  We present the K-band infrared spectrum of the intermediate polar XY Ari. The
spectrum confirms the cataclysmic binary nature of XY Ari, showing emission
lines of HeI (2.0587 microns) and the Brackett and Paschen series of HI. The
broad nature of these lines suggest an origin in an accretion disc. The
spectrum is strongly reddened by absorption within the molecular cloud Lynds
1457 and shows prominent absorption features from the secondary star, from
which we determine a spectral type for the secondary of M0V. The secondary
contributes 80 +/- 6% of the K-band light. We derive a visual extinction to XY
Ari of Av = 11.5 +/- 0.3 and a distance of d=270 +/- 100 pc, placing XY Ari
behind the molecular cloud.
