June 17, 2010 – The 47th International Ski Congress in Antalya (TUR) was an important landmark in the development of international ski sport. On the whole, the 2010 Antalya Congress did not represent a major sea change or bring about dramatic new directions. However, the decisions taken on the Turkish Coast, such as the introduction of City Events as part of the FIS Alpine World Cup, the addition of the Freestyle half-pipe, Snowboard slopestyle and team snowboard cross events to the respective FIS World Championships, or the introduction of a multi-stage World Championship all signify a certain new future path for the FIS disciplines.

As we venture into this direction, we will need to remain focused on the attractive presentation of our sports and making sure that our events generate true snow festivals for all their participants. We will need to remain cautious that we do not overburden our audiences. The fact, and our main advantage over many a summer sport, is that we are one of the very few sports on the international sports calendar during our main months from December to February, March. Too much of anything is unhealthy and time will tell which of our highlights are loved and appreciated by our target audiences.

The Antalya Congress also began a new chapter in terms of our main decision-making organ, the FIS Council. Half of the FIS Council, eight new Members were newly elected in Turkey. New members always bring new impetus, ideas and direction and I look forward to working with the recently elected team.

From the organizational perspective, the Congress was well received. Its organization was modernized and relied heavily on new information and communication technologies. As such it too, set a new benchmark. In this respect, In would like to repeat thanks on behalf of the FIS Family to the Turkish Ski Federation for their engagement at the FIS Congress and wish them every success with the final preparations for their first major winter multi-sports event, the Winter Universiade 2011 in Erzerum.

The Nepalese Ski Association, one of the two new full members of FIS, will seek to place our 1910-2010 year flag, signifying the 100th anniversary of international skiing, on top of the world’s highest peak, Mt Everest. Potentially this can take place during the autumn window of Mt Everest expeditions. The flag on top of the world will signify the beginning of a new century for us and would fly under the motto of “With full power into the second century.”

One of the main FIS initiatives in the last two years has been the launch of our international campaign, “Bring Children to the Snow.” This campaign has become a broadly accepted focus of our international activities and we can gradually begin to expect to see some first results. Reaping real, long-term results will obviously take several years. Our goals for the campaign remain unchanged: we seek to maintain the enthusiasm for the snow and snow sports among the younger generations and to create life-long snow lowers who stay with the sport as they age and who pass on the joy of snow sports to their children and grandchildren. Judging from the response from the National Ski Associations, organizing committees, ski clubs and other engaged groups, it seems we are on a good way.