The World Heli Challenge is taking over Wanaka, NZ; the event kicked off this afternoon with a heli briefing. This competition brings in the world's best big-mountain athletes and backcountry jibbers to compete in helicopter accessed competition. The goal is to find out which athlete is the best "all rounder" by combining their freeride and freestyle skills, thus showcasing their overall talent.

A two week window between July 27 and August 11 has been alloted to ensure that the competitors have enough days of decent weather to compete. For a list of participating athletes, click here.

The competition this year is using a new judging system; long-lens cameras will record footage of the action, and judges will have a matter of days to review the video, and appropriately select winners in the big mountain, freestyle and overall categories. Fans will also be able to elect a "people's choice" winner online.

With new snow currently falling, it's shaping up to be a rockin' week. Stay tuned for updates.