Sun Shines on 2011 Kangaroo Hoppet at Falls Creek

Australia’s international ski marathon the Kangaroo Hoppet was held today at Falls Creek in north-east Victoria. The first skier across the line in the premier 30km Freestyle event was Petr Novak from the Czech Republic, making it the third time in the event’s 21 year history that a Czech skier has won. Double Australian Winter Olympian Esther Bottomley was the first woman home in the 30km, making it back-to-back Hoppet victories for the home-grown Mt Beauty skier. The Hoppet is part of the Worldloppet series of marathon races, which features 15 races in 15 countries and has annual participation of 125,000 skiers.

Warm weather in recent weeks caused the event to be moved from its traditional course across the Bogong High Plains to the back-up course at the top of the Falls Creek Alpine Resort. Track conditions on the 10km Mt McKay / Frying Pan Spur loop were initially firm and fast, though snow softened on sections of the track facing the sun throughout the duration of the event. Over 1150 competitors from 24 nations entered in the three race distances of 30km, 10km, and 5km.

A pack of five men formed early on in the 30km event, with 4-time Kangaroo Hoppet winner Ben Derrick leading at the end of the first 10km lap. Derrick dropped off as Australians Callum Watson, Ben Sim and Alex Almoukov switched lead on the second lap, then Novak made his move early on the final lap. Watson tried to bridge the gap with Almoukov on his tail however unfortunately took a fall while overtaking a lapped skier. Almoukov worked hard and started to reel in Novak but the Czech increased the pace again and went on to win by nearly one minute. Sim took third place behind Almoukov, with Watson skiing home to 4^th place nursing an injured shoulder. A member of the Czech Team at the 2011 World Championship in Oslo, Novak is focussing on the FIS marathon circuit for the upcoming 2011/2012 competition season in Europe.

In the women’s 30km Bottomley established a slender lead on the first lap over Australian Junior Champion Lucy Glanville from Sydney and local Falls Creek athlete Lescinska Grimmer. Bottomley extended her gap on the second lap while Grimmer and Glanville duelled it out behind. On the final lap Grimmer managed to break away and move up into clear second place behind Bottomley. Now resident in Canberra, Bottomley is one of Australia’s top skiers on the cross country World Cup circuit and a leading contender for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.

In the 10km Australian Birkebeiner local Mt Beauty juniors Phillip Bellingham and Anna Trnka topped the podium, Bellingham winning the men’s event ahead of Nick Montgomery from Melbourne and Trnka winning the women’s event ahead of Aislinn Kildea from Wangaratta. Damon Morton from Marlo and Xanthea Dewez from Wangaratta were first in the 5km Joey Hoppet.

The Kangaroo Hoppet is also the final race in the 2011 FIS Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC), one of eight Continental Cup series around the world endorsed by the International Ski Federation. The 2011 ANC series winners Callum Watson and Esther Bottomley will receive a special start place and expenses paid for a number of events in the 2011/2012 FIS World Cup series.

2011 Kangaroo Hoppet Race Results

30km Freestyle Kangaroo Hoppet

Men

1            Petr Novak            CZE            1:16:04

2            Alex Almoukov            AUS            1:17:02

3            Ben Sim            AUS            1:17:22

4            Callum Watson            AUS            1:19:04

5            Ben Derrick            AUS            1:19:28

6            Chris Darlington            AUS            1:21:48

7            Andrew Mock            AUS            1:25:40

8            Chris Sanville            USA            1:27:45

9            Ewan Watson            AUS            1:28:34

10            Simon Flower            AUS            1:29:08

Women

1            Esther Bottomley            AUS            1:38:12

2            Lescincka Grimmer            AUS            1:42:22

3            Lucy Glanville            AUS            1:43:27

4            Aimee Watson            AUS            1:46:01

5            Belinda Phillips            AUS            1:48:04

6            Chloe McConville            AUS            1:48:37

7            Rhiannon Palmer            AUS            1:49:43

8            Georgia Merritt            AUS            1:51:40

9            Alice Hamilton            AUS            1:55:27

10            Irene Dunn            AUS            1:56:42

10km Australian Birkebeiner

Men

1            Phillip Bellingham            AUS            23:53

2            Nick Montgomery            AUS            25:05

3            Dyllan Harmer            AUS            25:15

Women

1            Anna Trnka            AUS            27:00

2            Aislinn Kildea            AUS            28:25

3            Gabriella Cigana            AUS            28:44

5km Joey Hoppet

Men

1            Damon Morton            AUS            11:37

2            Hamish Roberts            AUS            11:52

3            Alex Gibson            AUS            12:17

Women

1            Xanthea Dewez            AUS            13:18

2            Casey Wright            AUS            13:48

3            Katarina Paul            AUS            14:30