A flood of entries for the New Zealand Junior Freeski and Snowboard Championships next week has forced the Wanaka organiser, Pete Legnavsky, to close the field.
Mr Legnavsky said entries closed two weeks ago but his telephone continued to run hot with calls from parents keen to get their children into the contest at the Cardrona Alpine Resort from Monday to Thursday.
"We have 70 entries in each discipline. That means 140 children a day in snowboarding and freesking, while in skier-cross we have 110.
"We are at the human limit of what can be run in one day. The judges can only see 70 people twice a day. So 140 runs at three minutes each, that's seven hours [of competition] a day. If it doesn't run like a Swiss clock, I will be ankle deep," he said.
The popularity of the junior nationals has grown immensely in just a few years and competitors are coming from the North Island and Australia.
The event coincides with the first week of the school holidays and is expected to draw 300 people to Cardrona each day.
The nationals are being run under FIS rules, meaning New Zealand teams can be selected to compete at FIS junior world events.
