NZ Olympic Committee announced the selection of local skier, Luca Harrington, to take part in the Youth Winter Olympic Games Team. “To be able to join the NZ team for the Youth Olympics is such an honour and a dream come true. It is a great privilege to be invited to represent your country and I feel very grateful for the opportunity. I am really looking forward to the incredible people and experiences that will come with it,” shared  Harrington.

Wānaka-born and bred, 15-year-old Luca has been skiing almost as long as he’s been walking. “I’ve always had skiing in my blood because my dad was a pro mogul skier,” he explained. “I don’t know where I would be right now without my dad’s encouragement and passion for skiing. He has been coaching my brother and I, as well as all our friends since day one. Dad instilled the love of skiing in all of us because he has always made it fun and at the end of the day, just made it happen. He coached for Cardrona, took us to competitions at the Club Fields and SnowPlanet and then when he could manage it, he eventually took us, with our friends, overseas,” explained Harrington. 

He continued, “As well as my dad, and the team at Cardrona, my older brother Ben has been a huge part of my skiing success. Ben loves skiing, studies it passionately and is a great competitor himself. This past season, Ben was recovering from injury so he was able to really focus on coaching me and helped me break through to the next level. Yes, now that school is out, the training will be all on starting next week as I have to prepare for three events, Slopestyle, Half Pipe and Big Air. I expect a busy couple of years ahead!” 

Harrington’s many hours on the snow have allowed him to hone his skills across a full range of disciplines and at the Winter Youth Olympic Games he will represent NZ in freeski halfpipe, slopestyle and big air. “We are so lucky to have Cardrona in our backyard. They have created a World Class park and kids like me simply can’t get enough!  They make it so fun and so challenging that I never want to miss a day. The early sunrises, the mountains, the adrenalin, the people, I am hooked! You could almost say I have an addiction,” joked Harrington.