Dear XC Skiers,

Recent weeks were stressful for race organisers and sport administrators as some tough decisions had to be made due to the snow conditions. We were lucky enough to be able to run the Australian Junior Championships and NSW Interschools at Perisher, and the Australian Championships at Falls Creek. However, the Kangaroo Hoppet and National Interschools events were not as fortunate and had to be cancelled. Many thanks to the organisers and many volunteers whose efforts make the events possible.

With all selection races now concluded, the Snow Australia Cross Country Skiing Selection Committee has just released provisional National Teams for 2023/2024. I would like to underline to the community that this is the first stage of the National Team selection process. Athletes invited to join the teams are required to submit individual performance plans and goals for the coming year, and the Selection Committee also has a number of discretionary selections to consider. The final teams will be announced at the end of October.

Though there is minimal snow left on the regular ski trails, there is still snow to be found on the higher slopes. The National Team has just finished a successful camp at Falls Creek today including morning skis in the Mt McKay area and afternoon rollerskiing and running down in the valley. A Junior Team camp is set to take place at the National Snowsports Training Centre in Jindabyne in a couple of weeks, and the NSWACT XC and VIC XC programs are also holding spring camps. From the administration side, plans are in full swing for team tours and event support for the northern hemisphere.

I'd like to finish this update with a shout-out to the Kangaroo Hoppet and their sponsor AGL, who generously donated the athlete scholarships slated for the Hoppet events to the state and national team programs. The national funds will go into the Towards 2026 fundraising project, which this year will subsidise the expenses of Australian athletes competing at international events such as World Cup and the World Junior/U23 Championships. Donations to Towards 2026 can be made via the Australian Sport Foundation.

Best wishes,

Finn Marsland
Cross Country Skiing Program Director
Snow Australia

The provisional Cross Country Skiing National Teams for 2023-2024 have been released by the Snow Australia Cross Country Skiing Selection Committee.

Katerina Paul from Taggerty and Seve de Campo from Canberra are overall winner of the 2023 FIS Australia - New Zealand Continental Cup for Cross Country Skiing. This is the fifth time Paul has won the FIS ANC series, while for de Campo this is his second win in a row.

The 2023 Australian Junior Championship for cross country skiing was held at Perisher on the first weekend of September, but only just. Due to deteriorating snow conditions, the event was held as two point-to-point time trials in Classic and Freestyle technique on the same day, with no sprint finals.

Despite the diminishing snowpack, preparations are underway for the SkiMo Talent Development Camp scheduled for next Thursday to Saturday September 21-23 at Falls Creek.

The camp will be led by Matt Reid, former SkiMo World Cup athlete and chair of Ski Mountaineering Canada. Matt is also the race director for Steep Dreams, which is a major event on the Canadian SkiMo circuit and a previous host of the North American Championship.

Although the camp will take place regardless, a snow-check for the SkiMo Sprint event scheduled for Saturday September 23 will be undertaken this weekend. If the event ends up being cancelled all entrants will receive a full refund.

Registration for the SkiMo Talent Development Camp is open here: