October 2021

P+P Snow Australia Members,

Wow, what a rollercoaster of a month. I hope you have all been able to sneak a few moments of 'normality' in somewhere, as lockdown fatigue and the continued march of COVID-19 challenges everything we thought was normal.

The effort to re-open Perisher within 2.5hrs of an announcement was incredible, and the skiers and boarders getting up on the hill and sending it off natural side hits that day was a true reflection of the passion that exists in the park and pipe community. A big 'thank you' to both Thredbo and Perisher, who got terrain parks back up and running for the short but sweet 2021 season 2.0 reboot.

Following on from exploring the FTEM last month, the five domains of a park and pipe athlete are explored and explained in the holistic athlete profile documentation that guides the development and support of emerging athletes. A nice summary that will lead us more in depth into each domain in the coming months.

Targeting the MENTAL domain, something to put in your diary and plan for - if planning is even a thing now - is the next iteration of the Snow Australia Futures Readiness Camp. This camp focuses on mental growth and will be running at the National Snowsport Training Centre (NSTC) in Jindabyne, Dec 13-19 2021. The inaugural joint Snow Australia Futures Readiness Camp product run by Turn n' Burn at Surfing Australia High Performance Centre in April was really one of the most impactful and valuable camps I have experienced, so I am excited to see what the next one delivers at the NSTC, Jindabyne.

Over the pond at Cardrona, NZL. Snowboarder Jesse Parkinson (NSWIS) became the 6th Aussie snowboarder to ever land a triple, a huge milestone in any snowboarders journey. He proudly joins the ranks of Scotty James, Matty Cox, Angus Waddington, Beau Fischer and Valentino Guseli. Exciting to see a great season of progression coming together for Jesse.

Finally, all eyes will be turning to the first P+P WC of 21/22 for our Big Air Freeski and Snowboard athletes #chasingwinter at Chur, SUI on Oct 22-23 . For FK-Cameron Waddell and Abi Harrigan, and for SB-Tess Coady, Matty Cox and Valentino Guseli will all be there flying the Aussie flag. Best of luck team.

Stay safe, Go hard.

David Parr

When you can’t remember when you fell in love with skiing, chances are you started pretty early. Freestyle skier Joey Elliss grew up in Thredbo and has been on snow since he was three years old, taking to the slopes every weekend with his sister Arkie before entering the freestyle pathway through the Thredbo Mountain Academy slopestyle program.

Now 15, Elliss is one of the young Park and Pipe athletes enrolled in Snow Australia’s Emerging Talent Program, hoping to soon transition into the performance pathway. 

“I don’t exactly remember when I fell in love with skiing because it was so long ago,” Elliss admitted. “But I assume it was just around when I started because I always wanted to be up the hill skiing whenever I could.”

If you are planning on travelling overseas to train or compete during the northern winter please make sure you visit Snow Australia's Competing Overseas page to fully understand your membership, insurance and event entry requirements before travelling.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has concluded its Autumn forums with a number of meetings involving the sub-committees for Park & Pipe, Freestyle (formerly Moguls & Aerials), Snowboard Cross & Alpine Ski Cross (formerly grouped together as Cross), and Snowboard Alpine, leading up to the large Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski Committee Meeting.

The forums confirmed the World Cup calendars of all disciplines for the upcoming season. 

In the Park and Pipe programme, freeski will see four halfpipe, six slopestyle and two big air competitions, while for snowboard there will be three halfpipe, six slopestyle and two big air World Cup events. The Olympic Winter Games kicking off in Beijing on 4 February will include halfpipe, slopestyle and big air events for both freeski and snowboard.

Snow Australia today published the Year 12 2021 Interschools Snowsport Honour Roll to acknowledge 274 Year 12 students from 76 schools across Australia who missed the opportunity to compete in the 2021 Interschools Snowsport Championships due to COVID-related event cancellations. 

National Interschools Chair Steve Cooper said that the Honour Roll is a significant record of our schools commitment to snowsports.

“The cancellation of the 2021 Interschools Championships was very disappointing for everyone involved in the snow sports industry.

Below is an update regarding the changes implemented by Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) around Glucocorticoid (cortisone) injections in-competition.

SIA advise you that from 1 January 2022, all Glucocorticoid (GC), “cortisone”, injections will be prohibited in-competition. This is a new ruling, making their classification consistent with oral GC preparations.

GC injections are permitted out of competition, however, most commonly used GCs have a wash-out (clearance from the body) period of between three and five days while some types of GCs can stay in a person’s system for up to 60 days for intra-muscular injection. This means that some injections given before competition can be detected in an in-competition sample.

Below is an update regarding the changes implemented by FIS surrounding Fluorinated Wax Products.

Dear Snow Australia Athletes, Officials and Personnel,

As you may be aware, FIS has prohibited the use of any wax products containing certain fluorocarbons at all FIS events from season 2021/2022 onwards.

With the health risks and environmental concerns connected to fluorine waxes, FIS is committed to introducing a full fluor ban and to developing testing methods to ensure fluor-free competitions in the future.