Though he's now studying in Wellington, Ben was born in Queenstown and learned to ski at Coronet Peak. As a high school student in Christchurch, Ben spent a lot of time skiing at the Canterbury club fields and it was the memorable basin of Broken River and Nervous Knob that inspired Ben's design.

His email submission read simply, "Labour of love." and we were impressed by the effort Ben went to both in his design and his presentation. He didn't just design a ski - he designed a whole range. Kingswood Skis and Broken River are old friends so we saw the beauty in his shapes straight away.

"The inspiration for this work comes from time spent at Broken River taking photos of the jagged skyline. I was interested in stripping the rock and snow away, leaving a simplistic form," Ben says. "The skis Kingswood craft have a great deal of simplistic form and I wanted to really push this design aspect and use this geometric aestetic to complement the image your brand has already built."

Ben is planning to show off his new Kingswoods this summer in Utah and Wyoming, where he'll be working and skiing for three months with two school mates over the Uni holidays.

BUT WAIT!!! THERE'S MORE!!!

There were so many great designs submitted that we need your help to decide the second place winner (who will receive 50% off a pair of skis with thier design). We've posted 19 designs that made our "shortlist" on our website. Now it's up to you. Vote for your favourite before 30 October.