Cross Country Director Update - August 2026

Dear XC Skiing Community,

After promising snowfalls 3-4 weeks ago, this winter has proven to be a short one. We were lucky to get away with some of the championship races and key citizen events such as the Kangaroo Hoppet and XC Ski Week. In addition to the featured articles below, I would encourage reading of this excellent ABC article on Rosie Fordham and the Hoppet. Unfortunately, rapidly deteriorating snow conditions have seen the cancellation of the last weekend of the Australian Open and Junior Championship races and pretty much the end of regular trail grooming.

The last ski races left on the calendar are the National XC Interschools at Perisher on Friday 4th September, and the Snowy Mountains Nordic Family Cup on Saturday 5th September. The Perisher Resort and Snow Australia Interschools team are working to confirm the XC event location (possibly up at Blue Cow), while SMN are investigating assorted back-up plans. For the latest info on these events, look to the Interschools and PXC sites or keep an ear to the social media grapevine.

For anyone in the Jindabyne area for the Interschools and SMN Family Cup, we would love to have you join the National Team and XC community for the inaugural Cross Country Ball on the Saturday night. Hosted by Snow Australia at the amazing Tinkersfield venue on the road to Thredbo, this is set to be an evening of fine dining and celebration of our sport. To help us confirm numbers for the night, please register here by this Friday 28 August.

For those further afield who can't make it on the night, the AUSXC Silent Auction will be running in conjunction with the XC Ball. Find yourself a bargain and support athletes representing Australia on the international stage at the same time.

Looking ahead to the northern winter, Snow Australia is planning to send teams to all major international events, including World Cup, the World Championships in Sweden, the World Junior-U23 Championship in Estonia, the World University Games in China. Preliminary numbers are also looking good for the 2027 World Masters in Norway. The selection process for the national team and international championships will begin in September, with provisional teams likely to be announced in October. Full selection criteria are available here on the Snow Australia site, with more information and EOIs for some events to be released in the coming weeks.

For keen spring skiers, I wish you luck in seeking out snow on the higher slopes over the next month.

Best regards,

Finn Marsland
Cross Country Skiing Program Director

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Included in this update:

• XC Ball - Tickets Available now
• A Memorable Day at the 2026 Kangaroo Hoppet
• Perisher XC Ski Week
• Booming Numbers at Ski de Femme
• AUS Open and Continential Cup Racing
• 2026 Membership
• Peak Learning Adventures