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Perisher X Country (PXC) is all about promoting the activity of Cross Country Skiing so that one of the best-kept secrets around is not a secret anymore. Please encourage everyone to go to the PXC website (Contact Us page) and subscribe to PXC NEWS and daily XC Trail Reports during winter.

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The start of the KAC Classic, in years gone by. See the latest is ski gear.

Mid-Winter Newsletter

XC Ski Week

XC Ski Week is a celebration of cross-country skiing that offers an exciting lineup of events over the course of eight days. Starting on Saturday, August 3rd, the festivities include 11 events, culminating in the Snowy Mountains Classic and the final Big Presentation the following Saturday. If you're still eager for more skiing after XC Ski Week, you can participate in the NSW Ski Orienteering Championships on Sunday.

A quick rundown of all events is as follows. See the full event calendar by Clicking HERE. To make it easier for the organisers, wherever possible, please enter on-line.

Sat 3/7 - PXC Cup - Fun race with truly some wacky prizes, plus everybody get the one-off/ unique Cup/ Mug (5 to 10 km)
Sun 4/7 - Boonoona Open - There are both classical and skating races (5 km)
Mon 5/7 - KAC X-C Classic, a point to point sprint, Perisher to Charlote Pass, again your choice, go in the classical or skate race (8.5Km)
Tues 6/7 - (am) Mystery Coffee Tour No 1 - Where does it go, nobody knows
Tues 6/7 - (pm) Hello in the Snow - PXC/ PHS function at the Marritz Hotel
Wed 7/7 - (am) Charlotte Pass Open - a quick interval start classic race followed by lunch at KAC Charlotte Pass - A very enjoyable day (2-4 km)
Wed 7/7 - (pm) Twilight Relays - This event started in 1988 - Nordic Shelter fundraiser and special screening of Alpine Odyssey
Thurs 8/7 - Sundeck Cup Handicap - As if we don't already have enough handicaps (7.5Km)
Fri 9/7 - Mystery Coffee Tour No 2 - A very restful social day before the Snowy Classic
Sat 10/7 - (am) Snowy Mountains Classic - Always a great race (2.5 - 30 KM)
Sat 10/7 - (pm) Big Presentation
Sun 11/7 - Ski Orienteering

XC Ski Week has evolved over the years to include a variety of exciting events and social gatherings. Notable additions since 2013 include the Mystery Coffee Tour and the Big Presentation. Another enjoyable social event is "Hello in the Snow," where the Perisher Cross-Country (PXC) community and the Perisher Historical Society come together over drinks at the Marritz Alpine Hotel on Tuesday afternoon.

The KAC X-C Classic, for the third year will be held on the Monday. Hopefully the Monday avoids the Wednesday jinx of bad weather in the past and encourages those flexible with work times to take a long weekend.

The great thing about XC Ski Week is that everyone can participate and if you have not performed up to your standard in a particular event, there is always the next one. Usually by the Snowy Mountains Classic at the end of the week, everybody is firing on all cylinders, plus if doing the long course, it is a great lead up to the Kangaroo Hoppet.

Like last year the Big Presentation will be at the Corroboree Lodge after the Snowy Classics, presentations starting at 2.45 pm. Major prizes will be given away, these include the following:

Gift accomodation vouchers from Lake Crackenback Spa & Resort,
The Bronze Ski clubs participation award, an excellent prize will be given to the winning club.
A pair of Rossignol ski's and bindings as donated by Wilderness Sports.

The Bronze Ski club participation award has been won by Snowy Mountains Nordic for the last 2 years. Due to the stringent handicap system in place maybe Cooma Ski Club or Maranatha Lodge - Thirroul Ski Club might be in with a good chance this year. Give your club the best possible chance of winning the main prize by going in as many events during XC Ski week as possible.

There are many other spot prizes given away, with great thanks from Wilderness Sports, Rhythm SnowSports, K7 SkiSchool and others. As usual you have to be there to win the prizes.

Stay tuned, there may be another new prize given to the both the introducer and the new skier to XC Ski Week.

If you have not got your accommodation sorted, pitch a tent, if you cannot get time off work, find another job. If retired, well then you have no excuses.

To keep up-to date with any changes, follow the Perisher XC FaceBook page - Click Here.

Nordic Shelter Twilight Relays & A Special Screening of Huw Kingston’s “Alpine Odyssey”

Enjoy an evening at the Nordic Shelter Twilight Relays, an important fundraiser for the Nordic Shelter, and a whole lot of fun!

For the first time, this will be a multi-function extravaganza:

5:00 Main Event – the Twilight Relays, hotly contested by teams of four skiing in ridiculous conditions and vying for Glass Mugs to add to their collections. The Relays will be followed by hot drinks and snacks.
6:00 Dedication of the plaque to be hung in the Shelter in memory of Glen McRitchie, the amazing builder who made the dream of the Nordic Shelter extensions in 2008 a reality.
Followed by - Special Screening of Huw Kingston’s short film, Alpine Odyssey, accompanied by Huw himself! The Nordic Shelter was part of Huw’s massive fundraising Odyssey for Save the Children/ Our Yarning Indigenous literacy project in 2022. His efforts raised $65,000 for the project and is now raising more with the screening tour. Huw is presenting the special screening at the Twilight Relays as a thank you to the XC community for their assistance.

Use this link to view the Alpine Odyssey Trailer - Huw Kingston skis and walks the 700km length of the Australian Alps over 50 days, en route dropping in to ski at each of the dozen Australian mainland snow resorts.

Become a Nordic Instructor or Coach

The Australian Professional Snowsports Instructors (APSI) turns 50 this year. To find out what courses are on during the 2024 winter, CLICK HERE.

Not too late to join in the Coach's Level 1 which is on this weekend, 20/21 July.

The APSI instructors are armed with the latest coaching and instruction information so if you want to help others and increase your skiing knowledge, please consider getting qualified.

Para Nordic Skier - Taryn Dickens

Say hello to Taryn Dickens when in Perisher. Taryn will be competing in the PXC Cup and the Boonoona Open as a visually impaired athlete. Recently Taryn competed in Canada (Nov 2023) in a Para Nordic event with Daniel Van Der Ploeg as her guide. At Perisher Taryn will also be supported by her dog Gi Gi. A film crew will also be there making record of her journey from recently (last 5 years) becoming visually impaired.

To help her represent Australia in Para Nordic event, Taryn has a website, where you can see her journey and help out other Para Athletes and Taryn via with donations. See Taryn Dickens - Low Vision Athlete

Recent Latest News Stories

If not in the know, Latest News is a section within the website (www.perisherxcountry.org) where the latest stories are put up.

Some of the most recent is as follows.

WINTER IS UNDERWAY FOR YOUNG XC SKIERS! - Click Here
A Fine Weekend for XC Skiing - NSWACT XC 8 July 2024 - Click Here
Skiing Overseas: Matching the Competition – Why Do They Ski So Fast? (perisherxcountry.org) - Click Here

Volunteers - 2024

Three events down and two more this weekend. A huge thank you to the volunteers, Ginzu operator (Arnold) and our grooming contractor, who have weaved their magic with the available snow on offer, to allow these events to be run. Last weekend was made possible by a more than several shovellers going to work on last Friday and Saturday afternoons. Hopefully from now the snow will build so that mechanised grooming is all that we need.

Mentioned the word volunteers, nothing gets done without them. Have a look at all the events below. These are the events that will be run out of the Perisher XC Centre. Maybe you can lend a hand at some of those events. Note: You don't have to have your First Aid certificate or have your WWC Certifiicates, but it is just good to know, who has.

There is huge variety of jobs/ tasks, many with no prior experienced required, so if you want to join in with the fun, call Peter Ward on 0409 338 978 or email nswxc1@gmail.com. Other ways to volunteer, consider yourself as a cordon bleu sausage chef, well step on down. Just see who is in charge at the fundraising BBQ on the day and offer a hand.

Would like to lend a hand getting images or even helping with posting of stories to our FaceBook page, talk to Wayne by calling him on 0481 268 598. We need a team of different people to help cover all the events being run. All images can be sent to wpethybridge@fastmail.fm.
So, there you have it, you cannot ski all day, so if you want to join the community that makes things happen, say pick me.

Donations

The Nordic Shelter is facing significant increases in running costs this winter, with the cost of building insurance nearly doubling. Support the volunteers by making Tax Deductible Donations to help with the development, running expenses and maintenance of the Shelter - https://asf.org.au/projects/snow-australia---northern/nordic-shelter-development/