Venues
Cross Country Skiing can be at most Australian ski resorts, but when it come to racing there are four main venues for club and championship events: Falls Creek, Perisher, Lake Mountain and Mt Hotham. Of these, Falls Creek and Perisher are the only locations that have courses homologated for FIS international competition.
Falls Creek
Falls Creek is the official home and partner of the National Team and hosts the largest number of XC ski races in Victoria. There are only a few weekends free of racing between the traditional Birkebeiner and Howmans Gap Allstars club races at the start of July and the Kangaroo Hoppet on the 4th Saturday of August.
Perisher
Barely a weekend goes by at Perisher from the end of June to the start of September without some form of XC ski race. The Sverre Kaaten Nordic Shelter is the envy of all race organisers in the country, with a permanent race office and race officials room and extensive equipment storage. The highlight of the racing season at Perisher is NSW Cross Country Week, which features amongst other events the KAC Classic, the Sundeck Cup, and the Snowy Mountains Classic (note that these events are all Freestyle).
Lake Mountain
For the past few years Lake Mountain has launched the Australian racing season with the Lake Mountain Sprint X in late June. The closest ski resort to a major city, other mainstays of the Lake Mountain season include the Lake Mountain Mini-Series and the Bullfight Charge.
Mt Hotham
Historically Mt Hotham regularly hosted Victorian Junior Championship and Australian Championship competitions, as well as a number of club events. Now the main cross country race of the season is the Hotham to Dinner Plain “Pub to Pub”, which is probably the most popular point to point race in Victoria. Mt Hotham is also the home of Biathlon in Australia and hosts club and championship competitions throughout the winter.
