PERISHER professional ski patroller April Wynn does not only utilise her skiing prowess for attending to her duties patrolling on the mountain, away from work she lets them run at a much faster pace.

April has recently won one of the FIS Australia and New Zealand Continental Cups (ANC) Ski Cross events at Hotham, beating a number of international competitors following two days of training and three days of racing at the Victorian resort. She was also awarded second overall in the competition.

“There was a decent amount of people there – including from China, Japan, New Zealand, Chile and Britain,” said April, who is collecting points towards her International Ski and Snowboard Foundation (FIS) tally to compete in the Euro Cup this summer.

This has been her biggest win to date, with her sights now set firmly on a World Cup event placement. She said the course had a difficult start, so a good push out of the gate was what edged her ahead.

April said she uses breathing techniques when at the start, taking a few deep breaths and going through the course in her mind. Then closing her eyes when ‘In the Gate’ is called by the starting official to bring some focus before the race.

She credits her inspiration to a bunch of people she trains with overseas and who she has grown up with at Perisher, as well as her coach Hannes Grimus, a former alpine racer himself.

With back to back races, she did not have too much time to celebrate, rising early the next morning for another event. She said to prepare she always starts with a green spinach and banana smoothie with protein powder and creatin for nutrition before a race, as well as drinking plenty of water.

It’s her first year as a ski patroller saying she is really enjoying it: “Skiing all day is a bonus and I really enjoy helping people - it makes you feel good about yourself when people are grateful; it’s really nice.”

In the off-season, April is planning to travel to Europe to train with the Australian Ski Cross Development Team and further her racing career.