Utterly bonkers!!
Skiing the Kangaroo Hoppet (Saturday 30th August)
I would be the first to admit that going to Australia for one week only, to ski a loppet-race, would be pretty mad, and definitely not the sort of thing that I would ever do – but going with only one weeks notice and absolutely no preparation has to be utterly bonkers! The decision making process went something like this:
Towards the end of July the World Loppet website was reporting very good snow conditions for the Kangaroo Hoppet (a bit unusual to say the least) – hmmm, I thought. I still needed to complete one World Loppet race to get my Gold Master medal, having been prevented from doing so earlier in the season by the cancellation of the Estonian Tartu Marathon. But no, it’s an awfully long way to go, I thought, and I probably won’t be able to book a flight/accommodation/get a visa etc etc. By the middle of August, it was clear that the race would definitely go ahead and I sneaked a look at my diary – I still had some holiday owing and it would just about fit in with existing commitments and surely I could ski 42km without any preparation. Sunday 17th August, I ran this past a friend, along with all the reasons why it would be mad to go and do it – however, rather than agreeing, she just told me I should go!
A few e-mails later and by the Monday evening, I had found out that there was accommodation available, it was easy to get to the race location and I could get a flight without bankrupting myself. From there, things fell into place remarkably easily. The following Monday evening found me on an Emirates flight to Melbourne, via Dubai. A bus service took me to Falls Creek direct from Melbourne Airport and I arrived at Howmans Gap YMCA without any problems – probably one of the easiest trips to a loppet race I had done (although 23 hours sitting on a plane is not to be recommended!).
Howmans Gap is similar to Kvitåvatn, with shared dorms and communal facilities, including a huge waxing room – it was an excellent place to stay, as virtually everyone there was also doing the Hoppet (or a shorter race). They were also exceptionally friendly and welcoming – the cross-country skiing community in Australia is pretty small and everyone knows everyone else. In fact there were a few people there who I had met on other loppet races (Rod in Canada, and Colin and Judith in France and the Czech Republic).
I went out skiing with some of them the next day – beautiful warm sunny weather, well-groomed tracks, a real pleasure after the wet and miserable British summer. Then I got to the first hill - I hadn’t been able to find a profile of the race-course before I left home, but had assumed that it wouldn’t be too hilly, as it’s a skate-race. In fact, the course follows a figure of eight, with both loops having quite significant climbs over rolling hills (one is called the Paralyzer!), but to make matters worse, its situated at an altitude of over 1700m, and with added jetlag, I was soon very, very tired and out of breath. Fortunately, no-one was in a great hurry and in any case, we kept stopping to talk to people, but I was beginning to have doubts as to whether I would get round the course within the time-limit, although the others assured me I would have no problem.
After a short ski the following day, everyone set about preparing their skis. I have to admit, I did not spend a huge amount of time doing this, and just put on a clean layer of warm high-fluoro glide wax (the forecast for the next day was that it would start OK, but deteriorate, with the risk of rain later on). I then sat out in the sunshine and amused myself by watching the frenetic activity in the waxing room, as people put on and then scraped off many layers of expensive “magic” waxes, rilled, rewaxed, buffed, polished etc etc until dinner-time.
A good breakfast had been laid on for race day, and a shuttle-bus had been arranged to take us the 4km up the road to the Nordic Centre and the start of the race. The atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly, as these races have a relatively small entry. The weather seemed OK, although the wind was starting to pick up. The first half of the race went well, 21 km in 2 hours, including quite a lot of climbing, but it was getting noticeably windy on the higher sections and cloud was starting to build up. Coming back down into the start area for the 2nd loop, I was passed by the winner of the womens race! Suddenly, I started to feel really tired and the uphill sections were rather hard work. The downhill sections had also got quite badly worn and rutted, due to the warm temperatures and I suddenly found myself flat on my face, as my skis got stuck in a particularly soft patch of snow.
The sky was now turning a steely grey and I knew it was only a matter of an hour or two before it would start to rain. The final 10km were into a strong headwind and I had to battle my way across the dam wall close to the finish, hoping I would stay upright. However, 500m further on and I had finished, very relieved to have done so. Sue (one of the local skiers) had very kindly waited for me on the finish line. After a quick drink and snack we headed back down the valley, just as it started to rain heavily.
The race was well organised and the course well prepared, with plenty of feeding stations. Apart from the deteriorating weather at the end, this is probably the most enjoyable loppet race I have done so far, and I will particularly remember how friendly and helpful everyone was. It was certainly a memorable way to achieve my WL Gold Master (No 2659 for the record)!
Results 42km Kangaroo Hoppet:
Fastest Man: 1:42:16
Fastest Woman: 2:00:35
Kathy England: 4:51:49
author: Kathy England WLM (2659)
publish date: November 2008
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