Queenstown teenager Taylor Rapley (18) has won gold in two national junior slalom races in the United States.
Rapley, who is a member of the Queenstown Alpine Ski Team, has been training full-time in Vail, Colorado, under former US ski team member Dan Stripp, since early December.
Her father, Beau Rapley, said it was her sixth winter, having spent the last three years between New Zealand, the United States and Canada.
The two gold medals at Crested Butte, in Colorado, would reduce her overall world slalom ranking.
She was the clear winner in both races.
On January 16 and 17, she won the Millennium Bank Colorado Junior Ski Cup and overall title in the first national junior race in 1min 20.82sec, beating Mary Sackbauer (USA) in 1min 21.78sec and clocking a 56-point result.
It was her best slalom result.
In the second race she finished in 1min 26.87sec, beating Celine Guilmineau (USA) in 1min 27.13sec and Sarah Williams (USA) in 1min 27.70sec.
Rapley said Taylor was happy with the result.
"To top two races in slalom back-to-back is a good achievement, so she's pleased with that," he said.
Stripp is the Vail Ski Club's head women's ability coach and has worked with the US ski team's women's World Cup squad.
