June 12, 2014 – During the 49th FIS Congress in Barcelona (SPA), the Cross-Country Committee presented several proposals. The FIS Cross-Country World Cup calendar 2014/15 was accepted with minor adjustments and confirmed by the FIS Council. In the 2015/16 season, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup will return to Canada for the final period.

World Cup XC Skiing action © Kris Dobie

Calendars

The FIS Cross-Country World Cup calendar 2014/15 was accepted with minor adjustments and confirmed by the FIS Council. In the 2015/16 season, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup will return to Canada for the final period. The competition programme is being finalised and will be presented at the FIS Technical Meetings in Zurich (SUI) in October.

Snow Guarantee and Control

After the challenging last winter with poor snow conditions at some of the World Cup venues, the snow guarantee and snow control system was revised and updated.

FIS will work closely with the local Organising Committees on its plans for snow production, snow storage and snow transportation. A system for snow reports has been improved and in case there is an emergency situation, an event preparation group will be formed to tackle the challenges. The World Cup rules have been updated to facilitate the substitution of a World Cup event in another country.

Individual Starting Order in Unstable or Difficult Weather & Snow Conditions

In case of critical or unstable weather and/or snow conditions, a standardised individual starting order will be used. The goal is to guarantee the best possible conditions for the top-seeded athletes, while keeping the race interesting for the TV audience.  The 15 best athletes of the seeded group will start in reverse order and the rest of the seeded group will start alternately between them. The overall World Cup leader will start last and the athlete ranked 16th in the seeded group will start first. The number of athletes before and after the seeded group will be decided by the Jury.

Rankings and Trophies

FIS Cross-Country partner Helvetia will support the best U23 ladies and men with CHF 9’999 per gender for the top-ranked U23 athlete in the Overall World Cup ranking. A special ceremony will take place after the last competition of the season.

Ski Exchange

The Cross-Country Committee supported the proposal of limiting the number of ski exchanges in mass start competitions to the maximum of one ski exchange in 30 km ladies and maximum two ski exchanges in men’s 50 km.

False Starts

The proposal by the Sub-Committee for Rules and Control to clarify and update false start rules was accepted. A written reprimand will be given to all false starters (immediately to the first offender). In the case of a second false start by any skier in the same heat, the offender will receive a written reprimand and will be ranked last in the respective heat.