Alpine Director Update - October 2022
Published Fri 21 Oct 2022
Dear Alpine Skiing Community,
Well, that’s a wrap to season 2022! We did it! After 2 years of disrupted training and competition due to Covid we have successfully completed a great season. I would firstly like to thank all the athletes, families, coaches, and clubs for a great season. It is your passion and commitment which drives the health of our sport and its future for the next generations of athletes. It was a very busy season across all the resorts however support for our clubs and athletes to access training and competitions remained strong and committed, I extend my thanks to all our resort partners.
Looking forward it is now time for those athletes planning on going overseas to spend some quality time off-snow with friends and family and in the gym preparing themselves for another snow season. Physical preparation is a cornerstone, not only to performance on the hill, but also to injury prevention and your availability to train and compete. As we know, every day counts when on snow working towards developing skills and race craft, so missing any time due to injury can have a negative effect on progression.
Expressions of Interest are open for athletes looking to compete overseas in FIS Children’s and FIS Alpine and Ski Cross events. Information regarding qualification and selection to World Championship and Junior World Championships for Alpine and Ski Cross is posted on the website and will continue to be updated as information is provided through FIS.
Snow Australia continues to work with our insurance partners to find suitable cover for the broader winter sports community looking to travel and compete overseas and will hopefully have more information soon.
End of Season Recap
It was a busy end to the season with Snow Australia National competitions in Alpine and Ski Cross happening across Hotham, Thredbo and Perisher.
Mt Hotham hosted the Snow Australia Ski Cross Futures and ANC Ski Cross series in late August and early September with great attendance. “It’s encouraging to see athletes exploring all disciplines on offer throughout the season” said Sami Sim who managed the highly successful Futures Camp under challenging weather conditions. Hotham Events Dept. did an outstanding job running the ANC events in conjunction with snowboard under ever changing weather conditions.
At the same time Thredbo Ski Racing Club in partnership with Kosciusko Thredbo hosted the Snow Australia Children’s Carnival inviting the top U14 and U16 athletes from across the country. Athlete entries were at numbers equal to pre-Covid years and there was a noticeable excitement to get back to racing. Dealing with very challenging weather conditions leading into the event TSRC was able to successfully host a SX, 2 GS and 2 SL races. This is a testament to the hard-working volunteers and leadership at TSRC, thank you for your efforts and also a huge thanks to all of the club coaches and athletes across the country who assisted making this a great event.
Thredbo also hosted the inaugural Snow Australia Club Skills Challenge which saw clubs nominating athletes across gender and age categories to represent their club and compete in a series of skills challenges. This initiative helps continue to drive and support the National Alpine Strategy of producing top skilled athletes capable of progressing into and through the performance pathway. It also brings a fun focus towards ‘Team’ competition and away from individual performance. Congratulations to TSRC for winning in the first year and I look forward to seeing this concept grow in the coming years.
In mid-September, Perisher hosted the Snow Australia FIS National and National Junior Championships. Athlete entries were again at or above pre-Covid numbers which continues to support the health of the sport in Australia. Conditions changed daily but thanks to the great work of the Perisher Race Dept. a successful series was able to be held crowning both National and Junior National Champions in GS and SL.
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Thank you all for a great season!
Shawn Fleming
National Alpine Director
Snow Australia
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