KEY POINTS:
A new international winter games event is all set for New Zealand in 2009 as preparation for the Vancouver Olympics.
Event promoter Arthur Klap says the event will attract a global field of winter athletes across a range of alpine disciplines. He says originally the event was slated for the USA but they thought it would be too hard to organise so New Zealand stepped in.
Mr Klap says it has taken 18-months to go through the planning process and the government have thrown in half a million dollars to kick it off.
Wanaka and Queenstown will be the joint hosts for the event.
- NEWSTALK ZB
