Snowy Mountains Duo Making World Cup Debut this Weekend
Mountainwatch | News
The Snowy Mountains has long been a breeding ground for some of Australia’s best snow athletes and that trend continues with Charlotte Wilson, moguls, and Joey Elliss, freeski, making their World Cup debuts this weekend.
Wilson, aged 19, is competing is at the season-opening event in Ruka, Finland while 18-year-old Elliss is in Beijing, China for the big air at Shougang Park which was the venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Charlotte grew up in Jindabyne while Joey grew up in Thredbo and both have been on skis since they were three-years-old. Their progression has been typical of many young snow athletes, skiing in local programs before focusing on one discipline when they were 11 or 12, Charlotte following the mogul’s path at Perisher Winter Sports Club while Joey went through the freeski program with Thredbo’s Mountain Academy.
Both then followed Snow Australia’s Athlete Pathway through the Emerging Talent Program and then on to NSWIS scholarships. They also had successful junior competitive careers, Charlotte placing fifth in Team Dual Moguls at the 2023 Junior World Championships alongside Oliver Logan, who made his World Cup debut last season. Last year Joey placed 8th in Big Air at the Junior World Championships in New Zealand, then backed that up at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in January with fifth place in Korea.
Charlotte is excited about having the opportunity to compete with the best, including Australian team mate and Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champ, Jakara Anthony.
“I can’t wait to compete with, as well as watch and learn from the best mogul skiing athletes in the world,” Charlotte said. “I just hope I can continue the good work I’ve done in training on comp day. I’m excited for the atmosphere of a World Cup Event, and I’m trying to focus on the process and my own run, especially the skills I need to hit to put down my best skiing on the day.”
As you’d expect, Charlotte says she is inspired by Jakara, who is “one of my biggest idols in moguls skiing.”
“She is incredibly determined and disciplined and it’s incredible to train within her environment and really experience first-hand her approach to training,” she said.
Charlotte’s debut will see her supported in Ruka this weekend by not only Jakara, but also fellow Australian team members Matt Graham, Cooper Woods, George Murphy and Oliver Logan
The Ruka Moguls World Cup takes place early on Sunday morning with a 12:45am AEDT scheduled start time.
Check Snow Live for streaming details.
For Joey Elliss, this World Cup debut marks his first step into the senior ranks after his successful junior career. He is excited to have the opportunity and looking forward to hitting the world class jump at Shougang Park, the world’s first and only permanent big air structure.
“I’m super stoked on the World Cup,” Joey said. “It’s crazy going to a place like China for it as well!”
After a solid domestic season that included a fifth at the ANC Cup in Cardrona, Joey has been spending plenty of time at the National Snowsports Training Centre (NSTC) in Jindabyne over the past few weeks in preparation for China
“I’ve been training on the airbag as much as possible trying to get everything down well,” Joey said. “My main goal for this first World Cup is to just get two clean runs landed, that’s something I would be stoked with.”
While Joey is the only Australian freeskier at the event, his snowboarding mates are all there with Valentino Guseli, Josh Robertson-Hahn, Jesse Parkinson and Meila Stalker also in action at Beijing.
Qualifiers at the Beijing World Cup are scheduled for Friday (Freeski) and Saturday (Snowboard) with Finals being held on Sunday (Freeski 4pm AEDT / Snowboard 9pm AEDT).
