US Olympian fined for careless driving

A United States Olympic double silver medallist has been fined after admitting being careless when he drove his vehicle up a South Island ski slope.

Snowboarder Daniel Scott Kass, 26, whose achievements include Olympic silver medals in 2002 and 2006, and several Winter X Games medals, was fined $400 and ordered to pay $130 court costs in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.

Kass, who had been in New Zealand boarding and doing some promotional work, paid the fine and left New Zealand yesterday afternoon, his lawyer Jonathan Eaton told the Herald.

Kass, of Oregon, was originally facing a more serious charge of putting skiers at risk by driving up the main ski run at Cardrona Ski Area, near Queenstown, on August 17. However the charge was reduced to careless driving yesterday and he pleaded guilty.

Mr Eaton said it appeared there was a misunderstanding about whether Kass had the right to drive on the skifield to a photo shoot.

"In principle (the skifield management) had given agreement to what he wanted to do ... they had a plan about how they envisaged that happening. (Kass) was at cross purposes with them as far as what that plan was, and he just jumped behind the wheel and started heading up there thinking they would be okay with that.

"He, at the time, immediately was apologetic to the Cardrona management, and made both an oral and written apology, took them a gift, and then did some voluntary work clearing snow with them."

Cardrona field manager Gary Husband did not want to comment on the issue, other than to say that a man of Kass's experience on skifields would be "quite aware of safe and non-safe practices on and around skifields".

Mr Eaton said a conviction for a traffic offence in New Zealand should not have any effect on Kass's career.