FIS Alpine officials to meet in Portoroz (SLO)

After a short break to recover from the intense 2016/17 season, the focus is now on the winter 2017/18 and the preparations are in full swing. In this sense, the FIS family will gather at the Grand Hotel Bernardin in Portoroz (SLO) from the 24th to 27th of May for the FIS Calendar Conference.

The Alpine officials will face a busy schedule as the various Alpine Sub-Committees and Working Groups will undertake three full days of meetings, sharing experiences from the past season, discussing rules and regulations, reviewing World Cup calendars and exchanging views on the future of Alpine Skiing. On Friday morning, the result of all those discussions will be presented at the Alpine Committee meeting.

Alongside the World Cup calendar adjustments, that are always an important topic at the FIS meetings, two rule changes should be discussed and decided in Portoroz: the speed starting order should be adapted for the downhill trainings (proposal is a draw instead of a choice for the Top 10 group) and the city event enrolment should no longer create a quota for the nation, but allow the next racer on the WCSL to enter the event. Another anticipated point on the agenda is the reduction of the starting field. Even though the race directors are aware that it is a sensible issue, they hope for a first step in that direction for the 2017/18 season.

Of particular interest at this year’s Calendar Conference is also the update on the FIS Strategic Plan, which will be provided to all participants wishing to attend on Saturday morning, 27th May.

All participants will then go back home, with all cards in their hand to optimally prepare the 2017/18 season. As usually, another meeting week is planned in Zurich at the beginning of October, for the fine tuning and last information before starting the winter season.