FIS News In Brief.

Wisla sold out for FIS Ski Jumping World Cup opening

With three weeks to go until the start of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup 2017/18 presented by Viessmann, Wisla (POL) is all set for the opening event of the new season on 17th and 18th November. The Organisers recently installed a new ice-track, started snow production and, with interest in the event extremely high, the event is already sold out.

Ski areas open for 2017/18 season

Recently, Kitzbühel became the first ski area without a glacier to open in the Alps according to a report by Patrick Thorne, the SnowHunter. Arapahoe Basin in Colorado also opened for the season, the first ski area in North America without a permanent snowfield.

There are now around 20 ski areas open in the northern hemisphere, with about half of them in Austria where Kitzbühel was the ninth area to open, joining the country’s eight glacier resorts.

Kitzbühel uses snow stored from last season which is then spread on the slope. Geilo in Norway and Ruka in Finland already used the same technique to re-open slopes in the past few weeks.

Meanwhile in North America, the near-year-round Timberline permanent snowfield on Mt Hood in Oregon also re-opened, with fresh natural snow cover, while Loveland in Colorado opened on 20th October.

Nordic Combined Continental Cup all set for historic season

A key step in the development of ladies’ activities in Nordic Combined was made this spring with the introduction of a ladies’ Continental Cup series. The calendar for the 2017/18 season has recently been finalised and will feature six events at three venues in addition to a Junior World Championship test event in Kandersteg (SUI).

Aerials and moguls stars prep for upcoming season

The top aerials and moguls athletes in the world have been prepping hard all summer and excitement is high heading into the Olympic season.

FIS Freestyle took a minute to catch up with the off-season antics of some of its top athletes on social media as the days tick down towards another season of thrilling aerials and moguls action, starting with first World Cup events in December.

Unanimous support of new direction for Alpine Skiing in Australia

Last week the Alpine Leaders Forum (ALF), comprising 33 representatives from Australia’s ski racing clubs and major ski resorts, unanimously endorsed and supported recommendations for change as proposed in a comprehensive review of the pathway throughout the 2017 winter season. The recommendations and new direction had previously been unanimously endorsed by the National Alpine Committee of Ski and Snowboard Australia.

The core theme is a model that is informed by evidence and provides guidance to best practice and strategy to enhance the athlete pathway. An important element at junior levels is a switch in focus and recognition from race results to skills acquisition.