Dear XC Skiers,

The winter racing season is now fully underway, with state championships held last weekend at Perisher and Falls Creek following earlier club events also at these resorts. Articles from each of the state events are now up on the Snow Australia site, as well as registration links for all events in the FIS Australia New Zealand Continental Cup series.

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome coach Kate Mulcahy to the XC National Training Centre at Falls Creek. Hailing from the USA, Kate arrived in Australia at the end of June and leapt straight into the deep end with back-to-back National Team and Victorian Team camps. It’s been great to see Kate and other coaches in action over the past few weeks, coaching athletes of all levels from National Team through to local juniors.

In the next step of our planning for the 2022/2023 international season, we are calling for athletes to submit expressions of interest to compete in various international events or to be involved in Snow Australia led programs. More information is available in this news update. 

On a personal note, I’d like to report on some fantastic skiing with my family during the school holidays. See below a photo from a small off-track venture from the Two Pauls track at Falls Creek last week.

All the best wishes to everyone for more days like these!

Finn Marsland,
Cross Country Skiing Program Director

Registration is now live for all events in the 2022 AUS/NZL Continental Cup Series. 

As no FIS XC events are being held this year, the 2022 ANC consists of just the five events being held in Australia. The first races off the rank are the Australian Championship Classic Sprint and 10/15km Freestyle events at Falls Creek on July 30/31. Links for all event registrations are listed here:

• July 30/31 - FIS Australian Championship - Falls Creek
• August 20 - FIS Australian Sprint (F) Championship - Perisher
  August 21 - FIS Australian 5/10km (C) Championship  - Perisher
• August 27 - Kangaroo Hoppet - Falls Creek

The full race calendar is available via: AUSXC.com

Snow Australia is seeking expressions of interest from athletes interested to take part in Cross Country Skiing international events and tours during the 2022-2023 northern hemisphere season. This includes the following events:

• 2023 World Championship, Planica SLO, February 21 - March 5
• 2023 World Junior/U23 Championship, Whistler CAN, January 27-February 5
• 2023 World University Games, Lake Placid USA, January 12-22

The racing season has well and truly kicked off with the Victorian Junior XC Championships held over the July 16-17 weekend at Falls Creek. The predicted adverse weather luckily did not hinder the racing and organisers were able to hold a successful event despite the considerable snowfall.

It was a great weekend of racing despite the considerable snow fall, with the Falls Creek groomers and race organisers putting together two fantastic courses for the juniors to race on. Next race on the calendar at Falls Ceek is the Australian Open XC Championships on the weekend of the 30^th-31^st of July.

It is said, ``if you want it to snow, then put on a ski race,’’ and that is exactly what happened at the weekend, just in time for the ACT XC Open and Junior Cross Country Ski Sprint Championships and the NSW XC Open, Junior and Masters Distance Championships at the Perisher Cross Country Centre.

A few centimetres overnight Friday provided good conditions for the sprints on Saturday, but more than a few centimetres and blizzard conditions Saturday night and Sunday morning resulted in the distance event being postponed until next Saturday, July 23, for safety reasons. Entries have reopened for this event on the Snow Australia website until midnight Wednesday July 20. It will be a mass/age group start event.

In line with the decision by the International Ski Federation (FIS) to ban the use of all fluorinated waxes for 2022-2023 and beyond, the Snow Australia Cross Country Committee (SAXC) has introduced a no-fluoro policy for the 2022 Australian winter.

The protocol is supported by all the state committees and teams operating under Snow Australia, including the NSWACT XC Team and Victorian Cross Country Team.

The Australian Cross Country Ski Team have ramped up their 2022 domestic season, with their first national on-snow training camp at Falls Creek.

Twenty-six junior and senior athletes, plus coaches, came together in late June to make the most of the phenomenal weather conditions at the Victorian ski resort, in the first full cross country program camp since before the COVID pandemic.

The training camp was a success with the help of NSW/ACT coach Alexei Sotskov, Victorian junior coach Robbie Catto-Smith, XC director Finn Marsland and former national team athlete turned coach Paul Kovacs. Plus the latest addition to the XC coaching staff, Kate Mulcahy, all the way from California, who is out for the season as the Falls Creek National Training Centre coach.