World Championship Dates

Thursday, May 29^th, 2008 will be the day the host venue of the 2013 World Championships is revealed. The announcement will be made in Cape Town, South Africa by the FIS council.

Alongside the announcement of the 2013 World Championships host, the FIS council will also unveil the venue for the 2012 FIS Ski Flying Championships. There are four places competing to play the position of host – Beaver Creek and Vail in the United States, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, Schladming in Austria and St. Moritz in Switzerland.

All the four above mentioned resorts have hosted World Championships in the past. The Winter Olympics have been hosted by St. Moritz and Cortina, and Schladming has played host to the Special Olympics.

In the United States, Beaver Creek and Vail have been undergoing renovation worth 2.5 million USD. They have also agreed to construct a new downhill course for ladies, if they are selected to be the host.

The 2009 World Championships will be hosted by Val d’Isère, and the Secretary General of FIS, Sarah Lewis, has been immensely happy with the progress the venue has been making. Lewis recently said, “I was very, very impressed by the presentation which was given to us by the World Championship organizers. The progress made these last six months is palpable. The success of the men’s World Cup downhill last February has obviously given confidence to the organizers.”

However, disagreements within the committee have caused skiers such as former ski champion, Jean-Claude Killy, to resign from her position. Val d’Isère has also faced its share of bad publicity, which it has been trying to brush off with promises of free access and travel for spectators, and environmentally-friendly transport.

So let us all hope for a jam-packed 2009 in Val d’Isère, and an equally entertaining 2013.