The fast-paced 15km classic race on Saturday and the highly anticipated show-down in yesterday's sprint race each attracted fields of 27 men, with the United States men's team proving a force to be reckoned with.
The women's races each attracted fewer than 10 competitors but 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist and world-ranked No 1, Justyna Kowalczyk (28) of Poland, did not disappoint and gave an honest account of herself as she skied to victory.
Partially-sighted Paralympic athlete Brian McKeever was among the Canadians who got to the front in Saturday's race for a minute or so, but top United States athletes Kris Freeman and Andy Newell, ranked among the fastest in the world, battled continuously with the Canadians for control and claimed it on the finish line, just 1.2sec from Canadians Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw.
McKeever, who skis in both adaptive and disabled disciplines was eighth, two places ahead of the man who guides him in adaptive races, Eric Carleton.
Freeman was delighted with his victory.
"It was a good technical race as the field hung together in a pack until the final 2km mark. It is great to have a strong North American contingent here in New Zealand enjoying the hard tracks and excellent conditions," Freeman said.
The best performed New Zealanders on Saturday were 22-year-old juniors Andy Pohl and Nils Koons, both formerly of Dunedin and now based in Canada and the United States, respectively.
They clung to the bunch during the first 5km lap before dropping off to finish together, less than 2min off the leaders' pace.
New Zealand coach Alexei Sotskov said the New Zealand duo "did fantastic.
"It was a very, very good race and it was cool to see them ski together. I got many comments from the Russian and Canadian coaches that they skied very well.
"They were less than 2min behind the winner, which is a good result. The field today really could be a World Cup race," Sotskov said.
Pohl and Koons relished mixing it with the top skiers on the first lap.
"Then they put on a tiny surge and the elastic broke," Pohl said.
Pohl also secured the 16th and last berth in yesterday's sprint semifinal but did not progress further.
The Russian national team is stacked with sprint specialists - including gold, silver and bronze sprint medallists from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics - and this is their first visit to New Zealand.
They rested on Saturday but a combination of jetlag and failure to acclimatise to the Snow Farm's 1500m altitude meant the competitive team could not get any of their men into the sprint final.
Only the fastest two from each heat progressed to the next round and the US and Canadian athletes raced tactically in challenging, blizzard conditions to block overtaking attempts.
An uphill burst by Russian Andrey Parfenov in his semifinal appeared to have secured him a finals berth but he was pipped on the line by fast-finishing Canadian Len Valjas.
The final result was a United States trifecta of Newell, Freeman and Simeon Hamilton. Valjas was fourth.
Russian national coach Yuri Kaminski, speaking with Sotskov as interpreter, said his athletes were disappointed but he was philosophical.
"That's the sport. It was not so good. Probably, in terms of altitude and acclimatising, we believe it has really affected our race," Kaminski said.
The Russians train at altitude in Siberia but usually descend from 2000m above sea level for races, which they find easier, Kaminski said.
Newell said the race tactics with the Russians were "cat and mouse" and the conditions were hard.
"It was nice to have the competition. The sprint was fast and furious. It is very similar to skier cross except we go up the hills as well as down the hills. The finish is always tight," Newell said.
Kowalczyk was never threatened at any stage of the women's 10km classic race on Saturday.
but FIS ski champion Natalia Korosteleva, of Russia, pushed her all the way in yesterday's sprint, forcing a photo finish. Just 0.08sec separated the pair, with Kowalczyk dipping her toe across the line first.
New Zealand's Olympian biathlete Sarah Murphy, was fourth in the 10km and sixth in the sprint.
Kowalczyk is visiting Wanaka for the first time and said she was impressed with the Snow Farm.
"To have this competition is great. I hope this will be good preparation before the [northern hemisphere] season.
Kowalczyk has a large following in Poland and is mindful cross-country skiing is a minority sport here.
"I hope New Zealand will grow to love cross-country skiing because it is an amazing sport. Maybe next time there will be more in the sport," she said.
