The 2005 Northern Hemisphere season has almost reached the halfway mark, and already many sporting highlights have been achieved by athletes in all four disciplines. The 2004/2005 International season is a world championship year, and while snowboard has recently completed their events, Alpine, Freestyle and Cross Country are just weeks away. The SSA website continues to be updated with all the latest news from our athletes and teams overseas. We urge you to check back regularly to follow their progress.

ALPINE Australian Alpine Skiers have had a very strong season so far, but unfortunately for some of our biggest names it has come to a premature end. AJ Bear, while competing in a World Cup downhill event in Bormio, damaged his anterior cruciate ligament which is his third major injury in as many years. Bear was on track for his best World Cup Downhill performance when he caught a ski edge which sent him off the course and into the safety netting. Bear had incurred a broken arm and concussion on the same course two years ago. Jono Brauer has also succumbed to injury. Jono has been skiing with a broken rib and patella tendinitis, causing discomfort and hampering his performance. Craig Branch and Luke Deane, have been skiing well and are continually improving with personal best results. Craig Branch finished 38th in the Downhill World Cup in Chamonix, France which is a career best downhill result. Luke Deane has achieved two fourth places in Europa Cup Giant Slalom events which have helped him become Australia’s highest ranked GS skier. Four skiers have been selected to compete at the Alpine World Championships in Bormio from January 29 to February 12. Named to the team are Craig Branch, Luke Deane, Demian Franzen and Brad Wall. The Alpine Junior World Championship will be held in Bardonecchia, Italy from 20-27 February.

CROSS COUNTRY Australian Cross Country athletes are having a much improved season with personal best results and Australian best results being achieved. Katie Calder claimed two podium finishes in the Swiss Cup and scored the best ever distance FIS points for an Australian woman. Ben Sim also recorded his personal best FIS points of 57.10 in the Italian Police Championships, this is the first time that an Australian has scored under 60 FIS points since 1998. Paul Murray has also had some strong results, which includes qualifying 6th in the Swedish Sprint Championship in Tyndero. After a battle with reigning World Champion Tobias Fredriksson and World Cup winner Mikael Ostberg in the final, Paul finished 8th. Paul also qualified in 2nd place in the Swedish Sprint Championship in Aasarna, with a 9th place in the final. The focus for the National Cross Country team is the World Championships which will be held in Oberstdorf, Germany from 16-27 February, 2005. The Cross Country Junior World Championships will be held in Rovaniemi, Finland from 19-26 of March.

FREESTYLE The Aerials team continues to dominate World Cup events with Lydia Ierodiaconou recording her third consecutive win at a World Cup in Tremblant, Canada. Lydia has since had back to back second places and more recently a fifth place but still holds onto her number one ranking. Jacqui Cooper continues her strong comeback from injury with 5 top 10 results from 6 World Cup events. Manuela Berchtold has produced her best result of the season with a thirteenth place in dual moguls in a World Cup event in Fernie, British Columbia. Fellow Australian, Dale Begg-Smith also finished 13th in the dual moguls. Dale is currently ranked 12th in the world. The Mogul and Aerials team have one more American World Cup before leaving for the European World Cup events and the major event of the season the Freestyle World Championships in Ruka, Finland. The New South Wales Institute of Sport/Ski & Snowboard Australia Mogul development team has concluded the North American training leg of their international season, and will now head to Europe to compete in Europa Cup events over the next few weeks. A warm up competition was held at Apex Mountain, BC, Canada. Head Coach Peter "Toppa" Topalovic was happy with the team's performance. Robert Lovick recorded a team best second place result in the single moguls. Ramone Cooper was in great form in the dual moguls, winning his division, and Robert also collected another podium in third place, after narrowly out duelling team-mate Sam Hall, who finished fourth.

SNOWBOARD The SSA Halfpipe Development Snowboard Team has been training since the start of January at Mammoth Mountain, USA. The team which consists of Australia’s best young Halfpipe snowboarders is undertaking an intensive 6 week training program under the watchful eye of their coach Ben Alexander. 2005 will see NSWIS and SSA join forces to partner the development halfpipe program as the direct underpinning program to the highly successful OWI Halfpipe program. SSA will again operate talent ID camps in Perisher this upcoming winter. The first ever SSA National Boardercross Team trained together in a program for the week leading up to the Mt Bachelor NorAm event and then to the World Championships at Whistler, Canada. The program was funded by SSA snowboard committee, and from all accounts provided a great team atmosphere and opportunity for our SBX athletes to maximise their World Championships preparation. The Snowboard World Championships have just finished in Whistler, Canada and an Australian team of 13 athletes competed in Halfpipe, Boardercross, Parallel GS and Parallel Slalom. The best of the Australians were Emanuel Oppliger with an 18th in the Parallel GS, only just missing out on the finals by half a second. Medal hope Torah Bright crashed out of contention in the qualification rounds, while team mate Andrew Burton, missed out on the men’s halfpipe finals and finished in 19th place. More results can be found on the SSA website.

ASDA/WORLD ANTI-DOPING CODE The new World Anti-Doping Code came into effect on January 1, 2005. There have been a number of changes made to the code which may affect you. As an athlete it is your responsibility to read and understand the code, athlete obligations and testing procedures. Please click on the link below to view the World Anti-Doping Code, if you require more information about the code or drugs in sport please visit the following websites or contact the SSA office on 03 9696 2344. World Anti-Doping Code SSA Anti-Doping Policy Australian Sports Drug Agency

Olympic nominations, selections, shadow team etc. It is important that all athletes aiming to qualify for the 2006 OWG team are familiar with the qualification, nomination, and selection process. The nomination and selection criteria’s are posted on the SSA website, please continue to check back regularly as information is constantly being added and updated. To view the criteria click here