2025 Maccabi Australian Snow Sports Championships

The Australian Maccabi Jewish Snowsports Championship on Monday 28 July at Mt Buller. The conditions were cold and foggy. The race was held on Skyline on wet slow snow. We had the biggest field in many years with 124 skiers and borders competing across seven age groups, including open events. There were some very close races. And exceptional times from the top competitors.

We had great support from most of the Jewish schools. Mount Scopus, Bialik, King David, Yavneh and Yeshiva – Beth Rivkah all participated. There was also a record number of kids from non-Jewish schools compete. The open division which included university kids as well as parents and grandparents one of the most heavily contested divisions.

The stand out skiers were Chloe Davis who was the fastest female and Henry Orner who was the fastest male skier across all divisions. Chloe was the fastest in Division 2 was the fastest age group skier in the competition while Henry won the open men’s race.

The evening before the race we had a couple of great community events. The social event for the younger kids was at the Mt Buller AirZone on Sunday evening and a cocktail party for senior kids and adults at the Ajax ski lodge. Jeremy Abrahams was our special speaker for the cocktail party. He has skied most his life and has competed overseas in many international events. Jeremy is now a senior coach for the elite ski squads at Mt Buller. More than 60 people were fascinated by Jeremy’s stories and insights.

The presentations were held at the Kooroora Hotel on Monday evening. Previously the presentations were held at the Ajax Ski Lodge, but the event has grown too big for the lodge. More than 250 people packed the presentation venue. Awards were given to the to the three fastest finishes in each division. All competitors received event t-shirts which were generously sponsored by Maccabi Victoria.

Two perpetual trophies were awarded for the most outstanding performance by a female and male racer. The Debbie Grace Memorial award to the outstanding female skier across the competition was awarded to Alexia Scher who improved her time between runs by almost ten seconds. The perpetual boys trophy has been renamed the Gil Kras Memorial award, in honour of an exceptional young man that we lost too early. Gil was a long time member of the Ajax Ski Club and competed in the Maccabi Ski Championships many times during his school years. The Gil Kras Memorial Award was won by Leo Rubinstein, who won his division by 2.31 seconds.

The event was organised by the Ajax Ski Club in conjunction with Auscamp. A special thanks goes to Michelle Coppel from Michael Coppel Theatricals who was the major sponsor again this year. Kizuki Ski Goggles were the event’s apparel provider and donated googles and beanies as prizes for the winners.

Check out Auscamp’s video highlights of the weekend!

Results:

MaccabiJunior_ALP_GS_SKY_DivisionResults

MaccabiSenior_ALP_GS_SKY_DivisionResults