Freeride Skiing in New Zealand under RAINBOWS!

Canada / Portes du Soleil | Active: 2025-present public FWT record | Known for: FWT Qualifier Les Arcs win, freeride POV vlogs, Swiss Alps powder and park training | Current: FWT Qualifier rider and mountain-content creator Les Arcs When The Run Finally Counted Les Arcs sat in January light with the kind of face that does not forgive a late turn. Lucas Daines came into the 2026 Evolution 2 Freeride Qualifier needing more than a clean descent: he needed line choice, speed, control, and enough confidence to make the terrain look planned. The result was his clearest official marker so far, a first place in Ski Men at the Les Arcs Qualifier.... Read more on the Athlete page

Southern Hemisphere freeski destination across the Southern Alps and Mt Ruapehu | Known for: Cardrona park and pipe, Treble Cone freeride, Queenstown and Wanaka ski culture, The Remarkables bowls, Mt Hutt wind-buff, Winter Games NZ, and a June to October season | Best for: park training, late-summer contest preparation, freeride filming, and skiers chasing winter while the Northern Hemisphere is off snow Kā Tiritiri o te Moana And The Upside Down Season The Southern Alps, known in te reo Māori as Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, run down New Zealand’s South Island with ski areas stacked around Wānaka, Queenstown, Canterbury, and the Mackenzie basin. The calendar is the first fact that changes everything: lifts usually turn from June into October, which puts New Zealand winter directly inside the Northern Hemisphere summer. For freeskiers, that flipped season turns a distant island country into a training bridge between contest cycles.... Read more on the Location page