Cross Country Director Update - August 2024
Published Fri 23 Aug 2024
Image Courtesy Tom Hoogenraad
Dear XC Skiing Community,
The past month has seen excellent skiing conditions and exciting racing across the resorts. Unfortunately, unseasonably warm weather in recent weeks has led to rapidly disappearing snow and the cancellation of the Kangaroo Hoppet for the second year running. Though it is disappointing to lose this annual season highlight, the winter is not done yet! The requirements to run an event of the scale of the Hoppet are much greater than those for junior and school events. There is still enough snow to run the Australian Junior Championship at Falls Creek next weekend and the National Interschools at Perisher the week after, and event organisers will do everything possible to make these races happen. Undoubtedly there will also be training opportunities on the higher slopes continuing well into September.
Speaking of season highlights, the 2024 NSW Cross Country Ski Week at Perisher was a great success, bouncing back from a shortened week in 2023. Seven races (plus assorted coffee tour and social events) were held over a nine-day period, starting with the PXC Cup and finishing with the Snow Mountains Classic and NSW Ski-Orienteering championship on the August 11-12 weekend. Many thanks to the organisers, volunteers and all the participants for making this week happen, and from the National Team a special thanks to Cliff Wallis from the Sundeck Hotel for once again raising valuable funds towards athlete expenses.
With the Kangaroo Hoppet off the agenda, the 2024 FIS ANC Series concluded with the races at Perisher on August 17-18. On the women's side, Rosie Fordham made a clean sweep of all four Australian Championship events to claim her first Continental Cup victory. A count-back was needed to split second placed Hannah Price from Rosie Franzke. For the men, Phillip Bellingham topped the points list ahead of Jayden Spring and Liam Burton. After a two-year hiatus, this was Phillip's 7th Continental Cup series win.
Looking down the track, Snow Australia is seeking expressions of interest from athletes for events and tours in the 2024/2025 International season. Snow Australia will be sending teams to World Championship, World Junior-U23 Championship and World University Games events, in addition to running several preparation camps. Further information is available in the articles below.
Best regards,
Finn Marsland
Snow Australia Cross Country Director
In this edition:
- AUS Champs @ Perisher
- AUS Champs @ Falls Creek
- Kangaroo Hoppet Cancelled
- International Events/Tours Expressions of Interest
- State Championship Results
- SkiMo Community Update - August 2024