2025 XC World Masters

A special well done goes to the Masters skiers who competed in their first ever races at a Masters World Cup. On the first day of competition, Catherine Lambert, Bruce Donnan, Stephen Meehan, Jim Rutups and Carl Johnson, all first timers competed in the 10km Classic, along with regular competitors Peter Lambert, Adrian Blake and Andrew Walker. In the afternoon Jane Scheer, Irene Dunn, Robyn Englert, Neil Wylie, Lindsay Bridgford, Robert Dunn, Wayne Pethybridge, David Simpson, Zac Zaharias, Bob Flower and Len Budge competed in the 10km Freestyle in soft and wet snow conditions. Notable results in their respective age groups were Jane Scheer 6th, Wayne Pethybridge 21st and Lindsay Bridgford 31st.

On the second day of competition, Catherine Lambert, Lindsay Bridgford, Bruce Donnan, Wayne Pethybridge competed in the 15km Classic. In the afternoon, Jane Scheer, Irene Dunn, Susan Donoghue, Stephen Meehan, David Simpson, Zac Zaharias, Bob Flower, Adrian Blake, Len Budge, Peter Macartney and Andrew Walker competed in the 15km Freestyle event. Neil Wylie, one of the first timers, competed in the 20km Freestyle race. Again, some great results with Jane Scheer finishing 5th, Bob Flower finishing 18th and Adrian Blake finishing 24th.

Len Budge, Andrew Walker, Jane Scheer and Bob Flower

After a rest day and some fresh snow falls, the courses were looking good for the 4 x 5km relays (2 laps Classic followed by 2 laps Freestyle). Australia had two teams, one in the Mens 07 (60-64yo) age group and the other in the Mens 09 (70-74yo), both age groups with many highly competitive national relay teams. The home team, Switzerland, won both age groups. For Australia, in the M07 age group Bruce Donnan, Lindsay Bridgford, David Simpson and Wayne Pethybridge finished 10th, and in the M09 age group Adrian Blake, Andrew Walker, Len Budge and Bob Flower finished 7th. Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

The final day of competition had the long distance courses. Jane Scheer and Irene Dunn competed in the 30km Freestyle event, finishing with the great results of 5th and 11th respectively. In the 20km Freestyle, the Australian competitors were Susan Donoghue, Robert Dunn, Wayne Pethybridge, David Simpson, Zac Zaharias, Bob Flowers, Len Budge, Adrian Blake and Peter Macartney. More excellent results with Wayne Pethybridge coming in 18th, Robert Dunn 42nd, and Bob Flower 19th. Susan Donoghue, Catherine Lambert, Bruce Donnan, Andrew Walker and Peter Macartney competed in the 20km Classic race, with Andrew Walker 13th and Bruce Donnan 28th grabbing WMA points.