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.

• Australian Junior Championship entries
• National Interschools event information

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

A wonderful series of racing over the weekend at Perisher has seen the Australian Championships decided for 2024.

On Saturday the Sprint was contested in the free technique with Germany’s Christian Winker looking for back-to-back wins after taking out last year’s event at Falls Creek.

True to form, Winker came through the rounds to make the final and again taste victory ahead of Seve de Campo and Bentley Walker-Broose. Jayden Spring made the final for the second straight year and finished fourth.

The first weekend of Australian Championships and FIS Continental Cup action took place at Falls Creek on July 27/28.

On Saturday Jayden Spring and Rosie Fordham were on top after the time trials of the Classic Sprint.

In the finals Spring was able to assert his ascendency through the rounds to claim victory ahead of Phil Bellingham and Fedele de Campo. Fordham also took her form into the elimination rounds to win ahead of Darcie Morton and Lily Murnane.

The 2024 edition of the Kangaroo Hoppet has been cancelled due to abnormally warm weather and low snow conditions. The following statement was released by the organising committee:

It is with much sadness that we have to inform you that the 2024 Kangaroo Hoppet has been cancelled due to rapidly deteriorating snow conditions on the course, combined with a weather forecast of warm temperatures and rain in the next week. 

While there is still good skiing in the Heathy Spur and Mt McKay/Pretty Valley  areas adjacent to Falls Creek, snow conditions on the lower trails in Sun Valley, the Dam Wall and along the Bogong High Plains Road means that it is not possible to host an event such as the Kangaroo Hoppet.

Please visit the Kangaroo Hoppet website below for more information.

Snow Australia is seeking preliminary Expressions of Interest from athletes to take part in the following Cross Country Skiing events/tours during the 2024-25 international winter:

• 2025 World University Games
• 2025 World Junior/U23 Championship
• OPA Continental Cup Tour
• Junior Development Tour

For the events, athletes must also meet the selection criteria. National Team athletes aiming to race World Cup and the World Championship should already be in discussion with head coach Alexei Sotskov.

In July Falls Creek and Perisher played host to the State Championship races.

At Falls Creek, it was the Victorian Junior Cross Country Championships, while at Perisher the ACT Open/Junior Sprints were contested followed by the NSW Junior/Open/Masters Distance Championships.

Read all the latest SkiMo news in the August Community Update below including events in Falls Creek and Perisher, athlete updates and EOI's for the northern season.

Dear SkiMo Skiers,

As winter continues here in Australia, with a little under a month until our first Australian SkiMo races, we're back with another update. 

Although the biting chill of winter has taken a bit of a step back, that doesn't mean that there aren't amazing things happening in the world of SkiMo, both currently in Australia and abroad in the future. 

Partnerships with both Falls Creek and Perisher continue as we enter the final month in the lead-up to our first Australian SkiMo races. Falls Creek will host both a Sprint and Mini-Individual on the 15th and 16th of September, respectively, and Perisher will host a Mini-Individual on the 29th of September. Registration links to both events are below, and we would absolutely love for you to join in and give it a go.