Cardrona Locals Win Snow League World Challenge On Home Halfpipe

Fin Melville Ives of New Zealand practices during the Snow League World Challenge at Cardrona Alpine Resort on September 18, 2026 in Cardrona, New Zealand.

Getty Images for Snow League

For Cardrona locals Fin Melville Ives and Mischa Thomas, Saturday’s Snow League World Challenge was about more than competing on familiar terrain.

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With friends, family and a home crowd at the base of the halfpipe, the Kiwi freeskiers played key roles in Team Challengers’ victory at the inaugural event, joining Japan’s Ryusei Yamada and Sara Shimizu to claim the overall win.

The result came after weather forced the cancelation of finals, with the semifinal standings ultimately determining the overall result. But by then, Team Challengers had already established itself as the one to beat.

Melville Ives, competing in his first event since he suffered a broken collarbone at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics in February, set the tone by winning his men’s freeski matchup with Team North America’s Hunter Hess.

Thomas won her semifinal matchup against Team North America’s Amy Fraser thanks to a creative run that included a switch alley-oop flat 540.

Both Thomas and Melville Ives praised the unique format of the World Challenge, which instituted a spin cap of 720 (two full rotations) in the semifinals to encourage riders to put down their most creative, stylish tricks in lieu of more spins and corks.

For Thomas, who competed in slopestyle before recently shifting her focus to halfpipe, it was the first pro competition at her home resort.

“It means so much,” said Thomas, who was on hand to give out cash prizes and merch to the next generation of halfpipe stars at the Snow League’s community mini pipe session on Friday. “It’s been such a special week.”

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Meanwhile, Cardrona is baked into the DNA of the Melville Ives family. Fin and his twin brother, Cam, were on snow at three years old, having grown up with parents who were both instructors at Cardrona. The twins’ uncle also used to cut the resort’s halfpipe.

The weather may have forced an early end to the competition, but training in New Zealand’s notoriously unpredictable conditions is ultimately only a benefit when competition time rolls around, Melville Ives added. “I feel like it makes us very resilient skiers,” he said.

Alongside their trophies, the four winners also received stuffed yellow-eyed penguins. The Snow League made a NZD$5,000 donation to the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, which supports conservation of the endangered native birds. The winning team has the chance to name GPS trackers placed on penguins being monitored by the trust.

Snow League World Challenge New Zealand winners display their stuffed yellow-eyed penguins alongside their trophies. L-R: Japan’s Sara Shimizu, New Zealand's Fin Melville Ives and Mischa Thomas and Japan's Ryusei Yamada.

The Snow League / Neal Cummings

With the inaugural World Challenge now in the books, The Snow League turns its attention to Season Two, which kicks off at Aspen’s Buttermilk in January.

But for Melville Ives and Thomas, the memory of this win at home at Cardrona will remain close to home.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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