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Mt Hutt runs a training program each winter for people wishing to become ski or snowboard instructors.
Mt Hutt is also a training ground for international ski racers, local skiers and snowboarders.
TIMARU skier Tim Bowman will not be sunning himself this summer as he heads to the Swiss Alps for a second sojourn.
Bowman is heading to Europe in early January for four weeks training before he dons the silver fern at the Trofeo Topolino.
The 14-year-old has been selected to ski for New Zealand for the first time at an event which attracts the top four skiers from 55 different nations and is effectively a world junior championship.
Bowman will join Wanaka's Wilbur Coote in his age-group.
He expects the slopes to be tough in both the slalom and giant slalom.
"Wil went last year and fell he said it was really steep and icy."
In Switzerland and possibly Slovenia, Bowman will be training six days a week.
The pair will also be spectators at a round of the World Cup in Adelboden, which he is looking forward to.
Bowman said that the last time he went to Switzerland was an eye-opener.
"I saw where I was at compared with the rest of the world and it also showed I needed to make heaps of improvement."
Previously he had been about four seconds behind the national champion but through hard work he has cut that down to around 1.5 seconds.
"I am improving and that's important."
It will be no easy exercise getting to Europe either.
Last time Bowman took two pairs of skis but it is five pairs this time.
"The skis are for different disciplines and I have both training and race sets."
The talented young skier first hit the slopes as a six-year-old.
He has been skiing competitively for the past three years.
He trains regularly at Cardrona under his Swiss coach and it is as part of that team he heading to Europe, although some Australians will also be joining them.
Bowman has had a very good year with a fourth and two sixth placings at the nationals at Mt Hutt.
His sporting ability is not confined to skiing. He has made the South Canterbury under 16 basketball team. He made the under 14 rugby team but had to turn it down due to skiing commitments.
Bowman was thankful for the support he received from Richard Stevens at the Ski Shack, Fairlie, and Alpine Energy, which gave him a personal development scholarship.