FIS officials prepare for upcoming World Cup season

In the world of international ski racing, summertime is critical for inspection and preparation of the slopes and venues used for competition. From Killington Mountain Resort to Zagreb, Croatia, FIS officials and members of the organizing committees have been hiking the race trails and discussing details for upcoming events, some of which are still three years away.

In Are, Sweden – where the 2019 FIS Alpine World Championships will take place – officials were on the hill even before the snow melted in April.

In Crans-Montana, Switzerland, organizers are preparing for World Cup races this coming winter as well as Europa Cup events. According to this FIS Ski World Cup Crans-Montana Facebook post, the inspection group was led by Atle Skaardal (chief race director for the women’s World Cup) and the president of the Crans-Montana organizing committee, Marius Robyr.

Aspen, Colorado, will host the 2017 World Cup finals, the first time the end-of-season event will be held in the United States in 20 year. The final inspection took place this past June. While the hill was less of a concern because it has already hosted FIS and World Cup races in the past, other operational issues like accommodation needs and volunteer recruitment were discussed at length.

“We made a final assessment of lodging needs for this event that offers as many races as a world championships, but in about half the number of days,“ said John Rigney, Vice President of Sales & Events at Aspen Skiing Company. “We’ve done lots of work already but there’s tons to do. That will include recruiting more volunteers for the races, as we need between 300 and 400 of them.”

While the FIS Alpine World Cup tour features many new venues each year, there are annual classics like Kitzbuehel. The Club 5 – comprised of organizers from the classics – works together to put on the best World Cup races on the circuit and share ideas. Outside of the general venue inspections, this independent group meets annually to discuss challenges and new ways to promote the sport.