4:00pm N.Z.
Today was the first event of the Nationals for 1997 up at Cardrona. A record number of competitors lined up for the ETA Ripples Giant Slalom held on the La- Franchie run off the double chair. The snow condition was packed powder, which meant competitors running later had to deal with ruts, although the 2nd run was reset to a fresh course..The weather was high overcast with the occasional snow flurry coming through to hamper visibility.

This is the first fully F.I.S sanctioned snowboard event to be held in N.Z this year with points counting towards international rankings and the crucial Olympic selection for Nagano 1998. The competition was even more fierce than previous years with full race suits the norm for the day and time between top contenders unbelievably close. The womens was a tight battle between the previously unbeaten Kiwi Champion Pamela Bell and newcomer Lee O'Connor who has just arrived on the scene this year to seek Olympic selection after 5 years of competing off shore. With less than 1 second separating the top 3 it ended up Sabina Blassnig of Austria first followed by Lee O' Connor and then Pam Bell.

In the mens section, again it was a very tight race with several top ranked Japanese giving the Kiwis a good run. Last years champ Marc Begg from Cardrona proved he has got even faster this year with two faultless runs putting him on top again. Greg Prouse from Queenstown put in an exceptional 2nd run to beat Marcs time, but combined with a slower first run ended up in third place behind Kazuhiko Kazigawa of Japan.