 13, completed the snow section on a snowboard and in her first ever multisport event took out the prize for the youngest competitor. The Small Planet Sports team of Chris Dagg, Pierre Tapper and Ashley Cameron won the team division. The Remarkables ski area manager Hamish McCrostie said it had been a fantastic weekend of snow, sun and fun. "It's been a great way to celebrate the start of spring," he said.

— Chris V, BoarderZone.com Staff |HAVE YOUR SAY|