Historical information

The Kangaroo Hoppet is Australia’s premier long distance cross country ski race, and a member of the Worldloppet series of international cross country ski events.

The first race at Falls Creek was held in 1979 under the name of “Australian Birkebeiner”. It was a 21km race with about 80 participants organised by the Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club of Mount Beauty. The course started and finished at Falls Creek Alpine Resort and took participants out into the Bogong High Plains.

After running the event for 10 years, it was decided they should become part of the Worldloppet series of marathon ski races. Representatives from the Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club and the Australian Ski Federation attended the Worldloppet Annual Meeting in Finland in June 1990 to put the case for the acceptance of an Australian event into the Worldloppet series. Before being admitted, they had to demonstrate that the Birkebeiner Club could run a world class event, so three months later in August 1990 a 42km event named the Australian International Ski Marathon was held at Falls Creek together with a 21km Birkebeiner race and a 7km event called the Birkebeiner Lite. The event was approved by delegates from USA, Norway and Austria, in 1991 Australia became the 12th member of Worldloppet, with the condition that there had to be a name change. After some late night discussion allegedly involving red wine from North East Victoria the main event became the 42km Kangaroo Hoppet, with the minor events being the 21km Australian Birkebeiner, and 7km Joey Hoppet.

In the winter of 1991, the first Kangaroo Hoppet was held. It was a great success and has been a regular fixture on the international ski calendar ever since. It features the main 42km event as well as a 21km event and a 7km event. The Hoppet brings the Australian snowfields to an international audience.

In 1991 the Men's Winner was John Aalberg from USA in a time of 1:56:12. The winner of the Women's event was Betsy Youngman of USA in a time of 2:16:55.

Significance

This poster is significant because it documents an event which brings international attention to Falls Creek and the surrounding region.

Physical description

A large coloured poster featuring several images: from top:- Kangaroo symbol: a large group of cross country skiers; sunset over the mountains; mountains in the daytime with a skier on the right and the central image of a skier superimposed over the other images. The logo for Worldloppet is in the centre beneath the main image beside the logo for QANTAS. This was the poster for the first Kangaroo Hoppet held as an international event.

Inscriptions & markings

Above image: AUSTRALIA' S SKI MARATHON / FALLS CREEK VICTORIA / Kangaroo Hoppet
Beneath image: 31 AUGUST 1991 / 42/21/7 km
DETAILS FROM RACE SECRETARY
BOX 192 MT. BEAUTY 3699 AUSTRALIA