THERE were a lot of very disappointed international cross country skiers around Mount Beauty and Falls Creek last Wednesday, (not to overlook a few more who were still in transit from the northern hemisphere), when they received the following email.

“Following an inspection of snow conditions on the course today (Wednesday), and taking into consideration the expected weather conditions on Saturday, the jury for the Kangaroo Hoppet has decided that it is not possible to hold a fair and safe competition and that the event should be cancelled,” it read.

However, by lunchtime Thursday these gloomy feelings had turned to smiles as organisers were able to announce that some quick overnight negotiations.

The Worldloppet Secretariat in Estonia had come up with a plan that would enable skiers to be credited with taking part in the Kangaroo Hoppet by completing a self-tracked 21km ski anywhere at Falls Creek over the next two days.

The Kangaroo Hoppet is part of the annual Worldloppet series of 19 long distance ski marathons spread across five continents.

There’s a special Worldloppet Master award given to skiers who have completed ten different events of the series and recorded this achievement with stamps in a special Worldloppet Passport.

There’s also a special clause that requires at least one of these to be from outside Europe, which makes an out of season ski holiday in the southern hemisphere a very appealing option for skiers from Europe, North America and Asia.

In this context, one can appreciate how it would feel receiving the cancellation news, having outlaid a few thousand euros or dollars (and if they were Icelandic crowns or Japanese yen, make that hundreds of thousands) on what might well be your trip of a lifetime to Australia with the aim of getting that elusive Kangaroo Hoppet stamp in your passport.

Or even worse, if you were Massimo Presotto from Spilimbergo in Italy and had a passport with nine stamps and only needed one more to become a Worldloppet Master.

However, the stars aligned for Massimo.

On Saturday afternoon Massimo arrived at the Hoppet race office in Mount Beauty with his Strava record of 21m skied earlier in the day to receive his Kangaroo Hoppet stamp and his Worldloppet Master Diploma.