Virtual Hoppet a success for the second year in a row

Australia’s premier cross-country ski race, the Kangaroo Hoppet celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with another outstanding success, despite being held as a virtual event only for the second time in a row.
 
The organisers had originally planned to return to the more traditional on-snow mass participation format for 2021 and mark an important milestone in the history of the Falls Creek event, which is also part of the prestigious Worldloppet series.
 
By August, with most Australians affected by lockdowns, movement restrictions or border closures, a Virtual Hoppet became the only option. The format had already been tested in 2020 and the rules were pretty simple: participants could sign up on the Hoppet official website and commit to carrying out some form of physical activity over a 42km, 21km or 7km route of their choice before August 29 - mirroring the distances on offer for the original Kangaroo Hoppet, Australian Birkbeiner and Joey Hoppet races respectively.
 
"The response from the domestic and international skiing community was once again fantastic, with almost 1,200 participants across 31 countries taking part," said Allan Marsland, the chairman of the Kangaroo Hoppet board. "Of course, we'd love to be hosting the event in person, but it's great to see so many people enthusiastically embracing the virtual editions."

With cross-country skiing limited to those Australians lucky enough to be living in the Snowy Monaro Local Government Area and have access to tracks at Perisher, or in the Falls Creek, Mt Hotham and Dinner Plain areas, the bulk of the participants took to running, walking, cycling and mountain biking as expected. Some of the more exotic activities documented included paddling, skiing in ski tunnels in Finland and glaciers in Switzerland, as well as a 7km swim in the chilly (10’C) waters of Port Phillip Bay.
 
The support for the event from the sporting community was once again overwhelming, with everyone making the most of the circumstances. If for the international skiers it was an opportunity to be part of the Kangaroo Hoppet community, Australians embraced the virtual event as something positive to work towards while coping with COVID-19 restrictions, in the hope of coming together next year at Falls Creek to celebrate a belated Hoppet birthday.

📷 | Head coach for NSW/ACT XC Alexei Sotskov joined the 2021 Virtual Hoppet