peter ward - 2025

Peter Ward has been a leading figure in Australian cross-country skiing for over 35 years. He served as Chair of NSW XC for more than 20 years and later chaired the NSWACT XC committee until 2025. A FIS delegate for two decades, he has officiated as Chief of Race, Technical Delegate, or Chief of Course at over 100 national and numerous regional championships.

Peter played a key role in expanding the Perisher Nordic Shelter, securing major government funding and personally managing the decade-long project. He was also instrumental in rebuilding the Perisher XC trails after the 2003 bushfires. A major supporter of junior athlete development, Peter has organised and guided NSW and NSWACT Junior XC squads for over 35 years, helping many progress to national and international levels. His professionalism, persistence, and mentorship have made him an invaluable leader in the XC skiing community.

geoff greentree - 2025

Geoff Greentree has been a key supporter of alpine skiing in Australia through his role as TSRC Club Administrator. As he retired in September 2025 after 11 winters, he is recognised for being the administrative backbone of ski racing in Thredbo. Geoff is admired for his dedication, kindness, and tireless behind-the-scenes work running events, supporting athletes and parents, and managing logistics—even through cancellations and challenges. His leadership through service and strong community relationships have earned him great respect and gratitude.

tina burford - 2025

With more than three decades of experience in alpine resort operations and leadership, Tina Burfordis a highly respected figure in the snowsports industry.  Tina spent 31 years as the Snowsports Director at Perisher, where she built and led one of Australia’s largest and most successful snowsports schools. Under her leadership, Perisher became known for its high-quality instructional programs and world-class coaching.

Following her tenure at Perisher, Tina served as Resort Services Managerbefore being promoted to Vice President and General Manager at Hotham Alpine Resort. During her two years at Hotham, she was instrumental in fostering athlete pathways and community engagement, championing events such as the ANC Snowboard Cross and Ski Cross competitions, and actively supporting theWomen of Winterinitiative — a program dedicated to empowering women in leadership and career roles within the snow industry. In September, Tina began a new chapter as Senior Director of Skier Services at Park City Mountain.

DAVID SPEIRS

David Speirs has been involved with the Freestyle community for 30 years. David's highlights from his time include coaching clubs athletes, his involvement in the development of the Chamois mogul ski slope at Mt Buller that has been a game changer as a training venue, and the Emerging Talent Program program success.

David was chair of the National Freestyle Committee for over 25 years. During this time, David was involved in a tremendous growth and success story for Mogul Skiing in Australia, where the discipline achieved world-class results in high performance over multiple Olympic quads and pathway programs grew in both Victoria and NSW, leading winter sport in club program delivery to keep the talent tap running into the national teams. 

 He has passionately worked through multiple stints coaching Australian mogul athletes in the 1990s, coaching Australian Development Team athletes in the 2000s on the French Cup tour, to supporting TBR with coaching through the 2020s. 

john sim - 2024

John is a long standing Cross Country Committee Membersince 2018 and has been a main volunteer at Cross Country events since the early 1990s. His involvement in the cross country community at Perisher has spanned over 30 years. 
 
He has been an event organiser for XC races and XC events at citizen, state, Interschools and national levels during this time, providing support in many roles. 

John organised or supported the junior athlete program for many years, particularly supporting on-snow camps and has also been attending and assisting in organising summer Nordic work parties for over 30 years. 
 
John has maintained a continuous presence with a caring, supportive attitude for this entire period and is a valued member of the XC community. 

susie warwick - 2024

Susie Warwick has over 30 years of experience in Sponsorship Marketing and Media, working predominately with Olympic and Commonwealth Games sports. She has championed equal opportunities for women in sports.

Susie has recently finished a long term tenure as Director of Snow Australia.

At Snow Australia, she has been a representative for the Australian Ski Areas Association 

In 2017 Susie organised a one-day seminar designed to help retiring female athletes prepare for a second career. This ultimately grew into a larger project aimed at championing women involved in the snow industry, Women of Winter, in which Susie was involved in its initial launch and professional development series. 

 anne marie harrison - 2024

CEO of the Victorian Institute of Sport for 18 years, Anne Marie’s work and dedication during this time has positively impacted the snow sports and its community. 

Anne Marie has been a great leader and supporter of the Aerial Skiing program, helping athletes to become the best competitors they can be, whilst also offering support to other winter sport athletes including Scotty James, and Paralympians James Millar, Mitch Gourlay and Jess Gallagher.

Belinda Trembath - 2023

With more than 30 years of experience in the snow industry, Belinda began her career as a ski instructor at Mount Hotham before moving into marketing and later leading the Hotham lift company from 2006. In 2019, she oversaw Falls Creek while managing Hotham, and in 2022 was appointed VP & COO of Perisher.

Belinda is recognised for her strategic leadership, having driven major growth programs and spearheaded technology advancements across Australian Resorts, enhancing both employee and guest experiences. 

Allan Marsland - 2023

Allan Marsland has been involved with cross country skiing at local, state, national, and international levels since 1970, holding the position of Chair of the National Cross Country Committee from 1993 to 1996. 

Marsland was involved with Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club, helping to navigate the establishment of the only Southern Hemisphere event in the Worldloppet series. Marsland was also the Race Director of Kangaroo Hoppet from 1991 for over ten years, now holding the role of Chair of the committee for the past decade. 

David Frydmann

David Frydman played a pioneering role in establishing freestyle skiing in Australia, founding the country’s most successful freestyle ski team at Mt Buller. 

Frydman held the position of Chair of the National Freestyle Committee through the mid 1990s and early 2000s. During this time he helped steer freestyle skiing into a prominent position, achieving significant success nationally and internationally, securing FIS World Cup victories, Olympic gold medals and numerous accolades.

Cliff Mason - 2023

Cliff Mason has dedicated over 20 years to snowsports administration, having held numerous roles and positions within the National Alpine Committee including two terms as Chair from 1997-2001 and 2007-2008. 

Mason has been an integral figure within the sport, having received the Australian Sports Medal for service to snowsport in 2000 for his efforts. 

At an international level, Mason represented Australia on various alpine sub-committees of the
International Ski Federation attending 18 overseas FIS conferences and meetings.

Awarded 2023

peter cunningham

Peter has a long history of participation and contribution to the sport of cross country skiing in Australia. He served as the NSWXC race secretary in the 1990s and was instrumental in delivering local racing events throughout that time. To this day Peter continues to involve himself in the XC community by running the Perisher Nordic Shelter and is an active race official. 

Peter chaired both ACT XC and Snowsports ACT from 1999 to 2018, and has been a member of the Snow Australia Northern Management Committee and NSWACT XC Committee since their amalgamation in 2018. The current Chair of the NSWACT XC Committee, Cunningham also serves as the National XC Race Secretary, a position he has held since 2007. 
 
With decades of international competition management, Paul has provided consistent support for sport development, from grassroots through to national levels over the years.

donna baker - 2021

Donna Baker, co-founder of the NSW Interschools Championships, was recognised in 2018 for the Australian honours system appointments to the Order of Australia, to her outstanding achievement and service to snow sports.

Donna has been involved in Interschools since 1987 when she co-founded the Championships. Donna is the current Events Manager for the Championships, Board Director for New South Wales Snowsports and member on Snow Australia's Participation Committee.

walt hiltner - 2021

Walt is one of the pioneers of freestyle skiing globally, and since the 1970s has been one of the key drivers behind the introduction, and ultimately the success, of freestyle skiing in Australia.

Walt ran freestyle events through the 1980s and 1990s, including the Junior World Championships at Mt Buller in 1995 which was a test event for the Aerials World Cup at Mt Buller, at which Walt was appointed the founding Event Director.

He has also worked tirelessly to drive change at a FIS committee level, serving as the FIS Freestyle Committee Chair and Vice Chair for almost 20 years.

BJ Kaufmehl - 2021

BJ was captain of the Thredbo Ski Race Club (TSRC) for over a quarter of a century, encouraging alpine athletes’ successes through hard work and self discipline. BJ mentored many coaches alongside their athletes, settling them in to Thredbo and developing their coaching skills.

BJ was Race Director for TSRC throughout that period, overseeing Continental Cup, National FIS and Children’s races. He was also a member of the Race Organising Committee that brought the FIS World Cup Men’s GS and Slalom races to Thredbo in 1989.

A former National Alpine Selector, BJ was a team manager for Sport and Rec team European Tours, accompanying future Olympians on international trips.

Recognisable by his yellow ski helmet, he held the position of Chief of Race at Interschools over the years. He was presented with the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.