Young and Old in AUS Open Championship
Published Sun 21 Aug 2022
The following article was written by Karen Forman intended for publication in the Monaro Post.
Perisher Valley resident James Finnie never imagined that at 71 he would be skiing alongside Australia’s Olympians in the national open cross country ski championships, but that’s exactly what he found himself doing on the Perisher XC Centre trails at the weekend.
As the most senior competitor, Finnie, known affectionately in the cross-country community as Jim, was first to set off on the 10km individual time trial that constituted the Australian Classical Distance Championships on Sunday.
Behind him on the start line were 2022 Winter Olympic team members Seve de Campo, Lars Young Vik and National and State team members including Cooma local Bentley Walker-Broose, along with members of the elite Sun Valley Gold team from Idaho, USA, a Swiss, a Latvian and an Ecuadorian.
``It’s a bit too short for me, this distance,” Jim quipped as the countdown began. ``Usually I like 90km races!”
Jim Finnie
Unlike all of his fellow competitors, Finnie, who works as a waiter at a ski lodge part time and spends the rest of his winter training for the World Loppet Series overseas, only started cross country skiing at Perisher aged 49. He started racing internationally at 63 and has since completed 30 international marathons and seven Kangaroo Hoppets in Australia.
He finished Sunday’s championship in a time of 1hour 13.21.16 mins, taking “a little more time” than de Campo, who was the winner in 26.25.10 mins, second placegetter, USA skier Peter Wolter (26.36.86 mins) and Walker-Broose, who was third in 26.55.01 mins.
Walker-Broose received the silver medal as the second Australian. Lars Young Vic won the bronze. Wolter from USA, second place getter, won a packet of Tim Tams.
``I am happy,” he said. ``Being able to race at home at Perisher in a national championship with young blokes of this calibre…well, there is just no better feeling. I just love this sport, it’s wonderful.”
Finnie was one of three masters aged men to compete, with Cooma resident Adrian Blake crossing the line in 50.03.63 mins.
The women’s 5km championship saw Australian team members fill the podium, including Jindabyne local Zana Evans, who skied consistently to take the silver medal in 15.22.97 mins, behind gold medallist Phoebe Cridland 14.59.8 mins and ahead of bronze medallist Katerina Paul 15.25.93 mins.
The event also provided some of the younger local NSW team members the opportunity to experience a national race under FIS conditions, with 14-year-old Satara Moon of Jindabyne finishing ninth in 19.20.39 mins, Charlotte Walker-Broose of Cooma 10th in 19.59.16 mins, 16-year-old Gabi Forman of Jindabyne 13th in 20.54.93 mins - and 16-year-old Alexi Cross 14th in 21.28.68 mins. Just one masters-aged woman, Virpi Komulainen, who has been part of the NSWACT XC coaching team during the winter, took part, finishing 15th in 22.15.87 mins.
Evans’s silver medal provided her with a double for the weekend, having finished second in the Australian Open (Freestyle) Sprint Championship on Saturday. Evans finished second in the seeding time trial, then placed second in her quarter final, won her semi-final, then crossed the line behind Kat Paul with Phoebe Cridland third in the final.
Zana Evans / Bentley Walker-Broose / Heather Walker-Broose
Cooma’s Walker-Broose’s best efforts in the Saturday sprints netted him fourth place, just off the podium behind Lars Young Vik, Seve de Campo and his brother Fedele de Campo.
The 21-year-old university student only returned from Idaho a few weeks ago, having spent six weeks training with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Four of the USA skiers then returned to Australia with him to spend some time training at Perisher.
Cross country ski racing at Perisher continues with the NSW Interschools Championships Wednesday August 24, after which time many locals head south to Falls Creek to join thousands of others from around the world at the Kangaroo Hoppet, raced over 7km, 21km and 42km.
For information about cross country skiing at Perisher, check out www.perisherxcountry.org
