Dear XC Skiing Community,

Though it may seem strange for the middle of April to be a busy time for Australian cross country skiing, this has been the norm for me for the past decade. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to host an awards night and rollerski races in Canberra at pretty much the same time as our annual junior camp at the AIS, and we also squeezed in a FIS TD seminar in 2025.

The big change this year has been the move of the Australian Rollerski Championship and the AUSXC Awards to Jindabyne, taking advantage of the amazing new track at the Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre. On the same site as the National Snowsport Training Centre (NSTC), this facility is a game-changing asset for our sport, providing a safe place to train and develop skills for local juniors as well as a high-performance training destination for elite athletes. I want to thank the efforts of Biathlon Australia and NSW Sport & Recreation in getting this facility constructed and up and running. In particular, the project manager Scott Kneller (who is also a Snow Aus Board Member); Toni Hulme, whose initiative got this project started and secured and delivered two state government grants; the contractor Alastair McKimm from McKimm Civil, whose team built the track, the BA board and general manager Sandra Paul (who is also our leading TD), and also the local community groups who provided input into the track design..

This time of year is also an important one for review and planning after the international season. Many new milestones have been passed during this recent Olympic cycle, which raises the bar for the next four years leading into French Alps 2030. It's an exciting time for the sport, though also a challenging one as we consider how to resource our lofty goals.

On that note, I want to thank our two partners again from this last season, Colormaker and Peak Learning Adventures, who contributed $5,000 each to help fund the World Cup team van. Without their support, this initiative would not have been possible. Read on in this update to find out more about upcoming expeditions with Zac Zaharias and Peak Learning.

Also on the planning side, if you haven't seen it already the 2026 Australian Race Calendar is available here on the Snow Australia site. A notable change is the move of the Kangaroo Hoppet to the third Saturday of August, one week earlier than in past years. Consequently, the second weekend of Australian Championship competition has shifted a week later, now at Perisher on August 22-23. For those in NSW-ACT, this is the same week as the state Interschools races, which are on Wednesday August 19. NSW XC Week remains in the first week of August.

I hope to run into many of you between now and the winter, whether at the Snow Awards in Melbourne next week, at the Canberra Snow Sale on May 9, perhaps at the Mt Beauty Running Festival on May 16 or at the NSTC in Jindabyne on the June long weekend, or randomly in a supermarket (Tom stop stalking me). Any pitches for fundraising and/or connections to philanthropists are welcome.

Best regards,

Finn Marsland
Cross Country Skiing Program Director

Australia's cross country skiers headed to Jindabyne on April 11-12 for the 2026 Australian Rollerski Championship, held for the first time at the Jindabyne Sport & Recreation Centre.

With over 50 participants each day and two big thumbs-up on the new track funded by NSW Sport & Recreation and Biathlon Australia, the event was a great success and bodes well for the future of the sport.

In the open class FIS events, national team athletes Satara Moon and Bentley Walker-Broose took home the wins on both days. Participation was particularly high in the junior classes, with 31 juniors U16 entered. The Australian Championships also had their first-ever Para Sitski participant, with Alex Hale testing himself in the 1-lap Sprint and 4-lap Criterium.

The AUSXC Awards recognise and celebrate the efforts and achievements within the cross country skiing community from the past year. The 2026 AUSXC Awards were presented in Jindabyne on April 11 as part of the Australian Rollerski Championship weekend. The primary athlete and coach AUSXC Award winners become the XC nominees for the Snow Australia Awards, this year to be held in Melbourne on 23 April.

The 2025/2026 international season was a ground-breaking one for Australian cross country skiing, with many personal and Australian best results including the first ever top 20 results on World Cup, the first Team Sprint finalists at the Winter Olympics, the first ever Olympic Relay, ans also medals at the World Masters. Read on for all the AUSXC award winners for 2026.

In this E-News Snow Australia and AUSXC would like to say a special thank you for the sponsorship by Zac Zaharias and his company Peak Learning Adventures. This sponsorship enabled the Australian National XC team to hire a van to transport staff, technical equipment, waxing gear, and skis between European World Cup events in the lead up to the 2026 Winter Olympics. This made for easier logistics, allowing the team to focus more on performance. 

Peak Learning Adventures operates treks and climbs to mountainous areas around the world, including Papua New Guinea (Kokoda Trail), South America (Aconcagua), Africa (Kilimanjaro) and Nepal (Himalayas). Coming up in October this year is the spectacular Everest Three Passes trek, a 22 day lodge-based trek guided by an Australian Everest mountaineer, visiting Everest Base Camp and crossing three high passes and two Himalayan glaciers (hence avoiding the crowds on the usual route). Also in October is the Mera Peak and Island Peak expedition, a 6,000m+ climbing trip which rewards climbers with one of the most remarkable panoramas in the Himalaya — views of five of the world’s highest mountains: Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Kangchenjunga, Climbers will be led by Australia’s most experienced high-altitude mountaineers, supported by a team that understands both the physical and psychological demands of expedition life.

For more information on both trips, contact Zac directly via info@peaklearning.com.au 

Australia’s emerging cross-country skiers have tested themselves against the world’s best young athletes at the 2026 FIS Cross Country Junior and U23 World Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, with a team of 10 competing from 2-8 March.

Eight members of the squad returned after competing at the 2025 championships in Schilpario, Italy, while Hugo Hinckfuss and Maddie Hooker arrived in Norway after representing Australia at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in February.

Individual highlights of the championship included 32nd by Hinckfuss in the U23 Freestyle Sprint, 36th by Hooker in the U23 20km Freestyle, 49th by Satara Moon in the Junior Sprint, and 69th by Samuel Johnson also in the Junior Sprint. The championship concluded with an solid 16th place by the U23 Mixed Relay team of Hinckfuss, Hooker, Noah Bradford and Isabella Moon, who were in 12th place ahead of both the USA and Canada at the half-way point and still ahead of the USA until part-way through the final leg.

The Italian Alps threw a little of everything at Lauren Parker and Dave Miln in their 20km cross-country final on Sunday, with the race starting in snow for the first time at these Paralympic Games, then some rain, a little sunshine, before low cloud set in.

Parker, a two-time gold medallist at the Paris Summer Paralympics, enjoyed four top 10 finishes in her six events at her debut Winter Games, a 9th and 10th in biathlon’s 12.5km individual, and sprint pursuit events, and an 8th in the 10km to accompany her final day 10th in the 20km cross-country.

Miln had been hoping for his third top 20 finish at Milano Cortina to add to his 12.5km individual in biathlon and his 20th in the 10km cross-country. His 23rd today from a field of 31 still gave him a sense of pride in finishing all six para-nordic events at his debut Games.

Earlier articles from the Paralympics:

• Endurance Queen Parker Surprises In Sprint Classic
• The Coaches Who Bring Out the Best In Our Paralympians

While athletes took their place on the start line at the Olympic Winter Games, a dedicated network of professionals works quietly behind the scenes to ensure they can perform at their best.

For Sport and Exercise Physician Dr Larissa Trease, the Milano Cortina Games were an opportunity to do exactly that.

Serving as Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Winter Olympic Team, Lari was based in Predazzo in Italy’s Val di Fiemme, working closely with Australia’s cross-country skiing team while supporting the health and performance of the broader team across the Games.

Snow Australia spoke with Lari about the privilege of working in elite sport’s biggest arena and the role medical staff play in helping athletes reach the start line ready to compete.

“My role is to support Chief Medical Officer Dr Donald Kuah, our medical team of six doctors and the broader Australian Winter Olympic Team with a focus on optimising health and performance,” Trease said.

Shortly after representing Australia in biathlon at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Korea, Ava McCann was invited to take part in the ISMF-IOC Olympic Solidarity Camp in Spain where the SkiMo bug bit hard. She attended another youth development camp in Chile late in September 2024 and by December was lining up for her first World Cup race.

Fast forward 15 months and McCann’s rise has been as steep as the ascents she scales across the mountains of Europe.

In France, home to one of the most passionate SkiMo communities anywhere in the world, the 19-year-old recently took out the U20 French National Championship at La Grand Trace, the longest-standing event on the country’s SkiMo calendar.

“Now I feel like I have done my first ‘real’ SkiMo race, and I understand what people mean when they compare real ski mountaineering and Olympic SkiMo. It makes the Olympics seem so tame!” 

The Canberra Snow Sale returns on Saturday, 9 May at EPIC!

A long-running fundraiser supporting the local snowsports community, it’s the perfect place to buy or sell new and pre-loved gear with something for everyone, from beginners to seasoned riders.

Looking to sell items? You can lodge your items online now.