EXPERIENCE: Ric Spiller competing in the 2006 Kangaroo Hoppet.
Written by ALEX CRAIG.
RIC Spiller of Tawonga South is a dedicated cross country skier.
He is one of only about 20 skiers who have competed in all the Kangaroo Hoppets - and can’t wait to do so again in the 20th anniversary event at Falls Creek on August 28.
Skiing entered Ric Spiller’s life through a group of friends from, of all unlikely places, Mildura.
"Before I started skiing, I used to waste my weekends playing football and other silly things like that," he said.
One of the group was Brian Keeble, who left Mildura to teach at Bogong, and invited his friends to come for skiing holidays.
Before long the group was so addicted that they clubbed together to buy a holiday house in Tawonga South, so they could be close to the snowfields every winter.
"But the whole thing took off in 1988 when I got a teaching exchange to Anchorage, Alaska," Spiller said.
"In Alaska, if you don’t ski you don’t do anything."
Both of his children, then of primary school age, took special skiing lessons, which sparked a passion that led them to begin skiing competitively when they returned to Australia, and both have played prominent roles in elite skiing.
Leon Spiller, now 32, has been a member of the Australian national cross-country team, and Kate, now 30, represented Australia in the world junior championships.
Ric began competing in the Hoppets because he felt he needed a goal, and has never looked back.
While he has never been among the front-runners, Ric regularly comes in around the 100 mark in a field of about 500, and said he was happy to compete against his own times.
"I work on my personal best, and do the best I can," he said.
In 1996 he competed in the Worldloppet series in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and France, and at other times has competed in the series in Japan, Switzerland again and the USA.
"I am not a Worldloppet Master yet - I still have two more to go," he said.
Spiller would like to attempt the 90km classic Vasaloppet in Scandinavia in 2012, though it will mean a lot of training.
He said his passion for skiing stems partly from the beauty of the environment and partly from the camaraderie.
"The cross-county skiing community is very friendly, and whole families can be involved," he said.
"All the people involved in the Hoppet are great.
"That is why we are here."
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