For everyone!
Club events are held all over the Australian snow fields from the end of June through to mid-September, sometimes with 3-4 events on the same day across different resorts. Not all involve serious racing. Some may be purely social and others include lessons and some fun races at the end. Almost all of these can be entered on the day, though it’s usually cheaper to pre-enter. If you get keen on participating in events check out the Skike Australia Victorian Ski Chase. It is free to enter and there are some great prizes.
The largest community race in Australia
The biggest club event in Australia is the Kangaroo Hoppet, which is in the Worldloppet series of international ski marathons. The Hoppet is run at Falls Creek in August and attracts over 1000 skiers annually from 20+ nations. This usually includes 150-200 international skiers, but also many novices racing for the first time and infants or toddlers being towed in sleds.
A whole week of XC Skiing events!
In NSW, Perisher XC Week at the start of August features 10+ club events over a 9-day period, including the long running KAC Perisher to Charlotte Pass on the Wednesday and the Snowy Mountain Classic on the final Saturday.
And for kids & teens
An important sub-group of the club events are the Mini-Series events at Lake Mountain and Falls Creek. These are low-key events for kids of all ages, sometimes as young as 3! Basically if you can walk, you can ski.
The Paddy Pallin Junior at Perisher at the start of the season is also worth noting for its same emphasis on participation from a young age and long tradition.
Want to know more?
There are heaps of other club events out there to participate in. Check out all the beginner/intermediate events outlined in the Discover XC events calendar. For more information on all racing events check out AUSXC.com.