FIS Congress gets under way; 2013 vote is Thursday

The 46th International Ski Congress is under way in Cape Town, South Africa, as official meetings began Monday and will continue through Wednesday ahead of the FIS General Assembly Meeting scheduled for Friday, May 30.
    The 17 members of the FIS Council will elect five World Championships sites for the 2013 season on Thursday, May 29 — alpine, nordic, freestyle, snowboard and ski flying. Vail/Beaver Creek is bidding for the alpine worlds along with St. Moritz, Switzerland; Schladming, Austria; and Cortina, Italy. The Vail Valley Foundation Web site (vvf.org) will stream the Council’s vote live from South Africa at 12:45 p.m. ET (6:45 p.m. Central European time) on Thursday.
THE 46TH International Ski Congress is under way in Cape Town, South Africa, as official meetings began Monday and will continue through Wednesday ahead of the FIS General Assembly Meeting scheduled for Friday, May 30.
    More than 1,000 participants are at the Congress, including many members of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Foundation and a large delegation from Colorado’s Vail Valley that is doing a lot of last-minute lobbying for the 2013 World Alpine Ski Championships.
    The 17 members of the FIS Council will elect five World Championships sites for the 2013 season on Thursday — nordic, freestyle, snowboard, ski flying and the aforementioned alpine event. Vail/Beaver Creek is bidding for the event along with St. Moritz, Switzerland; Schladming, Austria; and Cortina, Italy. Each delegation will make its final presentation to the Council members on Thursday before the voting begins.
    The Vail Valley Foundation Web site (vvf.org) will stream the Council’s vote live from South Africa at 12:45 p.m. ET (6:45 p.m. Central European time) on Thursday. Click here for a link through to vvf.org.
    Below are a few facts and figures on each of the four candidate venues for the 2013 World Alpine Ski Championships submitted by their respective organizing committees.

Beaver Creek/Vail (USA)
— Hosts to the 1989 and 1999 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships,
— Plans call for competition in both Beaver Creek and Vail, with festivities spread throughout the valley.
— A 2013 FIS World Championships would include a new women’s downhill course that will be constructed at Beaver Creek if the bid is successful.
— The campaign also features a unique concept called “Engaging New Worlds,” a focused effort to grow the sport of skiing via the Championships by helping to identify and equip the next generation of skiers from all walks of life. This program is already under way in the Vail Valley.
— For more information, visit www.vvf.org

Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA)
— Host of the 1956 Winter Olympic Games
— Cortina has more than 140 kilometers of slopes connected to the Dolomiti Superski circuit, the longest in the world. The main skiing areas are Tofana and Col Drusciè (chosen as seat of the championships races), but also include the Faloria, Cristallo and Cinque Torri, all of them part of the Cortina 2013 project.
— Cortina has hosted World Cup alpine races for the past 20 years
— For more information, visit www.cortina2013.it

Schladming (AUT)
— Host of the 1982 World Alpine Ski Championships, the 1997 World Junior Championships and 34 FIS World Cup events since 1973,
— Schladming hosted the 1993 Special Olympics World Winter Games
— The Schladming Winter Sports Club will celebrate its 100-year anniversary in 2008.
— Hosts a World Cup men’s night slalom that routinely draws nearly 50,000 fans
— All competition sites are ready
— For more information, visit www.thenightrace.at

St. Moritz (SUI)
— The only Swiss venue for the Winter Olympics (1928 and 1948)
— A proven organizer of World Cup races as well as World Ski Championships.
— 322 days of sunshine each year, and the backdrop of the famous Upper Engadin valley at 1,800 meters above sea level and the legendary assurance of snow.
— For more information, visit www.skiworldcup.stmoritz.ch/wm-kandidatur-2013-002-200403-de.htm).