Preview FIS alpine meetings in Zurich

It’s that time of the year again. The time when the Zurich meetings are ahead and you realise that winter is just around the corner. The official FIS autumn meetings will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Zurich next week, from 3rd to 5th of October. The national ski associations, World Cup organisers and FIS officials come together to discuss the main topics of the upcoming season.

As usual before an Olympic season, the rules and regulations don’t go through major changes. The biggest change for the 2017/18 is probably the new giant slalom ski radius (30m instead of 35m) for the male competitors, decided at the FIS Congress 2016 and effective from this season on.

US Ski and Snowboard Association will put forward a proposal for Lindsey Vonn to participate in the men’s downhill in Lake Louise. Further details are still unknown, but this is certainly an anticipated topic that divides the FIS officials.

Other than this, there are proposals to adapt the City Event rules with the goal to harmonise all the parallel event rules in the future, and a proposal to draw the course setter individually five days prior to the events instead of all together at the beginning of the season.

Highlights of the season will be the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang 2018. The final inspection took place beginning of September, with a complete checkup of the two venues in Yongpyong (tech) and Jeongseon (speed) and various very productive meetings. The FIS officials are confident that those races will be a big success.

Also, the organiser of the 2019 World Cup Finals will be elected in Zurich. Bansko (BUL) and Lenzerheide (SUI) are the two candidates.

The discussions promise to be interesting and the anticipation for the upcoming winter season is getting even bigger.