Source: Radio New Zealand
New Zealand snowboarder Dane Menzies finishes third in the Aspen Snowmass Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals, 2026. MICHAEL REAVES / AFP
New Zealand snowboarder Dane Menzies admits the hype at the Winter Olympics is something special.
Menzies will be one of the first Kiwi athletes in action on Friday morning in qualifying for the Big Air.
“It’s kind of like a world championships on crack,” Menzies told First Up.
“There is a lot of excitement around this one, it was a bit of a gong show when we rocked in, but it has been good.”
Menzies was born in Calgary to a Canadian mother and a New Zealand father.
He initially trained at the Calgary Olympic Park, but his allegiance was with New Zealand and he was now based in Wānaka.
The 20-year-old had been competing globally since late 2022 and was at his first Olympics.
He was enjoying the experience in northern Italy and had nothing to complain about with the accommodation, which did not include the cardboard beds that were a feature of the Tokyo and Paris Summer Olympics.
“Yeh we lucked out hard, we all got our own rooms with non-cardboard beds which is epic – and mine could even be king-sized.”
Dane Menzies from New Zealand in action at the Winter Games at Cardrona. Iain McGregor / PHOTOSPORT
However there were some rules.
“We’ve been told we’re not allowed to trade clothing yet, which is a bit of a bummer.”
While some Canadian gear would be nice, Menzies said: “Mongolia has a crazy looking jacket which would be cool.”
Menzies, Rocco Jamieson and Lyon Farrell were all competing on the Livigno Snow Park on day one with three runs of Big Air qualifying.
“We’ve been training on it for two days and we’ve had some feedback meetings afterwards, so it is shaping up to be a nice one, for sure.”
Slopestyle was Menzies’ preferred event, but he was excited about the Big Air competition.
In slopestyle, athletes slide down and perform acrobatic manoeuvres on a course that contains various features like jumps, boxes and rails.
“I like the steel for sure, it is nice to have jumps in there too as I do like getting in the air, but I am a big fan of rails.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
