Dear Alpine Community,

As we move through the holiday season there has already been a lot going on in the Northern Hemisphere. The training and race season is definitely underway for all of our athletes both in the children’s and FIS ages and I wish everyone the best success and I hope you enjoy your time overseas.

We have athletes competing in both alpine and ski cross both in North America and Europe. The highlight so far has been Madi Hoffman’s performance in the World Cup SL in Levi, Finland in early November. She placed 25th in the first WC of the season scoring her first WC points and Australia’s first WC points in a women’s technical event since Zali Steggall in 2002. More recently we saw Doug Crawford take a first and second place in the Europa Cup Ski Cross races in Idre Fjall, Sweden in early December.

I had the opportunity in early December to fly over to Sweden and take part in the inaugural FIS Jnr Women’s Ski Cross Development Camp which saw 32 girls from different nations come together along with coaches to learn and train in Idre Fjall. This was a great initiative where the girls lived and trained together and got to share personal experiences from all corners of the globe.

There will be Australian athletes competing in World Cups throughout this holiday period, make sure you tune in via LIVE x FIS TV

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to what the new Year will bring us!

Shawn Fleming
Alpine Director
Snow Australia

Australia’s largest ever Winter Youth Olympic Games (WYOG) Team will compete in Gangwon, South Korea with the final 24 athletes selected today by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC). 

The 47-strong Australian team from across the country will compete across eight disciplines from 19 January to 1 February 2024.

Congratulations to Max Kelly and Arkie Lennon who have been selected to compete in Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super G and Alpine combined.

Congratulations to Cassandra Nicholls, Dakota Turner and Duncan Cowan who have been selected to compete in Ski Cross.

Wishing all of our YOG Athletes the best of luck!

The Federation International de Ski (FIS) hosted a Ski Cross camp in Idre Fjall, Sweden last week. The camp was tailored to junior aged female athletes who were looking to build confidence and competence in Ski Cross, ahead of the Youth Olympic games in Gangwon, South Korea this January.

Nations were invited to nominate athletes to the camp, with Snow Australia nominating Cassandra Nicholls, Dakota Turner and April Wynn to attend.

The experience was invaluable to these young athletes, with Cassandra Nicholls excited at the opportunity to attend.

“Sweden has been amazing and I am so glad I was able to attend the camp. I am really enjoying the Ski Cross path and I have met so many girls from other countries who are doing the sport too”.

The athletes were supported by Snow Australia Alpine Director Shawn Fleming, who is no stranger to Idre Fjall, having coached Olympians Sami Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus at World Cups at the venue over many years.

“It was a great experience for these young athletes to come together and spend time in a ski cross environment”, Shawn said. “Ski Cross is home to a collaborative community, with all teams and countries banding together to have successful training and events. The athletes were coached by World Champion and Olympian Andrea Limbacher of Austria and they will continue to develop the skills they learned over the camp across the season”. 

The 2023 Emerging Talent Program Athlete awards are presented to an athlete per discipline in the Snow Australia ETP who is deemed to have achieved outstanding results at an international, national, and/or state level and maintained a high level of focus, dedication, and commitment toward training and personal improvement.

Congratulations to Madison Gilson for winning the 2023 ETP Athlete Award for Alpine/Ski Cross, and Congratulations to Georgia Gunew for winning the 2023 ETP Athlete Award for Para Snowsport!

Alpine skier Madi Hoffman has started the season in style in Levi, Finland, becoming the first Australian to record World Cup points in the slalom event since 2002, when Olympic bronze medallist Zali Steggall placed 18th in the final World Cup event of her legendary career.

The 2024 Winter World Masters Games will this time around be held in Lombardia, Italy. The Games, which is hosted every two years, will be held from January 12 to January 21. Australia will be represented by a large contingent of competitors that heading over to Italy to compete in the Alpine events.

We wish all of our competitors the best of luck!

See more information about the event here.

Snow Australia is pleased to provide the Alpine community with the following prospective event dates for 2024.

Thanks to our event partners and resorts for their assistance with preparing this information.

The Arc is a junior ski development program for families with kids who want to take their skills to the next level. The Arc is the creation of two time winter Olympian Jono Brauer and Italian native, fully certified race coach Gianluca “Pippo” Valeri. 

The Snow Australia Offices will be closing for the Christmas and New Year period from Friday December 22 and re-open on Monday January 8.

The NSTC will be closed from Friday December 22 and re-open on Friday January 5.

Event Entries - If you are competing overseas during this period please note that it may take extra time to process your Expression of Interest (EOI). This includes submitting confirmation of competition insurance and membership applications.

If you require any further information or asssitance please do not hesitate to contact the office via email (info@snow.org.au).

The Mt Buller Ski & Snowboard School has two leadership positions available within their Race & Events Department for the 2024 winter season.  They have undertaken a departmental review and are looking for a supervisor and assistant supervisor.