Quinn (33), New Zealand's most successful professional surfer, was part of a Quiksilver team which was first up yesterday morning - and he did not have the benefit of any experience in the dodgeball ring, or spying on other teams to find tactics.
The experience was brutal, particularly given competitors were asked to wear bare feet on the matting, which had begun to ice over.
Quinn arrived in the resort on Tuesday for a week of Winter Festival action - the first festival he had attended.
"Quiksilver have a rail jam on Friday night, so I've come down to help out with that.
"I've never been down to a Winter Festival before, but it was a good opportunity."
Quinn said he had decided to spend a year "at home", giving up the tropical overseas temperatures to fit in a bit of snowboarding and sightseeing.
"I just thought I'd do something different. I like snowboarding, but I'm getting a bit older now so the injuries don't heal as quick as they used to."
The last major event he was involved with was the "Maz Quinn King of the Groms", a national surfing event open to anyone under the age of 16, held in Gisborne in April.
