Skiers from 23 nations are gathering at Falls Creek in south eastern Australia for this weekend's Kangaroo Hoppet, the opening event of the 2010 / 2011 Worldloppet season. After a slow start to the ski season in July, good snowfalls over the last two weeks have ensured excellent snow conditions for the event.
Australian Ben Sim is favourite for the podium and hoping to make this his fifth Hoppet win after taking the National 10km and 15km Championships at Falls Creek last weekend. The biggest obstacles in his way looks like being two fellow Vancouver Winter Olympians - Garrott Kuzzy from the USA who placed second in yesterday's 15km only several days after arriving in the country, and Valerio Leccardi from Switzerland. Other skiers in with a podium chance include Swiss Frederic Grandjean and fellow Australians Callum Watson, Alex Almoukov and Chris Darlington.
In the women's field Slovakian Anastasia Kuzmina, Gold and Silver medalist in biathlon at Vancouver and Swiss Lena Pichard lead the international list, up against a local field lead by current Australian 5km and 10km champion Aimee Watson and last year's Hoppet runner up Esther Bottomley. Other skiers who could be in contention for a podium place include Swedish ski orienteer Johanna Edin and American Sarah Konrad.
Contributed by Allan Marsland
