Olympic hopefuls fought it out at Mt Hotham, the home of boardercross, over three days of intense competition from 15 to 17 of August.

Australia’s best snowboard cross (SBX) athletes, as well as a host of international boarders, raced for FIS points, as well as Olympic places.

The standout performers were dual Olympian Adam Lambert and Beijing Olympian Josie Baff who each secured two victories and took out the respective male and female 2025 ANC SBX titles in the three-race series.

Triple Olympian Cam Bolton also featured prominently, alongside rising talents James Johnstone, Mia Clift and Maya Billingham.

In the men’s events, Lambert was denied a clean sweep of the series when Junior World Champion James Johnstone opened the series with a decisive win in race one, crossing ahead of Bolton in second and Lambert in third.

Lambert responded in race two, claiming victory ahead of Johnstone, while Declan Dent broke through for his first podium of the series.

Lambert continued his winning ways in race three, crossing the line in first place.

Dent backed up with another second-place finish while Bolton secured third, and Johnstone finished fourth.

“The race at Hotham is always great training and especially in the lead up to Milan (Winter Olympics), it’s invaluable really,” said Lambert.

“It’s something we as the Australian team get to do that no one else in the world gets – all the boys and girls are really fast, they’re bringing serious heat to the competition, it’s exciting.”

In the women’s events, Baff set the pace early, taking out race one ahead of Mia Clift and Abbey Wilson.

Clift returned serve in race two, edging Baff for the win, with Billingham rounding out the podium in third.

With Baff and Clift sitting on equal points with one race to go, Baff reclaimed top honours and the overall series win in race three, finishing ahead of Clift in second and Billingham in third.

Baff, ranked fourth in the world, said competitors got to experience every kind of condition, which was a “good mental challenge” to get them ready for the northern hemisphere season.