Rain and Thunder on Kangaroohoppet 2009

September 7, 2009

Kangaroohoppet is different from other Worldloppet (WL) races. What a joke, you may think: it is the only WL race in the southern hemisphere. That is not what I mean, of course. Kangaroohoppet is different because of the peculiar weather conditions in the Australian Alps. Usually there is a lot of snow and Kangaroohoppet is one of the very few WL races that have never been cancelled. Conditions are extremely variable in this area (even in Melbourne it is said that you can have four seasons during the same day) but the organizers have a series of variants to replace the normal 8-shaped course in case of problems. Skiers with a long memory state that they have skied at least seven different courses over the last 10 years.

This year abundant snowfalls had provided an over 1 m thick base. However, in August warm temperatures and heavy rains had strongly reduced the layer and especially the passing of creeks posed problems. During the week preceding the race that took place on August 29, we had rain, snow and wind making training painful. Two days before the race the organizers announced the decision: because of the predicted weather, it was impossible to go up on the high plains. The race was shortened to 25 km consisting of three loops:
Start in the Nordic Bowl as usual, the 7 km Sun Valley loop, crossing the dam wall on the water side, the loop to Watchbed Creek with a return on a slightly higher track with some small climbs and descents, crossing the dam wall on the valley side and passage at the Nordic Bowl (here the 14 km Silver race Birkebeiner finished), a climb to the Pipeline road that was followed until a point situated just above Windy Corner, from there a climb to Mc Kay Road and finally a second Sun Valley loop with finish in the Nordic Bowl.

Kangaroohoppet started at 9.30, followed by Birkebeiner at 9.40 and Joey Hoppet at 9.50. The latter was the usual 7 km course with only one Sun Valley loop. Conditions were as predicted: above 0°C, rainy, windy and foggy. Visibility was limited with the worst conditions occurring on the return track from Watchbed Creek where one could hardly see the track. Here small invisible bumps and troughs led to many falls, without gravity. About 1h 40 min after the start a thunderstorm hit the brave citizen skiers who were struggling on the second Sun Valley loop (while the elite skiers had finished the race in less than 1h). At one point one had to lower the head to avoid being whipped in the face by big ice-cold drops catapulted by the storm horizontally. At the finish, the boots said flip flop and the clothing was soaked.
The organizers were sorry for the bad weather conditions. Indeed, it was a pity that Europeans and Americans who had travelled halfway around the world could not enjoy the blue skies that we have often reported in the past. But the weather is not under the control of the organizers. They showed again a remarkable flexibility and took the right decisions. The track was as good as it could be and every detail of the organization worked perfectly. Participants took the adverse conditions with humor. For example, when preparing in the hotel room the items to be carried to the start, I showed my sun cream and said that we presumably will not need it. My roommate Lino said: “maybe it will be useful on our bald heads to make the rain flow over it”. Those who finished the race can proudly state that racing 25 km in such adverse conditions proved that they are fit for any long WL race in normal conditions.

The 2009 Kangaroohoppet attracted a record number of participants.

A nice reception with wine and snacks was offered to WL passport holders.

Here are some results of IAWLS members'

Kangaroo Hoppet 25km, 353 finishers, 271 male and 82 female:

Birkebeiner 15km, 243 finishers, 133 male and 110 female:

This page was last revised on February 14, 2010