KEY POINTS:
Wanaka freeskier Byron Wells has matched his brother Jossi's record as the youngest athlete invited to the Winter X Games.
Byron, 16, was given the nod this week by X Games officials in north America.
Jossi, 18, was the first New Zealander invited to the competition, and last year he made it pay off, winning a silver medal in the slopestyle competition.
Now, the brothers will compete side-by-side in the halfpipe.
The 13th annual Winter X Games begin on January 22 in Aspen, Colorado, featuring more than 160 men and women in various skiing and snowboarding disciplines.
The invitation for Byron Wells to compete comes after the teenager finished eighth in the halfpipe competition on the second stop of the Dew Tour at Mt Snow in Vermont.
He has now reached the finals in each of the first two Dew Tour events of the season.
He said the news from X-Games officials came out of the blue via email.
"I was sitting by myself on my computer when the email came through," Byron Wells said.
"It's a dream come true. I had the biggest smile on my face."
Last year he won the halfpipe and slopestyle events in his age group at the junior national championships and finished as the leading New Zealander with a fifth placing in the halfpipe at the New Zealand Freeski Open.
- NZPA
