Lake Wanaka, New Zealand – With the first world rankings of the 2010-2011 season released by the Association of Freeski Professionals (AFP), Snow Sports New Zealand officials (SSNZ) have found three of their athletes ranked in the top five in the world.nByron Wells is currently ranked third in halfpipe and fifth in slopestyle. Mikey Austin is ranked third amongst the women in halfpipe and fifth in slopestyle. Big mountain skier Janina Kuzma showed she can cross over to pipe and slopestyle, sharing the number four spot in the halfpipe rankings with Hannah Haupt of the U.S.

“It’s early days and the Northern Hemisphere season will see the cream to rise to the top, but it’s great to see that high-level international events in New Zealand give Kiwi athletes a head start,” said Snow Sports New Zealand CEO Ross Palmer.

Rankings are based on results from the 2010 Volkl Freeski Open and the recently concluded 2010 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard Junior World Championships.
The Junior World Championships held a month ago in New Zealand marked the first time that the AFP allocated points to a FIS World Championship, allowing competitors to accumulate points for both organizations’ world rankings.

Meanwhile, the latest TTR World Rankings were released last week, and Ohakune’s Shelly Gotlieb currently sits at No. 5 overall in the world on that snowboard tour. The New Zealand Women’s team is ranked second, following the results of the Burton New Zealand Open and the recent Billabong Bro Down at Snow Park.