Mount Hotham Hosts ANC for First Days of Racing

It’s been a wild and wintery start to the Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) Snowboard Cross (SBX) and Ski Cross (SX) series at Mount Hotham this week, with exciting racing still to come over the weekend. 

Hotham is once again playing host to four days of thrilling competition, bringing together junior and senior FIS athletes for a jam-packed program of racing. 

As the fog rolled in and the start gates dropped, skiers and snowboarders on perfectly tuned skis and boards battled it out down the course, fighting the elements almost as much as each other. 

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic gold medalist and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Josie Baff defended her ANC title, standing on top of the podium once again, excited to be racing again on home turf. 

“It’s looking pretty good, we are going to have some fun! The course is pretty well managed considering the snow season, and it’s going to be a great day of racing!” she said.

Ski Cross national team member Liam Michael isn’t letting the weather get in the way either, in fact, he believes it might be an advantage.

“We’ve got a bit of weather going against us, however I believe this is what Aussies love to ski in, this is where we perform the best. Everybody’s fired up and ready to go hard,” he said.

With two days of racing complete, some stand out results have come through the live timing sheets.

Results:

SBX Junior FIS

Female:

1st – Marcelle Davis-Cook

2nd – Jiyul Shin

3rd – Gracie Byron

Male:

1st – Angus Young (NSWIS)

2nd – Zoltan Benczedi

3rd – Tamas Benczedi

SX ANC 1

Female:

1st – Kyra Wheatley (NSWIS)

2nd – Keisha Tickle

3rd – Rose Hocking

Male:

1st – Duncan Cowan

2nd – Liam Michael

3rd – Emerson Facer

SBX ANC 1

Female:

1st – Josie Baff (NSWIS)

2nd – Abbey Wilson (NSWIS)

3rd Maya Billingham (NSWIS)

Male:

1st – Cameron Turner (NSWIS)

2nd – Drew Powell

3rd – Angus Young (NSWIS)

SX ANC 2

Female:

1st – Kyra Wheatley (NSWIS)

2nd – Keisha Tickle

3rd – Alessia Diver

Male:

1st – Liam Michael

2nd – Duncan Cowan

3rd – Emerson Facer

SX ANC 3

Female:

1st – Kyra Wheatley (NSWIS)

2nd – Keisha Tickle

3rd – Rose Hocking

Male:

1st – Duncan Cowan

2nd – Liam Michael

3rd – Emerson Facer

SBX ANC 2

Female:

1st – Josie Baff (NSWIS)

2nd – Abbey Wilson (NSWIS)

3rd – Maya Billingham (NSWIS)

Male:

1st – Cameron Turner (NSWIS)

2nd – James Johnstone (NSWIS)

3rd – Adam Lambert (NSWIS)

Images: Snow Australia