SSA and Mountainwatch.com Recognise Australia’s Elite

Lydia Lassila receives her award. Image – Jeff Brooks/SSA

Vancouver 2010 gold medallists Lydia Lassila and Torah Bright were named joint recipients of the Ski & Snowboard Australia (SSA) Athlete of the Year award for 2010 at the SSA awards night in Melbourne on Thursday.

The cocktail style evening, which was held at the Royce Hotel in St Kilda and was followed by an after party hosted by Mountainwatch.com to thank the 2010 Winter Olympians, was attended by a record nearly 200 guests who came to celebrate the achievements of Australia’s elite skiers and snowboarders.

It was the second consecutive award for Lassila, who set a new Olympic record in claiming aerial skiing gold and also jumped to a world record score on her way to a World Cup victory in Deer Valley in the lead-up to the Games.

It was the first time Bright had taken out the nation’s top winter sports honour, after claiming Snowboard athlete of the year on three previous occasions. Australia’s third Vancouver medallist, mogul skier Dale Begg-Smith, collected the award for Outstanding Achievement of the Year. Unfortunately neither athlete could be there to accept their awards in person.

Guests moved downstairs to the Mountainwatch.com after party to continue celebrating the best of Australian skiing and snowboarding. Many people put names to faces for the first time after long-term email business relationships and many others enjoyed catching up with old friends, making it a successful evening all round.