Top ski racers take to slopes

Some of the world's best ski racers were in action at Coronet Peak's Rocky Gully this week, with the United States, Canadian and New Zealand national teams conducting training in the race arena.

Queenstown-based Winter Olympian Tim Cafe said the conditions were "superb".

"We have some soft, new snow on top of the extremely hard-packed water-injected base. It is perfect for our race training, and the conditions are absolutely world-class today."

Cafe opened his southern race season with an eighth placing at the Canadian FIS race on August 4 in a field dominated by the top Canadian racers. Fellow New Zealand Winter Olympian Ben Griffin was fourth.

Both Cafe and Griffin are competing in next week's Continental Cup giant slalom and slalom races at Coronet Peak.

The race was moved from Australia's Mt Hotham ski area on short notice. The races are sanctioned by the FIS (International Ski Federation), which gives competitors the opportunity to improve their world rankings and FIS points.