Cross Country Director Update - May 2023
Published Fri 26 May 2023
Dear XC Skiers,
At this time of year, my standard comment about the winter is that it is coming too fast. There's snow in the mountains and frost on the grass in Canberra, and way too many items on my pre-winter to-do list. At least on one front we are way ahead of where we were in 2022. I'm pleased to report on the appointment of John Max Ertner from Denmark as National Training Coach at Falls Creek, and of Dana Hatton from the USA as the NSWACT XC Winter Coach. Visas as all sorted and both will be in Australia in June. You can read more about their backgrounds and roles in the articles below.
Our lead article in this update is about the cross country nominees and winners from the 2023 Snow Australia Awards. Congratulations to Ellen Soehol Lie and Lars Young Vik as male and female Cross Country Skiers of the Year, to Hugo Hinckfuss as Junior Cross Country Skier of the Year, and also to all Australian cross country skiers competing internationally, living the dream and ticking off milestones on the journey towards their ultimate goals in this sport. I'd also like to acknowledge once again the efforts of Alexei Sotskov, our nominee for Coach of the Year, in stepping into the lead coach role at all the major events during the 2022-2023 season. I'm looking forward to continuing to work together with Alexei as we prepare athletes for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina and all the other events in between, Youth Olympics, World Junior-U23s and World Championships.
The 2023 winter event calendar looks very similar to that of 2022, with Australian Championship events rotated between NSW and Victoria as usual. For developing athletes, particularly those with a lot of school commitments, I encourage you to plan your season strategically to allow for training as well as competition. Club events also make for good training, but please ensure that you have some weeks without racing commitments and make progress on skills and technique, in addition to getting some good kilometres under your belts (also off-track!).
To finish up I'd like to thank all the participants of the FIS TD Seminar that was held in Melbourne and at Lake Mountain at the end of April. Technical delegates are essential for ensuring that our events are safe, fair, and held according to competition rules. The seminar was led by experienced FIS TD Sandra Paul, who is also a member of the FIS sub-committee for Rollerskiing. We are sorely in need of new FIS TDs so hopefully some of the new TD candidates can gain experience this winter and be well on their way to becoming accredited with FIS.
All the best in skiing,
Finn Marsland
Cross Country Skiing Program Director
This edition includes:
- Cross Country Winners at 2023 Snow Australia Awards
- New Coach for Falls Creek National Training Centre
- Dana Hatton Joins NSWACT XC Winter Coaching Team
- VICXC Training Camp in Mt Beauty
- National Voulnteers Week | Teen Taking Voulnteering In Her Stride
- NCW 2023 | Seve De Campo On Balancing Cross Country Skiing, Engineering and Commerce
- Cross Country and Ski Mountaineering - 2022/23 Season Wrap
- 2023 Membership Now Open
- Snow Australia Performance Pathway Webinar
