Dane Kirk | Sport

I am Dane Kirk, a freeskier specialising in slopestyle. I have lived all but 3 years of my life in Cambridge, and attended Roto-O-Rangi Primary, Cambridge Middle and High Schools. My home mountain is Ruapehu. That is where I got my start in 2011, on the Ruapehu Snow Sports Freeski Team, alongside a number of other budding snowsports enthusiasts from the Waikato. Skiing at a higher level, and selection onto the SnowSports NZ (SSNZ) Development Team in 2014, meant that I had to move my NZ winter training down to Wanaka, where SSNZ and their training facilities are located. Northern hemisphere winters since 2011 have been based in Colorado, with increasing travel around the USA, Canada and Europe in the past few years in order to compete.
In the last year I progressed into elite level skiing, after meeting the qualification criteria for World Cups in September 2016. Since then I have competed in World Cups in France, Italy, USA, Canada and NZ. I also enjoy skating and surfing, and coaching young freeskiers in the hope that they will enjoy this sport as much as I do!