Additional Alpine Committee decisions from Varna

By Published On: June 8th, 2015Comments Off on Additional Alpine Committee decisions from Varna

As per tradition, the last alpine meeting of the FIS Spring gathering was the Alpine Committee, which took place early Saturday morning in Varna, Bulgaria.

Chairman Bernhard Russi started the meeting with opening remarks and comments on a successful season including TV figures from the 2014-15 winter. Russi encouraged the committee to give some thought to the future direction of the sport.

“The world of sport is changing and growing fast,” Russi said. “I’m not calling for a revolution but more for an evolution guided by rules and regulations rather than personal and national interest. Changes mean also that we all might need to do some sacrifices. I believe sometimes less can be more and what can seem a disadvantage for personal and national interests can be a big advantage for the whole movement. This can be our future.”

Russi continued with a report by the Alpine Executive Board where he highlighted some of the main points discussed in the past days. These decisions are in addition to those made earlier in the week by the Alpine World Cup sub committee:

  • A request has been put forward by the Race Directors for a change in World Championships qualification rules. So for the World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland in 2017, a qualification race will be held for the ladies giant slalom.
  • A lengthy discussion took place regarding the proposal for a change in the format of the bib draw for speed events, which would then include all top 30 athletes. But after being evaluated by the EB and other working groups it was not supported and the system will remain the same.
  • A clarification was made by the Executive Board regarding the distribution of prize money which will be distributed to those competitors who finish in the results and whose results are valid for World Cup points.
  • The decision to implement 27mm slalom poles in the ladies’ World Cup competitions next season will be delayed by a year to establish a working group which should provide a clear answer on whether the thinner poles are the right direction to go in for the future.
  • The implementation of the single pole slalom concept has been accepted and a decision was made to test the concept on the ladies’ side first at the Levi World Cup race and evaluate if this is the way to go.

Next on the agenda were the reports of the Alpine sub committees and working groups. Below are some of the highlights and proposals:

  • After the report by the sub committee for Classification of Alpine Competitors, the Alpine Committee rejected by vote a proposal put forward by Belgium regarding an indoors competition.
  • The sub committee for Alpine Rules presented the amendments to the ICR that were approved by the Committee. The main changes were pertinent to the rules regarding Deadline for Entries (604), Double Entries (621.12), Disqualification before Start (627), Different Colors for Gate panels (695), Single pole rule for all FIS events (804) and Parallel course setting distance (1225).
  • Niklas Carlsson, Chairman of the sub committee World Cup, also informed the Alpine Committee members on the details of the meeting of his Committee and brought forward rule updates regarding Basic Quota, Prize Money, FIS World Cup Final, Nations Team Event and City Event rules.
  • Carlsson also gave a short update regarding the progress in Korea in preparation for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games and Aspen, which is scheduled to host the 2017 World Cup Finals. A decision regarding the final confirmation of Aspen as host was tabled until autumn but the American venue will remain on the calendar and Russi expressed how the Executive Board was quite positive the final confirmation should come in the upcoming months.
  • Minor changes were also approved to the Intercontinental Cup rules, and the deletion of the rule limiting the maximum number of starts for U18 racers (607.3) has been approved as per recommendation of the Youth Questions Committee.
  • The Working Group for Alpine World Cup put forward a proposal for a change in the Competition Equipment and Commercial Markings and ICR rules regarding competition equipment where from the 2015-16 season onwards at World Cup level a label and not a plomb will be used to attest the suits’ conformity with FIS specifications. Until the end of the 2017-18 season, both conformity systems (label and plomb) will be valid in all FIS competitions. A measurement tolerance would also be introduced and FIS Officials will no longer test suits prior to allowing them in World Cup competitions.

Before the end of the meeting, the Committee heard reports from the organizers of the previous and next major championships. First up was an emotional video presented by Vail-Beaver Creek, as CEO Ceil Folz showcased some of the best moments of the latest World Ski Championships.

The Committee also heard reports with updates from the Organizers of the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, 2017 World Ski Championships in St. Moritz, 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, and 2019 World Ski Championships in Are before the meeting was adjourned.

The next meeting will take place at the FIS Autumn Meetings in Zurich in October.

Release courtesy of FIS

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