Lake Wanaka

With the 2010 FIS Snowboard and Freestyle Junior World Champs over, elite junior winter sports athletes from around the world are packing their bags – but many will leave with high hopes of returning.

Kiwi marathon adventurer Malcolm Law – who last year became the first person in the world to run the equivalent of seven marathons in seven consecutive days – is mounting an even grittier challenge for 2010.

Over 200 of the world’s top snowboarders will be on the slopes at Wanaka next week for the Burton New Zealand Open.

Already considered the tourism jewel of New Zealand’s South Island – Queenstown has now been crowned top spot for TV commercials with a bumper number of big-budget shoots in the region this year.

An iconic New Zealand landscape and a picturesque vineyard provide a dramatic setting for an outdoor sculpture exhibition that showcases top Kiwi artists.

Challenge Wanaka – profiled as ‘the world’s most scenic iron distance triathlon’ – plays out across a stunning New Zealand South Island alpine landscape.

Top international snow and ice sports athletes are due to descend on New Zealand’s Southern Alps this winter, for 16 days of cool action in the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games.

A cold blast over New Zealand’s South Island is bringing snow to low levels and dumping snow on key resorts, just days before the first ski field opens.

Hot on the heels of Rugby World Cup, and a bag full of international tourism accolades from 2011, New Zealand is set to stay in the international spotlight for 2012.

A wintry blast has dumped a deep snow blanket across New Zealand’s mountains over the past week, leaving ski fields in the north and south in superb shape for the winter season.