The Winter Games NZ has been cancelled for 2021.

Games’ events, including the The North Face Frontier 2* and 4*, were due to take place at The Remarkables between August 29 and September 2 and the SKY Big Air was scheduled for September 4 at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

Winter Games NZ CEO Marty Toomey said the decision was made to cancel due to the current lockdown and ongoing uncertainty about alert levels going forward.

“While it is disappointing to cancel the event, we know it is the right decision and we will now turn our attention towards delivering another world class event in 2022,” Marty said.

The snowsports competition has run annually since 2009 and has been the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest event of its kind.

Big Bucks Park at Cardrona Alpine Resort, which was going to be the venue for the Sky Big Air next month.

The 2021 Winter Games NZ lineup was announced last month with a smaller-than-usual number of events planned due to the closed international borders.

However, organisers had planned three events and a range of competitors had been secured, including Wanaka-based Olympic medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.

In 2020 the games went ahead with a ‘reimagined’ format due to Covid-19.

The 2020 ‘Obsidian’ event was a mixed teams challenge in which 21 of New Zealand’s best freeski and snowboard athletes pitted against each other in five challenges over a ten-day weather window.

This year’s cancellation is the first time the games has been cancelled since it began, Winter Games NZ communications and marketing manager Sophie Luther told the Wanaka App.

PHOTOS: Camilla Rutherford